claudian
If you live in Obsidian and want Claude Code available right inside the app — no separate window, no context switching — claudian embeds it as a pane you can chat with, ask to edit notes, or link concepts across your vault. It's the tightest Obsidian ↔ Claude integration out there.
- Obsidian power users who want one app, not two
- Writers and researchers who draft in Obsidian and want a live AI editor
- Single-user setups where context-switching is the biggest time tax
What you'll do
claudian lives inside Obsidian. Once installed, you get a Claude Code pane alongside your notes — chat, edits, and cross-note linking happen in one surface. Budget 5 minutes.
Before you start
- Obsidian installed
- A working Obsidian vault
- A Claude subscription (the plugin calls Anthropic's API on your behalf)
- An Anthropic API key (paste it in the plugin settings)
Step-by-step install
- 011. Install from the Obsidian community plugin store
Settings → Community plugins → Browse. Search 'claudian'. Click Install, then Enable.
- 022. Add your Anthropic API key
Settings → claudian. Paste your API key (get one from console.anthropic.com). Save.
Tip: Your key is stored locally. It never leaves your machine except to talk to Anthropic's API. - 033. Open the claudian pane
Press Cmd/Ctrl+P for the command palette, type 'claudian' and open the chat pane. Anchor it on the right side of the app for best workflow.
- 044. Give it vault context
Mention or drag a note into the chat to include it as context. Claudian can read, edit, and link anything in your vault — same access as the Obsidian API provides.
Your first 10 minutes
- 01Ask claudian to summarize the 10 most recent notes in your vault.
- 02Drag in a draft post and ask for a tighter rewrite. Accept the edits inline.
- 03Ask it to find related notes and add wikilinks to them.
- 04Ask it to generate a new SOP note from a bullet list you paste in.
- 05Add Cognition CLO on top — claudian writes the notes, CLO tracks which concepts your team is retaining.
Troubleshooting
I get 'invalid API key' errors.
Double-check the key starts with 'sk-ant-' and has no trailing spaces. Rotate the key in the Anthropic console if you're not sure.
The plugin loads but can't see my notes.
Restart Obsidian. Claudian registers vault access at startup; a fresh load typically fixes this.
claudian holds the knowledge. Cognition CLO models retention per employee per concept using a Weibull forgetting curve — so you see decay before it becomes a missed SOP or a failed audit.