Notes WiFi Sync
Emran Seid255 downloadsTwo-way sync of a chosen folder (or whole vault) between Obsidian vaults over WiFi.
- Overview
- Scorecard
- Updates3
Your vault. Your network. No clouds, no accounts, no monthly fees.
Notes WiFi Sync turns any Obsidian vault into a peer-to-peer syncing machine that talks directly between your devices over WiFi — the way your files should travel: fast, private, and never leaving your home network.
Forget emailing notes to yourself. Forget third-party sync folders. Pair your devices once with a 6-digit code, pick a folder, and let your notes fly.
✨ Why you'll love it
| 🛰️ True peer-to-peer | Devices sync directly. No server, no cloud, no "sync through the mothership" roundtrip. Your data stays your data. |
| 🐿 Dumb-simple pairing | A 6-digit code on one device, confirm on the other. That's it. Bluetooth-style, without Bluetooth. |
| 🧭 Auto-discovery | Desktops on the same network find each other automatically. No IP-typing archaeology. |
| ⚖️ You stay in control | A compare screen shows which files differ, with sizes, so you choose Push / Pull / Skip per file — or grab everything. |
| ⏱️ Live progress bar | Watch your files transfer in real time, in batches. |
| 🔔 Two-way notifications | The sender sees progress and the receiver confirms what landed. No more guessing. |
| 📱 Mobile-friendly flow | Phones connect to a desktop host by IP (phones can't host), and the plugin spots this and guides you through it. |
| 🎯 Your pick, your rules | Sync a single folder or the whole vault — whatever you actually need. |
| 🔁 Auto-sync mode | Let it quietly stay in sync on a timer, or hit Sync now — newest edit wins. |
| ⚡ Live sync | Edit a note and push it to your devices within seconds — no waiting for the timer. |
| 📄 Extension filter | Only sync the file types you care about (markdown by default). |
| 🧬 Merge mode | If two sides edit at once, keep both — nothing silently overwritten. |
| ↩️ Undo | Snapshots of recent edits let you roll back after a sync. |
| ⏸️ Pause & resume | Pause all sync mid-transfer and finish exactly where you left off. |
| 📲 QR pairing | Scan a QR to pull in the host's address and port instead of typing them. |
| 💾 Backup export | Download the synced folder (and the transfer log) as a ZIP at any time. |
| 📜 Activity log | A capped history of every transfer, conflict, and backup. |
| 🎨 Device avatars | Color-coded initial discs make your devices easy to tell apart. |
🚀 Install
Option A — Community plugins (once approved)
Settings → Community plugins → Browse → search "Notes WiFi Sync".
Option B — Manual / sideload
- Download the latest release.
- Drop
main.js,manifest.json, andstyles.cssinto<your vault>/.obsidian/plugins/notes-wifi-sync/. - Enable it in Settings → Community plugins.
📖 Usage in 5 steps
- Install on both devices — desktop↔desktop or desktop↔phone. 🖥️📱
- Desktop↔Desktop? Auto-discovery does the work.
- Phone + Desktop? On the phone, press Add device and enter the desktop's IP and port (default
39991). - Pair once with the 6-digit code. ✅
- Pick your folder on each side, then Compare & sync to hand-pick files or Sync now to merge automatically.
💡 Mobile → desktop: phones can't be reached back (they can't host a server), so always hit Sync on the phone first.
🛠️ Development
A refreshingly simple structure — everything you need, nothing you don't:
│
├── main.js # All the magic: discovery, pairing, server, sync engine, UI
├── manifest.json # Plugin metadata & version
├── styles.css # Modals and settings styling
├── versions.json # Obsidian compatibility map
└── README.md # You are here ✋
🔒 Privacy, security & network use
Your notes never leave your local network. This plugin has no cloud, no server-side accounts, and no telemetry — nothing is ever sent to any third party or company.
How it uses the network (all local LAN only, honoring Obsidian's Developer Policies):
- Local HTTP server — a desktop device listens on port
39991(configurable) to serve file listings and file content to paired peers. You pick the port. - Local UDP broadcast & subnet scan — used for device auto-discovery and manual IP connection on the same network only.
- What is transferred — file paths, modified times, and note content of the sync folder you chose, sent directly between your own devices over plain HTTP within your LAN.
- Authentication — per-device 6‑digit pairing codes, confirmed by you on each device. Requests to data endpoints must present the code; peers you never paired with get a
403. - Your control — the compare UI shows exactly which files differ, and you decide what to pull, push, or skip. Nothing transfers without your say-so.
⚠️ Security note: transfers inside your LAN are not encrypted at rest or in transit. Use Notes WiFi Sync on networks you trust (your home or office WiFi), not on open public networks where others could capture traffic. Because the server listens on your LAN, anyone with your pairing code and device ID could read your notes — treat the pairing code with the same care as a password.
No files outside your chosen vault folder are ever read or written.
📜 License
MIT — free as in notes.
Made with ❤️ for Obsidian users who trust their own WiFi more than "the cloud".