Guide: Add Obsidian Memory with Hindsight
If you want Obsidian memory with Hindsight, the setup is the Hindsight plugin for Obsidian. It syncs your vault into a Hindsight bank and adds a chat panel whose answers are grounded on your notes — and cite them. That gives you an agent that actually knows your vault, instead of a plain text search that can't reason across notes or keep a running synthesis as your vault grows.
This is a good fit for Obsidian because your knowledge already lives there. Sync is one-way, Obsidian → Hindsight, so your vault stays canonical. Every answer cites the note it came from so you can fix things at the source, and chat conversations are not stored by default. Edit a note, and Hindsight reconverges on the next sync — Hindsight never becomes a second source of truth.
This guide walks through installing the plugin, pointing it at your Hindsight backend, understanding how vault sync and scoping work, and a quick verification flow so you can confirm chat is grounded on your notes. Keep the docs home and the quickstart guide nearby while you work.
Quick answer
- Install the plugin via BRAT from the repo
vectorize-io/hindsight-obsidian, then enable it under Settings → Community plugins.- Open Settings → Hindsight and set the API URL and API key (Cloud), or point the API URL at your self-hosted server.
- Run Sync vault now to ingest your notes as Hindsight documents.
- Open the chat panel and ask a question — answers come back grounded, with citations.
- Verify that an answer cites the note the fact actually lives in.
Prerequisites
Before you start, make sure you have:
- Obsidian installed with an existing vault
- BRAT available to install beta plugins
- A reachable Hindsight backend, Hindsight Cloud or a self-hosted server
Step 1: Install the plugin
While the plugin is in beta, install it via BRAT. Add the repository vectorize-io/hindsight-obsidian — the dedicated plugin repo BRAT installs from — then enable it under Settings → Community plugins.
If you prefer to self-host Hindsight rather than use Cloud, run a local server:
pip install hindsight-all
export HINDSIGHT_API_LLM_API_KEY=your-openai-key
hindsight-api
Step 2: Point the plugin at Hindsight
Open Settings → Hindsight and configure the connection:
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| API URL | https://api.hindsight.vectorize.io | Hindsight server (use http://localhost:8888 for self-hosted) |
| API key | — | Hindsight Cloud API key |
| Bank name | obsidian | Shared bank for all vaults (separated by vault: tags) |
| Include / exclude folders | — | Limit which notes sync |
| Sync on edit | on | Re-ingest notes automatically as you edit |
| Default chat depth | low | Reflect budget for chat answers |
| Remember conversations | off | When on, chat turns are stored in Hindsight (creates memory outside your vault) |
For Hindsight Cloud, leave the API URL at its default and paste your API key. For a self-hosted server, set the API URL to http://localhost:8888 (or wherever your server runs).
Step 3: Sync your vault
Run the Sync vault now command to do a full reconcile — it ingests changed notes and prunes deleted ones. Two other commands are available:
- Sync vault now — full reconcile (ingest changed notes, prune deleted ones).
- Ingest current note — force-sync the active note.
- Open chat — open the grounded chat panel.
With Sync on edit left on, notes are re-ingested automatically as you edit, so you rarely need to sync by hand.
How the plugin uses memory
The plugin works at the two points Obsidian exposes: your notes and a chat panel.
- Sync (vault → Hindsight): each note becomes a Hindsight document. Edits upsert, deletes remove, and a content hash means unchanged notes are skipped. A local index of note path to content hash means only changed notes are re-ingested.
- Grounded chat (over the bank): the side panel answers questions over your notes via Reflect, with collapsible citations you can click to open the source note, and a reasoning disclosure showing what each step queried.
Because sync is one-way, your vault stays the source of truth. Every answer cites its source note so you fix things at the source, and chat conversations are not stored by default — edit a note and Hindsight reconverges on the next sync.
For lower-level behavior, read Hindsight's recall API and Hindsight's retain API.
Implicit scoping
Every note is auto-tagged on ingest with its vault, folder (and sub-folders), and created/updated dates. You never think about scope until you recall — then filter by any combination via Hindsight's tag_groups. Multiple vaults share one bank and stay separable by their vault: tag.
Recall and reflect, from the UI or an API call, can filter by any combination of:
| Dimension | Tag(s) |
|---|---|
| Vault | vault:<name> |
| Folder (+ ancestors) | folder:Work, folder:Work/Clients |
| Date | created:2026-03, updated:2026-06 |
Your own frontmatter tags and aliases are carried through too. Because the chat panel and your external automations hit the same bank with the same tags, they see the same scoped view.
Verify that memory is working
A good test sequence is:
- run Sync vault now so your notes are ingested
- open the chat panel
- ask a question whose answer lives in a specific note
- check that the answer comes back grounded and lists the note it used
- click the citation to confirm it opens the correct source note
For example:
- ask about a decision or convention recorded in one of your notes
- confirm the cited note is the one that actually contains it
If the answer surfaces the fact and cites the right note, the setup is working.
Common mistakes
Expecting a two-way sync
Sync is one-way, Obsidian → Hindsight. Your vault is canonical, so fix things by editing the note, not in Hindsight.
Not syncing before you chat
The chat panel answers over what has been ingested. Run Sync vault now (or leave Sync on edit on) so the bank reflects your current notes.
Expecting stored conversations by default
Remember conversations is off by default. Turn it on only if you want chat turns stored in Hindsight — that creates memory outside your vault.
Assuming vaults are isolated banks
Multiple vaults share one bank by default and stay separable by their vault: tag. Filter by vault:<name> when you want a single vault's view.
FAQ
Do I need Hindsight Cloud?
No. A self-hosted Hindsight server works too — install with pip install hindsight-all, run hindsight-api, and point the plugin's API URL at it (for example http://localhost:8888).
Does Hindsight become a second copy of my notes?
No. Sync is one-way and your vault stays the source of truth. Every answer cites its note so you fix things at the source, and Hindsight reconverges on the next sync.
How is my vault scoped?
Every note is auto-tagged with its vault, folder (and ancestors), and created/updated dates, so you can filter recall and reflect by any combination.
Are my chat conversations stored?
Not by default. Remember conversations is off unless you turn it on.
Next Steps
- Start with Hindsight Cloud if you want a hosted backend
- Read the full Hindsight docs
- Follow the quickstart guide
- Review Hindsight's recall API
- Review Hindsight's retain API
- Read the Obsidian integration docs