Obsidian Sync
Your notes sync through your own server
Self-hosted LiveSync on a CouchDB we run for you. Same devices, same Obsidian, no third-party subscription — and a passphrase we do not have.
Landed here from your own address?
Then you typed your instance address into a browser and met a password prompt. Nothing is broken: that address is a sync endpoint, not a website, and there is nothing there for a browser to show. The username and password belong in the Obsidian plugin's settings — the steps are below, and your own values are on the instance page in the panel.
What you get
- The server is yours
- One CouchDB instance on our application node, holding as many vaults as your disk allows. One database per vault, created from the plugin.
- We cannot read it
- End-to-end encryption is set up in the plugin with a passphrase you invent. Everything reaching the server is already ciphertext — to us, to support, to anyone who took the disk.
- Computer and phone
- Desktop and mobile, changed chunks only, so daily writing feels instant. A second device is configured by pasting one setup link.
- Fits in the plan
- 512 MB of the application power your hosting plan already includes. Alongside an AI agent it still fits on Growth Store — with nothing extra to buy.
With Hermes
A second brain for your AI agent
Connect a vault to your Hermes agent and it receives your notes as plain files, both ways within seconds. It builds and maintains a linked wiki of them — contacts, projects, tasks, documents, procedures — in its own Hermes folder, and never moves or edits your notes. Voice recordings are transcribed on the server. No GitHub, no tokens, no extra subscription.
How to set it upHow to connect it
Every step happens inside Obsidian on your own machine. The plugin's buttons are quoted in English because that is how it shows them.
Install the plugin
In Obsidian: Settings → Community plugins → turn off Restricted mode → Browse → search for “Self-hosted LiveSync” → Install → Enable.
Start the setup
Open the plugin's settings. Pick “I am setting this up for the first time”, then “Configure a remote manually”. Ignore “Connect with Setup URI” in the Setup tab — that is the step for a second device, not this one.
Set your encryption passphrase
Turn on “End-to-End Encryption” and enter a passphrase you invent yourself. It is what makes the contents of your notes unreadable to everyone, us included. To hide file names from us as well, also turn on “Obfuscate Properties”; without it we can see names and sizes, though never contents.
Enter the connection details
Choose “CouchDB” and fill in the four fields. Three of them are below — copy each with one click. The password is in the “Credentials” box above this guide. We picked the database name for you, so there is nothing to invent and nothing to remember.
Confirm overwriting the server
The plugin shows a warning with two checkboxes and a question about backups. It is about the SERVER, not your notes: the server is empty and the files on your computer stay untouched — they are what goes up in a moment. Tick both boxes, copy your vault folder somewhere safe, choose “I have created a backup of my Vault”, then “I Understand, Overwrite Server”. The warning about other devices applies to ones already connected; on your first there is nothing to reset.
Answer two questions
At “No Synchronisation Settings Found” choose “Use this device's settings” — your computer has the notes, the server does not. Then acknowledge the message about optional features being disabled.
Resume synchronisation — where most people get stuck
The plugin pauses replication after updating itself and shows “Synchronisation paused for compatibility review”. Pick the middle button, “Resume synchronisation”. The one highlighted in purple is “Keep synchronisation paused” — exactly what you do not want; the colour marks the cautious choice, not the recommended one. If the dialogue is gone, it returns when you restart Obsidian. Should the plugin's log say “An update has been detected. Please open the Settings dialogue and check the Change Log”, ignore it: that message is left over from an older version and reading the change log unblocks nothing. Only this dialogue does.
Turn on a sync mode
In the plugin's settings, tab 🔄: Synchronization Preset → choose “LiveSync” → press “Apply”. Without this the wizard leaves the mode on “On events” with every event switched off — a configuration that looks complete and never sends a single note.
Check that it works
The “Sync ↑ ↓” counter in the corner of the editor stops sitting at zero, and a new note appears in it seconds after you save. You can also force one pass: command palette → “Self-hosted LiveSync: Replicate now”.
Add your phone or second computer
On the device that already works: Setup tab → “Copy the current settings to a Setup URI” (or “Show QR code”, easier for a phone) and give it a one-off passphrase. On the new device install the plugin, pick “I am adding a device” → “Use a Setup URI”, paste the link or scan the code, then “Test Settings and Continue” and “Restart and Fetch Data”.
The encryption passphrase is yours alone. Nobody here can recover it — not support, not us. Write it down somewhere safe before you close Obsidian.