Vault Assistant

Chat with an OpenAI-compatible model about your Obsidian vault. Search stays on your device. Notes are only sent when you chat, and only the pieces needed to answer. Creating, updating, or moving a note always waits for Apply.

Requires Obsidian 1.13.0+.

Features

• Sidebar chat with markdown replies and [[wikilinks]]
• Bring your own key: OpenAI, OpenRouter, or Ollama (localhost or a custom URL)
• Local note search (no cloud indexing, no embeddings)
• Pin notes with Add note, Add open note, or [[wikilinks]] on desktop
• Propose new, updated, or moved notes in chat; nothing is written until you apply it

Getting started

1. Install Vault Assistant from Settings → Community plugins, or copy a release’s main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css into .obsidian/plugins/vault-assistant/.
2. Enable the plugin, then open Settings → Vault Assistant.
3. Read the privacy notice and turn on I understand what is sent to the provider.
4. Choose a provider and model:

Provider	Default endpoint	API key
OpenAI	https://api.openai.com/v1	Required
OpenRouter	https://openrouter.ai/api/v1	Required
Ollama	http://localhost:11434/v1	Not required locally

5. For Ollama, keep http://localhost:11434 or enter a custom http(s) host. Do not put credentials in the URL.
6. Optionally Detect models and Test connection.
7. Open chat from the ribbon or the command Open chat.

Ollama must expose /v1/chat/completions. OpenAI gpt-5.4+ models (including gpt-5.6-sol) use /v1/responses for tools; OpenRouter and Ollama stay on Chat Completions. Tools are defined once and converted per API. When search is enabled, the model calls search_notes on demand instead of receiving automatic context in every prompt.

Using chat

• Ask a question. When search is enabled, the model can call search_notes to find relevant notes locally.
• Add note picks any markdown note. Add open note uses notes already open in tabs. On desktop, type [[ to insert a wikilink. Open notes are never attached unless you add them.
• Referenced notes take priority over search results (up to 10).
• When the assistant wants to create, update, or move a note, review the card and select Apply or Dismiss. Open note is available after you apply.

Commands

• Open chat — open the sidebar chat
• Add open note — pin an open markdown tab as context
• Rebuild search index — rebuild the local search index

Mobile

• Enter inserts a newline. Use Send in the composer field to submit.
• The composer stays above the keyboard. Tap the transcript to hide it.
• Use Add note and Add open note. The [[ picker does not open on a phone, so the keyboard stays focused.
• localhost Ollama is usually unreachable from a phone. Set a reachable URL, or use OpenAI / OpenRouter.

Privacy

• On this device: API keys in the plugin data.json, and the search index in search-index.json. Optional Save chat history (Settings → Vault Assistant → Chat, off by default) stores conversation transcripts in chat-history.json in the plugin folder so you can resume them from chat. Keys are never logged. Optional Debug mode (Settings → Vault Assistant → Advanced) shows a Debug card in chat after each reply (endpoint, timing, tools). It can also write the same metadata to the developer console; set the log level to Verbose. It does not log API keys or note contents.
• Indexing lists markdown note paths in the vault (getMarkdownFiles) so search can run locally. It does not send notes anywhere. Use Exclude folders in settings to skip folders and everything inside them.
• Chat sends your prompt, conversation history, notes you explicitly reference, and any notes the assistant reads or searches. The whole vault is not uploaded.
• There is no telemetry. Network calls happen only when you chat, detect models, or test the connection, and only to the provider you chose (OpenAI, OpenRouter, or your Ollama URL).
• Use Ollama on localhost if you do not want notes to leave the machine.

See CHANGELOG.md for release history.

Developers: see DEVELOPMENT.md.