| brand | Obsidian |
|---|---|
| tagline | A second brain. Local-first Markdown knowledge base with bidirectional linking and graph view. |
| category | Productivity |
| website | https://obsidian.md |
Obsidian is a local-first, Markdown-based knowledge management tool built around bidirectional linking and a graph of interconnected notes. Unlike cloud-first tools, Obsidian stores everything as plain .md files in a local folder (the "vault"), giving users full ownership of their data. The mental model is a personal knowledge graph — atomic notes linked together, visualized as a network, extended by a rich plugin ecosystem. Power users treat it as an IDE for thought.
├── Vault (local folder on disk)
│ ├── Files & Folders (user-organized)
│ │ ├── Folder A
│ │ │ ├── note-1.md
│ │ │ └── note-2.md
│ │ ├── Folder B
│ │ └── Attachments (images, PDFs)
│ └── .obsidian/ (config, plugins, themes)
├── Editor / Note View
│ ├── Note Title (= filename)
│ ├── YAML Frontmatter (metadata)
│ │ ├── tags, aliases, cssclass, publish
│ │ └── Custom properties (Obsidian Properties UI)
│ ├── Markdown Content
│ │ ├── Headings, paragraphs, lists
│ │ ├── Internal Links ([[page]])
│ │ ├── Embeds (![[page]] or ![[image.png]])
│ │ ├── Callouts (> [!note], > [!warning])
│ │ ├── Code blocks (syntax-highlighted)
│ │ ├── Math (LaTeX / MathJax)
│ │ ├── Mermaid diagrams
│ │ ├── Tables (Markdown)
│ │ └── Footnotes
│ ├── Live Preview (WYSIWYG-ish Markdown)
│ ├── Reading View (rendered, no edit)
│ ├── Source Mode (raw Markdown)
│ ├── Backlinks Panel (pages linking here)
│ ├── Outgoing Links Panel
│ └── Tags Panel
├── Graph View
│ ├── Global Graph (all notes as nodes, links as edges)
│ │ ├── Filter by tags, folders, link depth
│ │ ├── Color groups
│ │ └── Force-directed layout
│ └── Local Graph (connections from current note)
├── File Explorer (left sidebar)
│ ├── Folder tree (mirrors file system)
│ ├── Create new note / folder
│ └── Sort (name, modified, created)
├── Search
│ ├── Full-text search across vault
│ ├── Search operators (path:, tag:, file:, line:)
│ ├── Regex search
│ └── Embedded search queries (search: blocks)
├── Quick Switcher (⌘O)
│ └── Fuzzy search by note title
├── Command Palette (⌘P)
│ └── All commands from core + plugins
├── Bookmarks (pinned notes, searches, graphs)
├── Canvas (visual whiteboard)
│ ├── Note cards (linked to vault notes)
│ ├── Text cards (standalone)
│ ├── Media cards (images, PDFs)
│ ├── URL cards (web embeds)
│ └── Connectors (arrows between cards)
├── Daily Notes
│ ├── Auto-create today's note
│ ├── Navigate by date (previous / next)
│ └── Template for daily note
├── Templates
│ ├── Template folder (user-defined)
│ └── Insert template into current note
├── Tags
│ ├── Tag Pane (all tags, nested: #project/active)
│ └── Click tag → search results
├── Community Plugins
│ ├── Browse (800+ plugins)
│ ├── Installed plugins
│ ├── Plugin settings
│ └── Notable plugins: Dataview, Templater, Calendar, Kanban, Excalidraw
├── Themes
│ ├── Browse community themes
│ ├── CSS snippets (custom overrides)
│ └── Appearance settings
├── Obsidian Sync (optional paid)
│ ├── End-to-end encrypted sync
│ ├── Version history (per note)
│ └── Selective sync
├── Obsidian Publish (optional paid)
│ ├── Select notes to publish
│ ├── Custom domain
