FAQ
Recurring questions, with the shortest useful answer.
How is this different from Obsidian Sync, Syncthing, or Dropbox?
| obsidian-remote-ssh | Obsidian Sync | Syncthing / Dropbox | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where files live | One canonical copy on YOUR remote host | Cloud (Obsidian’s servers) | Replicated across all your devices |
| Auth | Your SSH keys | Obsidian account | Service account |
| Conflict model | mtime preconditions; daemon-mediated | Vector clock; cloud-mediated | File-modified-time; risk of *-conflict-... files |
| What if the cloud goes down | N/A — there is no cloud | Vault inaccessible until restored | Local copy still usable |
| Cost | Self-hosted (free) | Subscription | Free tier varies |
| Mobile | Not yet | Yes | Yes (limited Android sandbox) |
The right pick depends on your trust model + ops appetite. If you already have a server you trust and do not want a third-party cloud in the loop, this plugin is for you.
For an expanded breakdown that also covers Obsidian Git, Nextcloud, and the Remotely Save plugin, see the full comparison page.
Does it work on mobile?
Not yet. Tracked under the mobile-relay milestone. The current architecture spawns a daemon binary on the remote, which works fine on a desktop where Obsidian is Electron. Mobile (iOS / Android Obsidian) needs a relay component because the OS does not allow Obsidian to spawn arbitrary subprocesses.
Can I use this with multiple clients editing the same vault?
Yes — designed for it. Each client gets its own shadow vault and its own daemon session. Conflicts surface via the conflict handling flow.
The known sharp edge: workspace state (open tabs, pane sizes) is per-client, stored under .obsidian/user/<client-id>/. Some plugins put workspace-like state in the main .obsidian/workspace.json instead, and those still race. We do not have a good fix yet — open an issue if you hit this.
Does it support Windows / Linux / macOS as the LOCAL machine?
Yes, all three. Local OS is just where Obsidian runs.
Does it support Windows as the REMOTE host?
Not currently. The daemon is built for Linux (amd64 / arm64) and macOS (Intel / Apple Silicon). Windows + WSL works (treat WSL as the remote — the daemon runs Linux). Native Windows + OpenSSH server is on the roadmap but not started.
Can I use it without the daemon (SFTP-only)?
Yes — set the profile Mode to sftp. No daemon deployment, slower per-op latency (~50–100 ms vs ~5–10 ms), and no fs.watch push notifications (the plugin polls for changes instead). Useful when you cannot deploy a binary on the remote (locked-down hosting, restricted shell, etc.).
Does the plugin upload anything to a third party?
No. All traffic is over your SSH connection to your host. Telemetry counters (opt-in, off by default) are local-only — there is no “phone home” path in the codebase.
Why a separate known_hosts from ~/.ssh/known_hosts?
Trust scoping. See Host-key trust for the long answer.
Does the plugin re-deploy the daemon every time I connect?
No — the plugin has a reuse probe that runs first (step 2 in auto-deploy). If your previous daemon’s socket + token are still healthy and the protocol version matches, it attaches and skips the binary upload entirely (~1 s reconnect instead of ~5 s).
The deploy fallback only fires when the probe fails — typically because the daemon isn’t running yet (first connect or after a reboot), the token is gone, or the daemon’s protocol version doesn’t match what the current plugin bundle expects.
Run your remote daemon under systemd and the reuse path will pick it up cleanly on every connect — no extra flag needed.
How do I uninstall cleanly?
Local:
- Disable the plugin in Obsidian → Community Plugins.
- Delete
<vault>/.obsidian/plugins/remote-ssh/.
Remote (each host you connected to):
ssh user@host
pkill -f obsidian-remote-server
rm -rf ~/.obsidian-remote/Vault files themselves are untouched. The plugin does not touch any system files.
How do I report a security issue?
GitHub Security Advisories: obsidian-remote-ssh/security/advisories/new. Coordinated disclosure preferred.
I want feature X. Where do I ask?
Open a GitHub discussion for “would be nice” features, or a GitHub issue if it is a concrete bug or a planned-feature ask. PRs welcome — see the contributor docs.