claudian: the Obsidian plugin that puts Claude Code directly inside your vault

Short version: If you already keep notes in Obsidian and you're tired of copy-pasting between your vault and the Claude Desktop app, claudian is a plugin that puts Claude Code directly inside Obsidian as a chat pane. It can read, edit, and link your notes. 5-minute install, no terminal required. By YishenTu, MIT licensed.

What is claudian?

claudian is a community Obsidian plugin that embeds Claude Code as a side pane in the Obsidian app. Instead of switching between Obsidian (where your notes live) and Claude Desktop (where your AI lives), both sit in the same window. You talk to Claude; Claude reads, edits, and cross-links your vault in real time.

It's the tightest Obsidian ↔ Claude integration that currently exists. No HTTP server to configure. No MCP config to edit by hand. Just install the plugin, paste your API key, and you have an AI collaborator anchored to the notes you already write.

Who this is for

Obsidian power users who want one app, not two.
Writers and researchers who draft in Obsidian and want a live AI editor.
Founders who keep their "second brain" in Markdown and want Claude to act on it directly.
Single-user setups where context-switching is the biggest time tax.

Skip this if

You need multiple agents (Claude + Cursor + Gemini) talking to the same vault concurrently — that's what obsidian-mcp-plugin is for. claudian is tuned for one person, one vault, one Claude.

What problem it solves

Most AI tools assume you'll paste context in. Your real context — the meeting notes, the SOPs, the decisions — lives in your note-taking app. Every time you want AI help on something in your vault, you're copy-pasting between two apps, losing fidelity, losing cross-links, and losing time.

claudian closes that gap. Your notes are the chat's context. When you ask Claude to rewrite a paragraph, it's editing the note directly. When you ask "what did I decide about Q3 pricing?", it's reading your actual pricing doc. Nothing gets pasted. Nothing gets stale.

How to install it (plain English)

Open Obsidian's community plugin browser. Settings → Community plugins → Browse. Search "claudian". Click Install, then Enable.
Paste your Anthropic API key. Get one from console.anthropic.com. In Obsidian Settings → claudian, paste it. Your key is stored locally; it never leaves your machine except to talk to Anthropic.
Open the claudian pane. Cmd/Ctrl+P → type "claudian" → open the chat pane. Anchor it to the right side of Obsidian for best workflow.
Give it vault context. Mention or drag a note into the chat to include it. Claude can now read, edit, and link anything in your vault.

That's it. Full walkthrough with prerequisites and troubleshooting: /memory/tools/claudian.

What you can do with it (for a non-technical founder)

"Rewrite this investor update for clarity" — drag in your draft, claudian edits it inline.
"Find all my notes about Alex and summarize the key decisions" — it reads the vault, summarizes, and links the source notes.
"Turn these bullet points into a proper SOP" — paste bullets, get a polished SOP as a new note.
"Link this note to related concepts in my vault" — it scans for related notes and adds wikilinks.
"What did I learn last quarter?" — claudian reads your journal entries and produces a synthesis.

What CLO adds on top

claudian owns the writing. Cognition CLO owns the retention. claudian helps you produce a great SOP; CLO tells you that your ops lead hasn't re-read it in 21 days and their retention model says they're now 40% likely to miss a key step. Rule of thumb: claudian writes the notes, CLO tracks who's actually remembering what's in them.

FAQ

Do I need a Claude subscription?

You need an Anthropic API key, which you get with a pay-as-you-go plan. For typical usage (a few hundred messages a month), cost is a few dollars. The plugin doesn't charge on top.

Is my vault data sent to Anthropic?

Only the context you include in a chat — the note you mention or drag in. Your full vault isn't uploaded. Claude only sees what you send it, per message.

Does it work with Obsidian Sync?

Yes. Your vault can be local or synced via Obsidian Sync, iCloud, Syncthing, or anything else — claudian operates on whatever Obsidian shows it.

Can my team share one claudian setup?

Not directly — claudian is per-user. For a team sharing a vault, look at obsidian-mcp-plugin or obsidian-mcp-tools.

What happens when I hit the plugin's limits?

If you outgrow claudian (e.g., you now want Cursor and Claude and Gemini all talking to the same vault), migrate to obsidian-mcp-plugin. Your vault stays the same; only the bridge changes.

Ready to try it? Full install guide at /memory/tools/claudian. Credit to @YishenTu for building and maintaining the plugin — give the repo a star if it earns its keep.