│ ├── Public graph view
│ └── Navigation, search, theme
└── Settings
├── Editor (vim mode, line numbers, fold, spellcheck)
├── Files & Links (default location, link format, deleted files)
├── Appearance (theme, font, font size, translucent window)
├── Hotkeys (fully customizable keybindings)
├── Core Plugins (toggle built-in features)
├── Community Plugins
├── About (vault stats, version)
└── Account (Sync/Publish license)
| Layer | Pattern | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Left Sidebar | Collapsible panels: File Explorer, Search, Bookmarks, Tags | Icons at top toggle between panels |
| Right Sidebar | Collapsible panels: Backlinks, Outgoing Links, Tags, Graph | Contextual to active note |
| Tab Bar | Browser-style tabs | Multiple notes open simultaneously; split view (vertical/horizontal) |
| Quick Switcher | ⌘O → fuzzy filename search | Navigate to any note instantly |
| Command Palette | ⌘P → all available commands | Run any action: plugin commands, navigation, formatting |
| Internal Links | [[Note Name]] or [[Note Name|Display Text]] |
Click to navigate; ⌘+click to open in new tab; hover to preview |
| Breadcrumb | Plugin-based (optional) | Folder path or link trail |
| Graph View | Interactive force-directed graph | Click node to open note; zoom/filter; color by tag/folder |
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Tab Group A │ Tab Group B │
│ ┌──────────────────┐ │ ┌──────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ Note: Zettelkasten│ │ │ Note: Literature Notes │ │
│ │ (editing) │ │ │ (reading view) │ │
│ └──────────────────┘ │ └──────────────────────────┘ │
│ │ ┌──────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ │ Local Graph View │ │
│ │ └──────────────────────────┘ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
- Arbitrary split panes (horizontal + vertical)
- Pin tabs to prevent accidental close
- Linked panes: graph/backlinks update with active note
| Entity | Key Attributes | Relationships |
|---|---|---|
| Vault | path (local folder), name, config (.obsidian/) | contains all Notes, Folders, Attachments |
| Note | filename (.md), frontmatter (YAML), body (Markdown), created, modified | belongs to Folder; links to other Notes |
| Folder | name, path | contains Notes, sub-Folders (mirrors filesystem) |
| Internal Link | target (note name or path), display text, heading anchor | connects Notes (bidirectional) |
| Tag | name (supports nesting: #parent/child), inline or frontmatter | many-to-many with Notes |
| Alias | alternative name for a note (frontmatter) | belongs to Note; searchable in link autocomplete |
| Attachment | file (image, PDF, audio, video), path | referenced by Notes via ![[file]] |
| Canvas | cards[], connectors[], layout | contains Note Cards, Text Cards, Media Cards |
| Property | key, value, type (text/number/date/checkbox/list/tags) | belongs to Note (frontmatter) |
| Embed | type (note/heading/block), source note | transclusion of content from another note |
[[Internal Link]] → Link to note
[[Note#Heading]] → Link to specific heading
[[Note^block-id]] → Link to specific block
![[Note]] → Embed (transclude) entire note
![[image.png]] → Embed image
![[Note#Heading]] → Embed specific section
> [!info] Title → Callout block (info, warning, tip, etc.)
