Obsidian for web

Maybe it will be easier to implement now that Visual Studio Code for the Web is available.

I had to subscribe to the forum to vote for this feature!

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Is the vault encrypted as a single large blob? If metadata and each file were encrypted independently, the web client could download/decrypt/upload all using local key.

The size of the vault wouldnā€™t matter (as much) and all HTTP and CDN caching strategies could be used as normal on top of encrypted files.

Iā€™d also love to see this. And it would be a significant value added to the sync subscription with little operational cost (mostly a static SPA)

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An alternative here could be that Obsidian provides an API to access the Obsidian Sync infrastructure, and the community builds a web app on top of that API

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It should be no problem for a web developer to create a virtual cloud PC with persistent storage with Obsidian and a vault on it. Then you have a web browser connect, log in, and view Obsidian via browser-hosted electron app, but that cloud machine is the background.

Making such a system a service that people can subscribe to is another step beyond.

2-way sync is logically optional for this configuration; a backup system is your alternative. But if someone wants the cloud and a local desktop version, then Sync is needed.

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Definitely would like this feature, and my use case is to self-host and make my vault available without having to install the software; personal preference.

As to the other points in this long and aged thread:

  • Whether or not to violate a companyā€™s IT policy is not the domain of a software company unless it is explicitly designed as a breaching tool. This is a decision which will be made by the user and the user alone pays the price should a violation to corporate policy occur.
  • There are many legitimate use cases for this feature and the request was made by many users in good faith.
  • What it looks like is that the company Obsidian is attempting to protect a paid product and/or service by denying this request. This is probably NOT the intent, but this is what it looks like since many large companies like Microsoft, Google, and Intuit do so frequently.
  • Obsidian is NOT open source software. Development of features and plugins must follow the appropriate licenses and policies.
  • Obsidian as a company should understand that if a companyā€™s policies and/or pricing become restrictive to enough legitimate use cases, that it will create demand for an alternative rather than constructive dialog improving the existing product.

My advice to the folks on this forum: please be respectful and constructive, working toward a positive outcome.

My advice to the company:

  • Develop this feature as well as a headless dockerized version that can be easily implemented by homelabbers and corporate customers alike.
  • As part of the configuration (admin) page for this revision, allow the administrators to prevent the upload and download of files if desired for security.
  • Issue a best practice whitepaper on how to lock down access to the web application and/or vault, allowing only those on the local VLAN, VPN segments, or SD-WAN to access the data store and/or application.
  • Doing do may speed the whitelisting in even the most restrictive IT environments.
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Sorry if that has been mentioned already and I realize we are asking for a first part solution but have you guys seen this - obsidian - LinuxServer.io
Basically just a KASM container with Obsidian installed.

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Just realised this is the most viewed thread in suggestions, and the second most replied as well.

Anyway, one other option for web access could be: create a CLI version on Obsidian that has core sync, which can run ā€˜headlessā€™ on a server, which can be accessed remotely via SSH (and web SSH is easy).

Thanks
andre

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Yeah, this would be super helpful, I hope you guys create a web version that can access our cloud saved professional / subscription account data. That would be really helpful for us that work with overly crazy security teams that forbid any applications being installed on our work machinesā€¦ or maybe do an electron version, that doesnā€™t require a local admin account to install. Either would be hugely helpful. Thank you!

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This is great idea! We can access the vault everywhere if thereā€™s a web-based version. I fell in love with the app weeks ago and now I am starting to realize itā€™s pretty difficult to install the app in every single computer I am working on.

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also need this.
I get that we want out data safe and local.
But sometimes, there is no env for us to use the desktop app.

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@rafaelliu, @tom14, @Kellerman, and anyone else concerned about keeping data save and encrypted:

Iā€™ve been using gocryptfs (source on GitHub), which supports Reverse Mode - allowing data to be stored encrypted at the remote, and decrypted only at the client machine.

Right now, Iā€™m encrypting/decrypting manually, but it would be nice to have some kind of integration directly in Obsidian, either in the current local app and also in this proposed web interface.

This is why Notion will be the market leader. Shame.

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for now :wink:

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For now notion is the leader, or Obsidian doesnā€™t have webapp? :slight_smile:

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Itā€™s been 4 years. Will Obsidian for Web ever be considered on the roadmap?

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Iā€™ve set it up in Kasm (container streaming to the browser). I think itā€™s doable but not in the same way that Notion can. There would have to be an incredibly complex layer or API overhaul to allow for certain community plugins to work just for the browser version. Kasm and VNC and remote desktop gateways + browser are really the only way to access Obsidian as it currently is (from the browser).

Iā€™ve got a workspace in my vault where Iā€™m playing around with these ideas. Iā€™m an InfoSec manager and love Obsidian but it presents potential privilege escalation and third-party code issues (plugins).

If you want to account for the glaring plugin trust issue, then you need a PAM system, or application whitelisting solution, and/or file permissions to make it so that there is a way to approve and whitelist plugin files in the ā€œpluginsā€ directory. This is something Iā€™m trying to figure out how to do in the next several months.

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Any official developments?

I truly hope we get this sooner than later

This could make Obsidian appealing to a wider demographic and make it on par with the competition (Notion).

If Obsidian for the web is ever implemented, I would seriously consider switching to it if it meant that community plugins wouldnā€™t have access to all files on my computer, which they do currently :roll_eyes:

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@kreendurron Having a web versions wouldnā€™t circumvent corporate policy. Not sure where you got that idea from.