New Plugin: Vault AI Chat with RAG, file deletion/creation, AI generated content, AI summarization

ThanosWasRight · December 29, 2025, 8:08pm

Vault AI Chat - Obsidian Plugin

An AI-powered chat assistant that lives inside your Obsidian vault. Ask questions, get answers based on your notes, and manage files directly from the chat interface.

Features

AI Chat

Chat with AI right inside Obsidian
AI reads your notes for context (RAG - Retrieval Augmented Generation)
Supports multiple AI providers
Streaming responses for real-time feedback

File Operations

Manage your vault directly from the chat with slash commands:

Create files and folders
Delete files and folders
Append text to existing files
Read and list files

AI-Powered Writing

Generate complete notes with AI
Save any AI response as a note
Copy responses to clipboard

Installation

Option 1: Pre-built (Easy)

Download vault-ai-chat-v1.1.1.zip
Extract the zip file
Copy the 3 files (main.js, manifest.json, styles.css) to:
```
YourVault/.obsidian/plugins/vault-ai-chat/
```
Create the vault-ai-chat folder if it doesn’t exist
Restart Obsidian
Go to Settings → Community Plugins → Enable “Vault AI Chat”

Option 2: Build from Source

See the Building from Source section below.

Configuration

Open Obsidian Settings
Go to “Vault AI Chat” in the left sidebar
Choose your AI provider and enter your API key
Select a model
Click “Test” to verify the connection

Supported Providers

Provider	Description	Get API Key
OpenRouter	Access to many AI models (Claude, GPT-4, Llama, etc.)	openrouter.ai/keys
Google AI	Gemini models (2.0, 2.5)	aistudio.google
Ollama	Run AI locally on your computer (free!)	ollama.ai
MiniMax	MiniMax M2 models	platform.minimax.i
OpenAI Compatible	Any API that works like OpenAI (DeepSeek, Groq, Z.AI GLM, local LLMs)	Varies

Commands Reference

File Operations

Command	Aliases	What it does	Example
`/create <path>`	`/new`, `/touch`	Creates an empty file	`/create Projects/ideas`
`/generate <title>`	`/gen`, `/ai`	AI writes content for you	`/generate Weekly Plan`
`/delete <file>`	`/rm`	Deletes a file	`/delete old-draft`
`/append <file> <text>`	`/add`	Adds text to end of file	`/append Journal.md Great day!`
`/read <file>`	`/cat`	Shows file contents	`/read README`
`/list [folder]`	`/ls`	Lists files	`/list Projects`
`/save`		Saves last AI response	`/save`

Folder Operations

Command	Aliases	What it does	Example
`/mkdir <path>`	`/folder`	Creates a folder	`/mkdir Projects/2024`
`/rmdir <path>`	`/deletefolder`	Deletes folder + contents	`/rmdir Old Stuff`

Chat Commands

Command	What it does
`/help`	Shows all commands
`/clear`	Clears chat history

Usage Examples

Creating Files

/create quick-note              → Creates quick-note.md in vault root
/create Projects/meeting-notes  → Creates Projects/meeting-notes.md
/create Archive/2024/January    → Creates file with nested folders

AI-Generated Content

/generate Weekly Planning       → AI writes a weekly planning template
/generate Project Proposal      → AI creates a project proposal
/generate Study Notes: Biology  → AI writes study notes

Natural Language

You can also just ask naturally:

“Write a note about productivity tips” → AI generates content with a save button
“Create a meal plan for next week” → AI writes it, you click save

File Management

/mkdir Projects/2024/Q1         → Creates nested folder structure
/list Projects                  → Shows files in Projects folder
/read README                    → Displays README.md contents
/append Daily Log.md Had lunch  → Adds text to Daily Log.md
/delete old-draft               → Deletes old-draft.md (with confirmation)
/rmdir Archive/Old              → Deletes folder and everything inside

Settings

Chat Settings

Chat folder: Where saved chats go (default: “AI Chats”)
Enhanced notes folder: Where AI-generated notes go (default: “Enhanced Notes”)
Max context files: How many of your notes the AI sees (1-20)
Max tokens: Length of AI responses (500-8000)
Temperature: Creativity level (0 = focused, 1 = creative)

Security Note

API keys are stored in your plugin settings. If you use Obsidian Sync, these may sync across devices. For sensitive keys, consider using the OpenAI Compatible option with environment variables.

