Library

Import your Obsidian vault

Bring an Obsidian vault into your Eden Library. Every note keeps its tags, its links to other notes, and its images. Works in the browser and the desktop app.

·4 min read

An Obsidian vault is a folder of markdown files, so Eden can read it directly. Importing puts every note in your Library as a real Eden note, with tags turned into Eden tags and wikilinks turned into links between your notes.

Nothing leaves your computer until you start the import. Eden reads the vault where it is, shows you a summary, and only then uploads the notes you are about to import.

What you get

  • One Eden note per markdown file. Headings, lists, checklists, tables, code blocks, and quotes all come across. Notes land in your Library only. No boards are created.
  • Folders become tags. Every folder on a note's path becomes a tag, parents included, so a note in Projects/Eden gets both Projects and Eden. Notes at the top of the vault get no folder tag.
  • Tags become Eden tags. Tags in a note's front matter and inline #tags in the text both become workspace tags. A tag you already have in Eden is reused with its colour; new ones start out gray. Nested tags like #ideas/content keep their full name.
  • Wikilinks become links between notes. [[Another note]] turns into a link to that note in Eden, and ![[Another note]] on its own line embeds it. Links to notes that are not in the vault turn into plain text rather than broken links.
  • Images and attachments ride along. Images referenced by a note are uploaded and shown in place. PDFs and other files are uploaded and linked.
  • Front matter is used, not shown. A title in the front matter becomes the note's title, and a created or date field sets the note's date so old notes land in the right place in your Library timeline.

Run the import

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    Go to Settings → Import

    Click Import from Obsidian on the Obsidian card.
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    Choose your vault

    Click Choose vault folder and pick the folder Obsidian opens (it has a hidden .obsidian folder inside). You can also drag the folder onto the window, or choose a zip of it.

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    Check the summary

    Eden shows how many notes, tags, and images it found, and which tags it will create or reuse. On a repeat import it also says how many notes are new, changed, or already up to date.

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    Import

    Click Import. Keep the window open while it runs; big vaults take a few minutes. When it finishes you see every tag with a count, and you can jump straight to the Library.

Running it again

Importing is safe to repeat. Eden remembers every file it has brought over by its path in the vault, so running the import again:

  • adds notes that are new in the vault,
  • updates notes you changed in Obsidian, as long as you have not edited them in Eden since the last import,
  • skips notes that have not changed, and
  • keeps any note you edited in Eden exactly as it is. Your edits always win.

If you delete an imported note in Eden, the next import brings it back. To keep a note out for good, remove it from the vault or leave it out of the folder you import.

Finding imported notes

In the Library, open the Filter menu and choose Obsidian under Imports to see only imported notes, or pick one of the imported tags. Every imported note also carries Obsidian as its source.

Removing everything

Changed your mind? On the Obsidian card in Settings → Import, click Remove imported notes. Every imported note moves to Trash, where you can restore it for 30 days. The tags stay, since you may have used them on other items by then.

Good to know

  • Spacing looks different. Obsidian needs a blank line between paragraphs; Eden's editor spaces paragraphs itself, so those blank lines are dropped on import. Blank lines inside code blocks are kept.
  • Very large notes are trimmed. A single note over roughly 180,000 characters is cut at that point with a marker.
  • Very large vaults. The import handles up to 5,000 notes at a time and files up to 15 MB each. Split a bigger vault into folders and import each one.
  • Free plan item cap. Imported notes count toward the Free plan's item limit. The summary warns you when the vault will not fit, and the import stops when the limit is reached; upgrade to continue.
  • Same file, two vaults. Notes are remembered by vault name plus path. If you rename the vault folder and import again, Eden treats it as a new vault and imports the notes again.
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