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Obsidian

General

Why Obsidian for notes?

  • macOS and iOS clients
  • markdown files are portable and parsable
  • can edit files from any folder on your file system (unlike apps like Bear that store notes in an inaccessible database)
  • I found I actually end up writing and publishing much more with a simple flat list of text files than with a complicated Notion database setup that led to lots of resource collecting and linking but little creative thinking and writing
  • live markdown preview in edit window reduces clutter caused by having to either view raw markdown (so it can be edited) or view a read only preview
  • apps are clean and uncluttered and highly customizable
  • notes can be stored in a git repo and easily published to any destination from there
  • vim mode allows a fully keyboard-based workflow not possible with Notion (even when using Notion in the browser with Vimium)

Syncing via a git repo

macOS

  • create new vault that points to existing local content repo folder
  • install Obsidian Git community plugin
  • update plugin settings to…
    • automatically pull changes when obsidian opens and every X minutes after that
    • automatically commit and push X minutes after any file has stopped being edited
  • .gitignore:
    • ignore .obsidian folder contents except for the obsidian git plugin settings
.obsidian/*
!.obsidian/plugins/
.obsidian/plugins/*
!.obsidian/plugins/obsidian-git/ 

iOS

  • in obsidian, create a new vault
  • in working copy, clone repo and link it to the obsidian vault folder you just created
  • in obsidian, disable the Obsidian Git plugin (don’t uninstall it if committing that plugin’s settings to the repo)
  • sync via working copy and shortcuts pull/push automations when I open/close obsidian

Inbox