Manage Obsidian Vaults Via Couchdb Livesync

---
name: manage-obsidian-vaults-via-couchdb-livesync
description: "Manage Obsidian vaults via LiveSync CouchDB — capture notes, AI-enrich and file them, manage tasks, audit and tidy vault structure. Use when working with Obsidian vaults through CouchDB/LiveSync (not local filesystem). Requires CouchDB with Obsidian LiveSync plugin. AI features…"
category: "Productivity"
author: community
version: "0.1.1"
icon: check-square
---

# obsidian-curator

Manage Obsidian vaults through the CouchDB database that powers [Obsidian LiveSync](https://github.com/vrtmrz/obsidian-livesync). Capture, process, file, audit, tidy, and manage tasks — all via CLI or Node.js API.

**Prerequisites:** CouchDB with LiveSync configured, E2EE disabled.

## Security & Trust

- **Open source:** [github.com/philmossman/obsidian-curator](https://github.com/philmossman/obsidian-curator) (MIT)
- **npm provenance:** Published via GitHub Actions OIDC with [Sigstore attestation](https://www.npmjs.com/package/obsidian-curator) — cryptographically verifiable build provenance
- **No lifecycle scripts:** No `preinstall`, `install`, or `postinstall` scripts — `npm install` only copies files
- **Minimal dependencies:** Only `nano` (CouchDB client) and `date-fns` (date parsing)
- **Local network only:** Connects to your CouchDB instance (user-configured host/port). No external telemetry, no phone-home, no data leaves your network
- **Credentials:** Stored locally in `~/.obsidian-curator/config.json` — never transmitted except to your own CouchDB
- **E2EE note:** LiveSync E2EE must be disabled because the tool reads/writes vault documents directly via CouchDB. This is a LiveSync architectural requirement, not a security compromise by this tool

## Setup

Run the interactive wizard — it tests the CouchDB connection live:

```bash
obsidian-curator init
```

Configures: CouchDB connection, vault structure preset (PARA/Zettelkasten/Johnny Decimal/Flat/Custom), AI provider (OpenAI/Anthropic/Ollama/None), task projects.

Config location: `~/.obsidian-curator/config.json`

## Commands

### Capture (no AI needed)

```bash
obsidian-curator capture "Quick thought about project X"
obsidian-curator capture "Meeting notes from standup" --source meeting
```

### Process inbox (AI required)

Enrich inbox notes with tags, summary, and suggested folder:

```bash
obsidian-curator process
obsidian-curator process --limit 5 --dry-run
obsidian-curator process --force   # re-process already-processed notes
```

### File notes (AI required)

Route processed notes to canonical vault folders:

```bash
obsidian-curator file
obsidian-curator file --dry-run --min-confidence 0.8
```

### Audit (no AI needed)

Check vault structure against configured canonical folders:

```bash
obsidian-curator audit
```

### Tidy (AI optional)

Find duplicates, structure violations, dead notes. With AI, ambiguous cases are triaged automatically:

```bash
obsidian-curator tidy --dry-run
obsidian-curator tidy --checks dupes,stubs
```

### Tasks (no AI needed)

```bash
obsidian-curator tasks                          # list open tasks
obsidian-curator tasks --project Work --priority high
obsidian-curator task "call dentist next Tuesday"   # create task (parses dates, priority, project)
obsidian-curator done "dentist"                     # mark done by partial title match
```

### Config

```bash
obsidian-curator config show
obsidian-curator config set ai.provider ollama
obsidian-curator config set vault.host 192.168.1.100
```

## Programmatic API

```js
const { VaultClient, Curator, createAIAdapter, loadConfig } = require('obsidian-curator');

const config = loadConfig();
const vault = new VaultClient(config.vault);
await vault.ping();
const ai = createAIAdapter(config);
const curator = new Curator({ vault, ai, config });

await curator.capture('Quick thought');
await curator.process({ limit: 5 });
await curator.file({ dryRun: true });
await curator.audit();
await curator.tidy({ checks: ['dupes', 'stubs'], dryRun: true });

const tasks = await curator.tasks({ status: 'open', project: 'Work' });
await curator.createTask('call Alice next Friday');
await curator.taskBrief();  // markdown summary
```

## AI Providers

| Provider | Cost | Privacy | Setup |
|----------|------|---------|-------|
| `none` | Free | Local | Default — rule-based features only |
| `ollama` | Free | Local | `config set ai.provider ollama` + model name |
| `openai` | Pay-per-use | Cloud | `config set ai.provider openai` + API key |
| `anthropic` | Pay-per-use | Cloud | `config set ai.provider anthropic` + API key |
| Custom/OpenRouter | Varies | Varies | Use `openai` provider with custom `baseUrl` |

## Vault Structure Presets

- **PARA:** inbox → Projects / Areas / Resources / Archives
- **Zettelkasten:** inbox → Slipbox / References / Projects / Archives
- **Johnny Decimal:** inbox → numbered category folders (00-09, 10-19, ...)
- **Flat:** inbox only, no enforced structure
- **Custom:** define your own canonical folders