Building from Source

Prerequisites:

Node.js (version 16 or newer) - Download here
A code editor (VS Code recommended)
Basic familiarity with the command line/terminal

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Get the source code

# If you have the source zip, extract it to a folder
# Or clone from git if available

Step 2: Open a terminal/command prompt

Windows: Press Win + R, type cmd, press Enter
Mac: Press Cmd + Space, type Terminal, press Enter
Linux: Press Ctrl + Alt + T

Step 3: Navigate to the plugin folder

cd path/to/vault-ai-chat

(Replace path/to/vault-ai-chat with the actual folder location)

Step 4: Install dependencies

npm install

This downloads all the required code libraries. It may take a minute.

Step 5: Build the plugin

npm run build

This compiles the TypeScript code into JavaScript that Obsidian can run.

Step 6: Copy to Obsidian
After building, you’ll have these files:

main.js
manifest.json
styles.css

Copy all three to your Obsidian vault:

YourVault/.obsidian/plugins/vault-ai-chat/

Step 7: Enable the plugin

Restart Obsidian
Go to Settings → Community Plugins
Find “Vault AI Chat” and enable it

Development Mode (for making changes)

npm run dev

This watches for changes and rebuilds automatically.

Project Structure

vault-ai-chat/
├── main.ts                 # Plugin entry point
├── manifest.json           # Plugin metadata
├── styles.css             # UI styling
├── package.json           # Node.js dependencies
├── tsconfig.json          # TypeScript configuration
├── esbuild.config.mjs     # Build configuration
└── src/
    ├── core/
    │   ├── provider.ts           # LLM provider interface
    │   ├── providers/            # Provider implementations
    │   │   ├── openrouter.ts
    │   │   ├── google-ai.ts
    │   │   ├── ollama.ts
    │   │   ├── minimax.ts
    │   │   └── openai-compatible.ts
    │   ├── grounding/
    │   │   ├── vault-search.ts   # Searches your notes
    │   │   └── context-builder.ts
    │   └── templates/
    │       └── note-templates.ts
    ├── storage/
    │   ├── settings.ts           # Plugin settings
    │   └── chat-persistence.ts   # Saves chat history
    ├── commands/
    │   └── commands.ts           # Obsidian commands
    └── ui/
        ├── chat-view.ts          # Main chat interface
        └── settings-tab.ts       # Settings page

Troubleshooting

“No AI provider configured”

→ Go to Settings → Vault AI Chat and enter your API key

“Authentication Error”

→ Check that your API key is correct and has credit/quota

“Model Not Found”

→ The model name may be wrong. Check the provider’s documentation.

Chat is slow

→ Try a faster model (e.g., gemini-2.0-flash or gpt-3.5-turbo)

Responses are cut off

→ Increase “Max tokens” in settings

Plugin doesn’t appear

→ Make sure all 3 files are in the plugin folder and restart Obsidian

Changelog

v1.1.1

Fixed folder/file deletion on OneDrive and cloud-synced vaults
Now uses trash instead of permanent delete (recoverable!)
Better error messages with helpful tips

v1.1.0

/create now creates empty files (use /generate for AI content)
Added /generate command for AI-written notes
Added /rmdir command to delete folders
Added /touch alias for /create
Improved /help with comprehensive command list

v1.0.x

Initial release
Chat interface with streaming
Multiple AI provider support
File operations (create, delete, append, read, list)
Folder creation
Save responses as notes

License

MIT License - feel free to use, modify, and distribute.

Credits

Built for Obsidian by Mark Allen.

Uses the Obsidian Plugin API and various AI provider APIs.

ThanosWasRight · December 29, 2025, 8:13pm

To download
mallen-lbx/Obsidian-vault-ai-chat

ThanosWasRight · December 29, 2025, 8:27pm

You can use Google AI, OpenRouter, MiniMax, and OpenAI (also accepts OpenAP compatible)