%%hidden comment%% → Comment (not rendered)
```dataview
TABLE file.mtime AS "Modified", tags
FROM #project AND "Work"
WHERE status = "active"
SORT file.mtime DESC
## User Flows
### Quick Capture
⌘N → New note → Start writing in Markdown → Link to related notes with [[ → File later by moving to folder
### Daily Note Workflow
Click "Daily Note" (or hotkey) → Today's note auto-created from template → Journal, log tasks, link to project notes → Navigate to previous/next day
### Build Knowledge Graph
Write atomic note → Add [[links]] to related concepts → View Local Graph → Discover unexpected connections → Create new linking note (MOC: Map of Content)
### Research with Zettelkasten
Read source → Create Literature Note → Extract ideas as Permanent Notes (atomic) → Link to existing knowledge → Tag with topics → MOC emerges from density of links
### Canvas Brainstorm
Open Canvas → Add note cards (existing or new) → Add text cards for annotations → Draw connectors → Spatial arrangement of ideas → Double-click card to edit full note
### Plugin Workflow (Templater + Dataview)
⌘P → "Insert Templater template" → Select "Meeting Note" → Template auto-fills date, attendees field → Write notes → Dataview query on Project page auto-lists all meeting notes
obsidian://open?vault=MyVault&file=Note%20Name → Open note in vault obsidian://new?vault=MyVault&name=New%20Note → Create new note obsidian://search?vault=MyVault&query=tag:project → Open search with query obsidian://open?vault=MyVault&file=Canvas%20Name → Open canvas
https://publish.obsidian.md/:site/ → Published site root https://publish.obsidian.md/:site/:notePath → Published note https://:customDomain/:notePath → Custom domain
~/MyVault/ → Vault root ~/MyVault/Folder/Note.md → Note file ~/MyVault/.obsidian/ → Config, plugins, themes ~/MyVault/.obsidian/plugins/ → Installed community plugins ~/MyVault/.obsidian/themes/ → Installed themes
## Search & Filter
| Context | Search Scope | Filters / Operators | Sort |
|---------|-------------|---------------------|------|
| Global Search | All note content, titles, tags | `path:`, `file:`, `tag:`, `line:`, `section:`, `content:`, regex | Modified, Created, Alphabetical |
| Quick Switcher (⌘O) | Note titles + aliases | Fuzzy match | Recency, Relevance |
| Graph View | All linked notes | Filter by tag, folder, orphans, attachments; link depth slider | — (spatial) |
| Tag Pane | All tags (nested hierarchy) | — | Alphabetical, Frequency |
| Backlinks | Notes linking to current note | Linked mentions vs. unlinked mentions | — |
### Search Operators
path:Projects → Notes in Projects folder file:meeting → Notes with "meeting" in filename tag:#status/active → Notes with specific tag line:(TODO) → Lines containing "TODO" section:(## Summary) → Content under "Summary" heading /regex\d+pattern/ → Regular expression search "exact phrase" → Exact match (foo OR bar) -baz → Boolean operators
## Responsive Behavior
Obsidian is a desktop-first app (Electron) with mobile apps:
| Platform | Layout | Features |
|----------|--------|----------|
| Desktop (macOS/Windows/Linux) | Multi-pane workspace, full sidebar, all plugins | Full editing, graph view, canvas, command palette, vim mode |
| Tablet (iPad) | Single pane + sidebar overlay | Full editing, most plugins, split view on iPad |
| Mobile (iOS/Android) | Single pane, bottom toolbar | Editing, quick switcher, mobile toolbar (bold, link, checkbox), pull-down command palette |
### Mobile-Specific Features
- Bottom toolbar: undo, redo, bold, italic, link, checkbox, heading, indent
- Pull-down gesture for command palette
- Share sheet → capture web links/text to vault
- Obsidian Sync for cross-device access
- Offline-first (all data local)
- Swipe to navigate back
## Access Control
Obsidian is fundamentally a **single-user, local-first** tool. Access control is minimal compared to cloud apps:
| Context | Model |
|---------|-------|
| Local Vault | File system permissions (your OS) |
| Obsidian Sync | End-to-end encrypted; only your devices |
| Obsidian Publish | Per-note publish toggle; public read-only |
| Shared Vaults (Sync) | Share vault with specific Obsidian accounts; all members have full edit access |
| Community Plugins | Manually reviewed; sandboxed but has file access |
### Publish Access
- **Public**: Anyone with URL can view published notes
- **Password-protected**: Site-level password
- **Selective publishing**: Choose which notes are public; unpublished notes' links show as stubs
- **No edit access**: Publish is read-only; editing requires the desktop/mobile app