Oppsyncer

Oppsyncer is a small Obsidian plugin that synchronizes a vault through a private GitHub repository on desktop and mobile without requiring a local Git binary.

It is designed for one person who edits one device at a time but wants protection from delayed polling, offline edits, or an accidentally stale second device.

Public beta: Oppsyncer is under active development. Test with a disposable vault and repository before trusting it with primary notes.

The synchronization rule

The first device that successfully advances the remote main branch wins. Oppsyncer never force-pushes main and does not create merge commits.

If two devices start from commit A, mobile pushes B, and desktop has an unpublished edit C, desktop performs this sequence:

1. Create a commit containing C.
2. Create and verify a branch such as obsyncer-recovery/desktop/2026-08-18T13-30-00Z-deadbeef.
3. Download B and make the local vault match it.
4. Notify the user where C can be recovered.

If both devices race to push, GitHub accepts only the first normal fast-forward update. The rejected candidate automatically becomes the losing device's recovery branch.

Safety properties

• No force update of the coordinated branch.
• No local overwrite until a recovery ref is created and read back successfully.
• One synchronization operation at a time; triggers are coalesced.
• Local changes are detected by content scan, not only by editor events.
• .obsidian synchronization is opt-in. Oppsyncer's credential/state file, workspaces, caches, file-recovery state, Obsidian Sync configuration, legacy sync metadata, SQLite sidecars, .git/**, Git control files, and .trash/** are never synchronized.
• Remote files are path-validated and downloaded blobs are SHA-verified before use.
• An unknown two-populated-side bootstrap stops instead of guessing.

Automatic behavior

• Local edits synchronize after two seconds of inactivity by default.
• Remote changes are polled every five seconds by default. Desktop polling keeps running while the Obsidian window is hidden or minimized, as long as the app itself remains open.
• Opening the vault or returning to the foreground requests reconciliation.
• Mobile operating systems may suspend Obsidian; synchronization resumes when Obsidian becomes active again.

Common small edits use GitHub's atomic commit mutation: the expected remote head, file changes, commit, and branch update are handled in one request. A stale device is rejected before the branch moves and follows the same verified recovery path. Large batches retain the Git Database fallback. Unchanged remote polls use ETags, and unchanged local files reuse their size, modification time, and verified Git blob hash.

Obsidian configuration

Enable Sync Obsidian configuration to synchronize safe files under the vault's configuration folder, normally .obsidian. This includes application settings, hotkeys, themes, snippets, community-plugin code and settings, and stable plugin data such as LearnKit's committed SQLite database files.

Hidden configuration changes are discovered by startup/foreground scans and a periodic full inventory. Some settings and newly downloaded plugins require an Obsidian restart before the app uses them.

The following remain device-local regardless of user exclusions:

• .obsidian/plugins/obsyncer/data.json* (GitHub token and sync baseline)
• .obsidian/workspace*.json, caches, and file-recovery state
• .obsidian/sync.json and legacy Git sync metadata/logs
• live SQLite -wal, -shm, and -journal sidecars

Other community plugins may store their own credentials in data.json. Add those paths under Additional exclusions before enabling configuration sync.

Initial setup

Oppsyncer requires a private GitHub repository and a fine-grained GitHub token limited to that repository with Contents: Read and write.

1. Install and enable Oppsyncer on the device that already contains your notes.
2. Open Settings → Oppsyncer, enter the token, repository owner, repository name, branch, and a recognizable device name.
3. Select Test, then Sync now. Use an empty GitHub repository for this first upload.
4. Install Oppsyncer on the second device and enter the same repository details with a different device name. Start with an empty vault, then select Sync now to download the remote vault.
5. Leave Automatic synchronization enabled. Oppsyncer syncs after local edits settle and polls for remote changes while the app is active.

The local vault name is only a display name. For example, a desktop vault named Obsidian Vault and a mobile vault named Testing can safely use the same repository. Oppsyncer pairs them using a repository identity stored at .obsyncer/vault.json; it does not require folder or vault names to match.

The first setup must have one empty side:

• Existing vault + empty GitHub repository: Oppsyncer initializes the remote.
• Empty vault + populated GitHub repository: Oppsyncer downloads the remote.
• Existing vault + populated repository without an Oppsyncer baseline: Oppsyncer stops and changes nothing.

Do not run Oppsyncer together with Obsidian Git, GitHub Gitless Sync, Obsidian Sync, Syncthing, or another tool that writes the same vault.

Data and privacy disclosures

• Account and network access: Oppsyncer requires a GitHub account and sends requests to api.github.com for only the repository configured in its settings. The recovery command can open the configured repository on github.com.
• Vault access: The plugin reads and writes included files inside the active vault. If configuration sync is enabled, it also accesses the vault's actual Obsidian configuration directory through Obsidian's adapter API. It does not access files outside the vault.
• Credential storage: The fine-grained GitHub token is stored locally using Obsidian's plugin data API. The field is masked in settings and Oppsyncer's data file is permanently excluded from synchronization, but the token is not encrypted at rest by this plugin.
• No tracking or monetization: Oppsyncer contains no telemetry, analytics, advertisements, payments, or paid features.

Development

pnpm install
pnpm run check

Maintainers can run pnpm test:github-live while authenticated with GitHub CLI. It creates a uniquely named private repository, verifies the sibling-commit race and recovery-ref behavior against GitHub, and deletes the repository afterward.

The production build produces main.js. For manual installation, copy main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css into:

<vault>/.obsidian/plugins/obsyncer/

License and attribution

Oppsyncer is a fork of GitHub Gitless Sync by Silvano Cerza. It remains licensed under AGPL-3.0-only; see LICENSE.