Do you feel lost in a pile of messy digital notes?
It is frustrating to spend hours writing only to forget where you put the best ideas.
This clutter stops your creative flow and wastes your time.
Stop let your notes go to waste.
You can fix this by learning how to use Obsidian AI.
This guide shows you how to turn your notes into a smart, organized partner.
Read on to discover how to find links faster and build a second brain that actually works for you.
Ready to unlock the power of AI in your notes? Obsidian AI can help you generate ideas 40% faster and retain 20% more information.
Obsidian AI Tutorial
Ready to make your notes smarter? This guide makes it easy.
You will learn to set up AI tools that think as you do. We explain every step clearly.
Follow along to turn your vault into a powerful digital brain today.
How to use Obsidian Notes
Imagine having a digital brain that never forgets.
When you use Obsidian notes, you are building a system for personal knowledge management.
You can create a massive Obsidian vault where every idea stays safe.
AI enthusiasts love adding AI to this setup because it speeds up writing.
By using community plugins, you can turn your simple text files into a powerful AI assistant.
Step 1: Install AI Plugins
- Open your Obsidian vault and click the gear icon to find community plugins.
- Browse for the Smart Connections plugin or Obsidian Copilot, then click Install.
- These AI plugins allow you to connect large language models like GPT-4 or even local models through LM Studio.
Step 2: Setup Your API Key
- Open the settings for your new plugin to enable AI integration.
- Enter your API key from a provider like OpenAI so the generative AI can work.
- Select your favorite AI models and set up custom prompts to help the AI chatbot understand your specific style.
Step 3: Use Chat Mode for Relevant Information
- Open the Smart Connections or Copilot sidebar to start a chat mode.
- Ask your AI assistant to find relevant information hidden inside your Obsidian notes.
- Use the AI chatbot to summarize long pages or create more posts for your blog without leaving your vault.
How to use the Internal Linking Feature
Linking is the secret power of Obsidian.
It helps you connect one word to a whole new world of ideas.
In the past, you had to search and fill in every link yourself. Now, AI in Obsidian speeds up the process.
You can find insights and connections between different things you wrote months ago.
This creates a web of knowledge that grows every week.
Step 1: Open the Connections Interface
- Launch the app and open any post or note you are working on.
- Look at the interface and find the “Smart Connections” icon on the right side.
- Wait a moment while the model scans your data. It needs to talk to your vault to find the exact matches.
Step 2: Scan for Suggestions
- Look at the list of notes the AI found. For example, you might notice a note from last year that fits perfectly.
- If you feel stuck, use the chat to ask for better results.
- You can even ask the community for tips on getting the most out of these features.
Step 3: Drag and Drop to Link
- To link, drag a note from the AI list into your current account of thoughts.
- This makes a huge difference because you don’t have to leave the website or page you are on.
- Provide feedback on the tool if the link doesn’t make sense. This helps the AI learn your tasks and work better.
How to use Cool Canvas
Working on a big project can be hard.
Cool Canvas is a fun tool that lets you see all your ideas at once.
It looks like an infinite board where you can move cards around. This is a key feature for anyone doing deep research.
You get clear access to your whole collection of thoughts in one place.
Best of all, it is free and built right into the app!
Step 1: Create a New Board
- Click the Create new canvas icon in the left menu.
- A blank screen will open for the user to fill.
- Give it a name that matches your research topic so you can find it later.
Step 2: Drag and Drop Your Notes
- Open your file list and find your collection of notes.
- Drag your best Obsidian notes onto the fun board.
- Now you have quick access to the key parts of your project.
Step 3: Connect the Dots
- Hover over the edge of any note card to see a small dot.
- Click and drag that dot to another card to create a line.
- This helps you see how different ideas work together.
Obsidian AI Alternatives
Looking for other note-taking apps that focus on connecting your thoughts and knowledge?
Here are some obsidian alternatives:
- Notion: A versatile workspace where you can take notes, manage projects, and build wikis. It’s cloud-based but offers powerful organization.
- ClickUp: Primarily a project management tool, it also has robust note-taking features that you can link to your tasks and projects.
- Anytype: A private, local-first app that helps you create a network of interconnected information and tasks.
- Coda: Lets you build documents that act like apps, combining text with tables and other interactive elements for organizing knowledge.
- XTiles: A local-first app focused on organizing notes, tasks, and projects with an emphasis on interconnectedness and privacy.
- Capacities: Helps you connect your ideas visually using objects and links, creating a graph of your knowledge.
- Craft: Known for its beautiful design and focus on creating well-structured documents with easy internal linking.
- AFFiNE pro: An open-source, local-first app that aims to combine the best features of Notion and Obsidian, offering both block-based editing and graph views.
Obsidian AI Compared
Let’s see how Obsidian stacks up against these other note-taking and knowledge management apps:
- Obsidian vs Notion: Obsidian keeps your notes as local text files and focuses on linking them together. Notion is a cloud-based workspace for notes, projects, and databases.
