I’ve become a true enthusiast of Obsidian for managing my notes and activities. I actually talked about it in an article a few months ago. But over time, a need became painfully clear: the inability to access my notes from a web browser. Obsidian works as a local application that needs to be installed on your computer, and while this approach has many advantages, it also shows its limits in certain use cases. This realization led me to develop my own solution: Browsidian.

Why I needed web access to my Obsidian notes

My use of Obsidian has evolved considerably in recent months, particularly with the rise of AI tools integrated into browsers. ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and soon Gemini in Google Chrome: all these AI assistants are becoming increasingly present in my daily workflow. And that’s precisely where the problem lies.

When I work with these AI tools, I often find myself in my browser. Being able to directly access my Obsidian notes, view them, modify them, or create new ones without having to constantly switch between my browser and the desktop application would really change the way I work. I wanted to streamline this interaction between my notes and the web tools I use daily.

The problem is that Obsidian doesn’t natively offer a web interface. I looked for existing solutions, but nothing matched exactly my needs or my vision of simplicity and privacy. So I decided to create my own solution.

How I created Browsidian

Faced with this need, I developed Browsidian: a mini web interface that allows you to open and edit an Obsidian vault directly from any browser. My approach was guided by a few fundamental principles.

First, privacy and security: I absolutely wanted everything to remain between the user’s browser and their local files. No data should transit through a third-party server, let alone be stored somewhere in the cloud. This was non-negotiable for me.

Then, ease of use: the tool had to be immediately accessible, without complex configuration or laborious installation. I wanted people to be able to use it with just a few clicks.

This first version is quite basic, I readily admit. It supports the basic functions of Markdown editing, which already covers a good part of my daily needs. But my intention is to evolve it gradually, based on my own usage and the feedback I receive.

How to use Browsidian right now

I’ve made Browsidian available in two different ways to suit different user profiles.

The simplest and fastest method is to directly use the online application I host at browsidian.app.lamouche.fr. You open the URL in your browser, select your local Obsidian vault folder, and you’re good to go. I want to emphasize this: everything happens between your browser and your local files. Absolutely no data transits through my server. The web application only serves to load the interface, then everything remains local.

For the more technical among you who would prefer to have complete control or who wish to contribute to the project, the source code is fully available on GitHub: github.com/blamouche/browsidian. You can clone the repository and run the application locally on your machine. All necessary instructions are detailed in the project’s README.

My planned future developments

Browsidian is just getting started, and I plan to evolve it over time based on my needs and the feedback I receive. I don’t have a predefined roadmap; I prefer to let usage guide future developments.

But most importantly, I’m open to contributions and suggestions. If the project interests you, if you have ideas for improvements or want to contribute code, don’t hesitate to reach out on the GitHub repository. This is a project I want to evolve with and for the Obsidian user community.