Obsidian

ThinkForge can work with your Obsidian vault by treating it as a project folder — indexing your notes into semantic memory so they become searchable by meaning and available as context for AI tools.

Using your vault as a ThinkForge project

The simplest way to connect ThinkForge and Obsidian is to link your vault folder as a ThinkForge project:

  1. Open ThinkForge and go to the Projects view.
  2. Choose Link Existing Folder.
  3. Select your Obsidian vault directory.
  4. ThinkForge creates its project data (a small .fire folder) inside the vault and begins indexing your Markdown notes.

Your existing Obsidian files remain untouched. ThinkForge reads them for indexing but does not modify your vault structure or note content.

What this gives you

Once your vault is linked as a project:

  • Semantic search — find notes by meaning, not just filename or exact text match. Ask "notes about project architecture" and get relevant results even if those words are not in the title.
  • AI context — use vault notes as context for Desktop tools, agents, and connected AI providers. Your Obsidian research becomes available without manual copy-paste.
  • MCP access — AI assistants in Cursor, VS Code, Claude Desktop, and other MCP clients can search your vault through ThinkForge's MCP server.
  • Cross-project search — search your vault alongside other ThinkForge projects.
  • Project Navigator — browse your vault in the Project Navigator, view relationships between notes, and use the Cluster Graph to visualize how your notes relate by content.

Supported content

ThinkForge indexes standard Markdown files (.md), which is the default format for Obsidian notes. It parses and chunks them intelligently, splitting on headings to preserve document structure.

Attachments (images, PDFs) in your vault are visible in the Project Navigator but are not semantically indexed.

How the index stays in sync

ThinkForge watches your vault folder for local file changes. When you create or edit notes in Obsidian, ThinkForge automatically re-indexes the changed files. A full reconciliation also runs when you open the project, catching any changes made while ThinkForge was closed.

Non-destructive. Linking your vault does not modify your Obsidian notes, folder structure, or settings. ThinkForge adds only its own .fire folder for project metadata and memory. You can unlink at any time without affecting your vault.

Cross-device sync with Obsidian Sync

ThinkForge does not have a built-in cloud sync feature — your projects live on disk. But because ThinkForge stores all of its project data inside your vault's .fire folder, Obsidian Sync can carry your entire ThinkForge project across devices alongside your notes.

When Obsidian Sync is configured to include the .fire folder, it syncs:

  • Project settings — your project configuration, workspace state, and open tabs
  • Semantic memory index — the search database that powers meaning-based search across your notes
  • Project Navigator data — pins, recents, shortcuts, and workspace layout
  • Automations — any automation scripts you have created for the project

This means you can edit notes on one machine, let Obsidian Sync propagate the changes, and open the same vault in ThinkForge on another machine with your project fully intact — settings, memory, and all.

Enabling sync for the .fire folder

Obsidian Sync does not sync hidden folders by default. To include ThinkForge's project data:

  1. Open Obsidian and go to Settings → Sync.
  2. Under Selective sync, make sure Sync all other types is enabled — this covers the SQLite databases and JSON files inside .fire.
  3. Check that the .fire folder is not listed in your sync exclusions.

Once enabled, Obsidian Sync handles the rest. ThinkForge detects changes to the project folder on startup and reconciles its index automatically.

One direction at a time. Avoid running ThinkForge against the same vault on two machines simultaneously while Obsidian Sync is active. Edit and index on one machine, let sync finish, then open on the other. This prevents conflicts in the SQLite databases inside .fire.

Tips for Obsidian users

  • Your vault's folder structure is preserved in the Project Navigator — you can browse it the same way you would in Obsidian's file explorer
  • Tags in your notes become searchable through ThinkForge's tag system
  • Use ThinkForge's memory search when you cannot remember which note contains something — it searches by content meaning, not just keywords
  • Continue editing in Obsidian as normal — ThinkForge picks up your changes automatically

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