- Obsidian vs ClickUp: Obsidian is for your personal knowledge base with linked notes. ClickUp is mainly for teams to manage projects with note-taking features.
- Obsidian vs Anytype: Both Obsidian and Anytype keep your info private on your computer and let you link your thoughts. Anytype uses a different way to structure info with objects.
- Obsidian vs Coda: Obsidian uses linked text files to build your knowledge. Coda lets you make documents that act like apps with tables and buttons.
- Obsidian vs XTiles: Both Obsidian and XTiles focus on keeping your notes private and letting you connect them. Obsidian uses plain text files and has many extra tools you can add.
- Obsidian vs Capacities: Obsidian uses linked text files to show how your ideas connect. Capacities uses a more visual way with objects and links to build your knowledge graph.
- Obsidian vs Craft: Obsidian uses simple text files to create linked notes. Craft focuses on making nice-looking documents that you can also link.
- Obsidian vs AFFiNE pro: Both Obsidian and AFFiNE pro let you keep your notes local and link them. AFFiNE pro also lets you edit in blocks like Notion and has a whiteboard.
Conclusion
Now you know how to use Obsidian AI to make your work easier.
We looked at notes, linking, and the canvas.
These tools help you stay organized without the stress. You do not have to be a tech expert to start today.
Just take it one step at a time.
Using AI will save you hours of searching through old files.
It turns your vault into a helpful partner that grows with you.
Give these features a try and see the difference.
You will love how fast you can find your best ideas!
Frequently Asked Questions
How to use AI inside Obsidian?
Obsidian doesn’t have native AI. You must install Community Plugins. Popular options include Text Generator or Smart Connections. Once installed, you simply add your API key (like OpenAI) or connect a local model (Ollama) to start generating text inside your vault.
Is Obsidian AI free to use?
Yes and no. The plugins themselves are usually free. However, the “intelligence” often costs money. If you use OpenAI, you pay per word (API costs). For a 100% free experience, use Local LLMs (like Llama 3) running on your own computer.
Which AI is best for Obsidian?
It depends on your workflow. For finding links between notes, Smart Connections is superior. For writing and drafting, Text Generator is the standard. For a simple chat sidebar, Copilot is the most user-friendly.
Can ChatGPT link with Obsidian?
Directly? No. Via plugins? Absolutely. Tools like ChatGPT MD allow you to chat with GPT-4o inside your notes. Some advanced plugins even let ChatGPT “read” your entire vault to give context-aware answers based on your personal data.
What is Obsidian AI used for?
It turns a static notebook into an active partner. Users utilize it to summarize long articles, auto-tag messy notes, or finding hidden connections between ideas you wrote down years ago. It’s excellent for overcoming writer’s block.
Why are people leaving Obsidian?
Plugin fatigue. Obsidian requires “tinkering” to function perfectly. Some users prefer tools like Capacities or Anytype that work “out of the box.” Additionally, some users find the official Sync price ($8-10/month) too steep compared to free cloud options.
Is CoPilot for Obsidian worth it?
Definitively. It brings the ChatGPT interface right into your sidebar. Since you pay for your own API usage (which is often cents per month), it is significantly cheaper than a $20/month ChatGPT Plus subscription for text-based tasks.
More Facts about Obsidian AI
- Smart Connections is an Obsidian plugin that helps you find related notes. It doesn’t just look for matching words; it looks for matching ideas.
- Smart Connections works by making a “map” of your notes. It assigns notes a score indicating how similar they are to each other.
- CoPilot is another tool that lets you “chat” with your notes. To make it work, you usually have to link it to an AI company like OpenAI using a special digital key.
- CoPilot is great for changing how your text looks or asking questions about everything you have written in your digital vault.
- Both of these tools help you find your old ideas faster and keep your notes organized as your collection grows.
- The AI Assistant plugin is a different tool that lets you talk to ChatGPT right from your notes.
- In CoPilot, you can make your own “shortcuts” or prompts to help the AI write or summarize things exactly how you want.
- Smart Connections is best at finding notes that belong together, while CoPilot is best at editing your writing and answering questions.
- Using “local” AI tools is better for privacy. This keeps your notes on your own computer instead of sending them to the internet.
- To get these tools, you need to visit the Community Plugin section inside Obsidian’s settings.
- Obsidian does not come with AI built in. You have to add these plugins yourself to customize your experience.
- Even though AI is helpful, you should always check its work. It can sometimes make mistakes or get facts wrong.
- In 2026, using AI makes Obsidian feel like a partner that helps you think, rather than just a place to store files.
- It is a good idea to keep your own thoughts separate from the AI’s writing so you don’t get confused.
- Good note-taking still uses folders for big topics and tags for small details. You should link notes together using double brackets like this: [[Note Name]].
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