claude-obsidian: a second brain for Claude

The free, open-source tool from the reel. You drop a note or an article into your vault's inbox folder, Claude reads it, files it into linked pages, and answers your questions from what you saved, pointing back to the sources. Everything stays as plain Markdown files on your computer.

CostFree and open source (MIT). You still need Claude Code, which runs on your Claude plan or API usage.

DoesTurns sources you drop in an inbox/ folder into linked, source-cited pages, answers questions from your vault, finds dead links and gaps, and draws maps of your knowledge.

NeedsClaude Code (a current release), Python 3.11 or newer, a Mac or Linux terminal (Windows needs WSL). Obsidian (free) is optional for the visual map.

Proof15.6k stars on GitHub

Checked on 19 Oct 2026. Tools change fast, so the official page always wins if it says something different.

What you need first

1Claude CodeInstalled and signed in. If you haven't set it up yet, do that first.

2Python 3.11 or newerCheck with python3 --version in your terminal.

3Obsidian (optional, free)Only for the visual graph and canvas views. The vault is plain Markdown and works without it.

4Windows?Reading commands work natively, but writing to the vault needs WSL. See the Windows & WSL guide linked below.

Step by step

Download the tool

In your terminal run git clone https://github.com/AgriciDaniel/claude-obsidian.git then cd claude-obsidian. This folder is the tool, not your notes.

Create your vault (preview first)

Run the init command from the README's Quick start. It first shows a plan (nothing is written yet). Read it, copy its approved_plan_sha256, then run the same command again with --approved-plan-sha256 "..." --apply.

Tip: Already use Obsidian? Use the non-destructive adopt workflow in the installation guide instead of creating a new vault.

Open Claude Code inside the vault

cd "$HOME/Documents/MyKnowledgeVault" then claude --plugin-dir /absolute/path/to/claude-obsidian. Start with /claude-obsidian:wiki to check everything is ready.

Drop in your first source

Put a note or article file in the vault's inbox/ folder, then run /claude-obsidian:wiki-ingest. Claude files it into linked pages and keeps a record of where each claim came from.

Ask it anything

Run /claude-obsidian:wiki-query with your question. It answers only from what's in your vault and points back to the sources. Save a good answer with /claude-obsidian:save.

See the map (optional)

Open the vault folder in Obsidian to browse the linked pages, the graph view and the canvas maps.

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The catch

Setup happens in the terminal. It's a few commands, and the vault setup is a two-step preview-then-apply on purpose.
PDFs and YouTube aren't read out of the box. PDFs and EPUBs only get basic file info, and web pages, YouTube and OCR need an extra tool you set up yourself. Plain text and Markdown notes work best.
It needs Claude Code. The tool is free, but Claude Code uses your Claude plan or API credits.
Windows needs WSL to write to the vault.
It's not a backup. Keep your own backups of the vault folder.

Official links

claude-obsidian on GitHub (official) ↗Installation guide ↗Windows & WSL guide ↗

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Unnerd AI · I'm not linked to claude-obsidian or its author, I just think it's useful.