Obsidian Integration

Obsidian gives you a visual window into your Basic Memory knowledge base. Point it at your Basic Memory folder and you get graph view, backlinks, rich editing, and more — while your AI keeps working through MCP tools on the same files.

Cloud Sync Workflow

Basic Memory Cloud enables a hybrid workflow: edit locally in Obsidian while your notes sync to the cloud.

bm cloud login

bm cloud setup

# If you have an existing vault
bm project add my-vault --local-path ~/path/to/obsidian-vault

# Or create a new project
bm project add notes --local-path ~/Documents/notes

# Preview first (recommended)
bm cloud bisync --name my-vault --resync --dry-run

# If all looks good, establish baseline
bm cloud bisync --name my-vault --resync

bm cloud bisync --name my-vault

Local Setup

You can either use an existing Obsidian vault or create a new one for Basic Memory.

Option 1: Use an Existing Vault

# Point Basic Memory to your existing vault
basic-memory project add main ~/path/to/your/obsidian-vault

# Set it as default
basic-memory project default main

Option 2: Create a New Vault

What You Get

Because Basic Memory uses standard markdown with wiki links, Obsidian understands your knowledge base natively.

• Graph View — See your entire knowledge network as an interactive graph. Each note is a node, and relations become connecting lines. Local graphs let you focus on one note's neighborhood.
• Backlinks — Every [[wiki link]] your AI creates is a clickable backlink in Obsidian. See all documents that reference the current note and navigate connections easily.
• Tag Explorer — Tags from observations and frontmatter show up in Obsidian's tag pane. Filter, browse, and combine tags to find what you need.
• Live Updates — Notes created by your AI (in Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or any MCP client) automatically appear in Obsidian since they share the same markdown files. No import or export needed.
• Canvas — Basic Memory's canvas tool generates Obsidian Canvas files. Ask your AI to visualize project structure or concept maps, then open the .canvas file in Obsidian to view and edit it.

Use schemas to keep your notes consistent whether you're writing in Obsidian or through your AI.

Troubleshooting

Links not appearing in graph: Make sure you're using wiki link syntax ([[Note Title]]) and that referenced documents exist in the vault.

Tags not showing up: Use #tag syntax (no spaces — use hyphens instead). Ensure the tag panel is enabled in Obsidian settings.

Canvas files not opening: Update to the latest Obsidian version and enable the Canvas core plugin.

Notes not syncing to cloud: Run bm cloud bisync --name <project> after editing. See the Cloud Sync Guide for details.

Next Steps