Obsidian vs Reflect
Obsidian wins · 25–7 (21 drawn)
Agenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness
How well agents can access and operate the product
Agent access
ai-native userPoint an agent at llms.txt or agent-oriented docs
weight 2 · round drawnObsidiannone0/10The axis applies to this product kind (peer products hold positive or none verdicts on this story), so lack of evidence for an applicable capability is "none", never "na". (na/none harmonized at arena bring-up — see pipeline/scripts/na-harmonize.ts.)
ai-native userRun the product headlessly / in CI for automation
weight 2 · round to ObsidianObsidiandisputedcontradicted4/10Vendor docs claim an Obsidian Sync 'headless client' explicitly designed for CI pipelines and automated agent workflows, but the independent runtime probe found Obsidian ships no official CLI or vendor automation interface, with only community-built (unofficial) tooling for programmatic access — directly contradicting the headless-CI claim. Missing for 10: independent confirmation the headless Sync client actually exists and works, official CLI documentation, and evidence of real CI usage.
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian Sync offers a headless client to sync vaults without using the desktop app. Useful for CI pipelines, agents, and automated workflow…”
- [probe] “PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counte…”
ai-native userPlug MCP servers into this product so it can use their tools
weight 3 · round to ObsidianObsidian has no first-party MCP client/server integration; the only evidence is a runtime probe noting that MCP support exists solely via unofficial community plugins, with no vendor-documented feature. missing for 10: official MCP client documentation, first-party plugin support, hands-on evidence of using MCP tools inside Obsidian.
- [probe] “PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counte…”
ai-native userConnect an agent via an official MCP server
weight 3 · round drawnObsidiannone0/10Obsidian is a note-taking platform (not itself an agent), so an official MCP server is a fair ecosystem question, but the evidence explicitly states Obsidian ships no official CLI or vendor MCP server, with MCP integrations existing only as community projects.
- [probe] “PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counte…”
ai-native userUse an official CLI
weight 2 · round drawnObsidiannone0/10Evidence explicitly confirms Obsidian ships no official CLI (the probe notes only community MCP servers exist, and no CLI is mentioned anywhere in docs). Missing for 10: any official CLI tool, documentation of CLI commands, or first-party automation interface for AI-native/agentic workflows.
- [probe] “PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counte…”
ai-native userDrive the product through a documented public API
weight 3 · round drawnObsidian exposes a documented TypeScript Plugin API (obsidian-api on GitHub, e.g. the Vault interface) and a custom URI protocol for triggering actions like opening/creating notes, giving programmatic control over the app. However this requires building/compiling a plugin rather than calling a simple REST/HTTP API, and the probe explicitly notes Obsidian ships no official CLI or vendor MCP server, with MCP integrations being community-built. Missing for 10: a first-party REST/HTTP or MCP API surface for external agent control, and evidence of AI-native workflows actually driving Obsidian via the documented API.
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian URI is a custom URI protocol supported by Obsidian that lets you trigger various actions, such as opening a note or creating a note…”
- [github] “Vault, the interface that lets you interact with files and folders in the vault.”
- [github] “`Vault`, the interface that lets you interact with files and folders in the vault.”
- [claimed-docs] “Build plugins to extend the existing functionality in Obsidian using TypeScript.”
- [claimed-docs] “Plugins let you extend Obsidian with your own features to create a custom note-taking experience.”
- [probe] “PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counte…”
Reflect documents a public REST API with OAuth2 (including PKCE) authentication for building third-party clients, and a runtime probe confirms the API endpoint is live and enforces auth as documented. However the API is explicitly limited to appending data and listing bookmarked links (not full CRUD due to E2E encryption), and there is no formal OpenAPI/swagger spec or llms.txt discoverability (both probed and returned 404s). Missing for 10: comprehensive OpenAPI/swagger schema, broader read/write API coverage beyond append-only actions, official SDKs, and machine-readable API discovery file.
- [claimed-docs] “For authentication, we support OAuth 2. You will need to create credentials here.”
- [claimed-docs] “Our supports appending data to your notes, returning a list of the links you've bookmarked, and a few other things.”
- [claimed-docs] “We do support OAuth's PKCE extension which means you can build a client to Reflect without shipping secret keys around.”
- [probe] “PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): keyless GET to the documented REST base https://reflect.app/api/graphs returned HTTP 401 {"error":{"typ…”
- [probe] “PROBE llms.txt: HTTP 404 at https://reflect.academy/llms.txt”
- [probe] “PROBE openapi: all candidate paths 404 (https://reflect.academy/openapi.json, https://reflect.academy/swagger.json, https://reflect.academy/…”
ai-native userIssue scoped/least-privilege API credentials for an agent
weight 2 · round drawnObsidiannone0/10No evidence of scoped/least-privilege API credential issuance for agents; Obsidian has no official API/credential system, and community plugins run with full filesystem/network access rather than restricted permissions (obsidian-comm-10). No mention of any credentialing or permission-scoping mechanism anywhere in the docs.
- [community] “Confirmed via Obsidian's own docs: there is no sandboxing at all for community plugins - every plugin has full access to your computer's fil…”
- [probe] “PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counte…”
Reflectnone0/10Reflect's API docs describe OAuth2 with PKCE (no secret keys needed) for authenticating a client, but there is no mention of scopes, granular permissions, or the ability to issue least-privilege credentials limited to specific actions/data for an agent — the API is described as a general append/list interface, not a scoped credentialing system.
- [claimed-docs] “For authentication, we support OAuth 2. You will need to create credentials here.”
- [claimed-docs] “Our supports appending data to your notes, returning a list of the links you've bookmarked, and a few other things.”
- [claimed-docs] “We do support OAuth's PKCE extension which means you can build a client to Reflect without shipping secret keys around.”
ai-native userBuild against official SDKs
weight 2 · round to ObsidianObsidian ships an official, documented Plugin API/SDK (TypeScript) with a public GitHub repo (obsidian-api) and developer docs for building plugins, themes, and extensions, giving AI-native developers a real, first-party surface to build against. However, there is no official MCP server or AI-specific SDK/CLI (confirmed absent in the probe), plugins run with full filesystem/network access without sandboxing (community-verified), and Restricted Mode blocks third-party code by default — meaning agentic integration relies on community-built connectors rather than an official agent-facing SDK. Missing for 10: an official MCP server or AI/agent SDK, an official CLI, and evidence of first-party sandboxing suitable for autonomous agent code.
- [claimed-docs] “In this tutorial, you'll compile a sample plugin from source code and load it into Obsidian.”
- [claimed-docs] “Build plugins to extend the existing functionality in Obsidian using TypeScript.”
- [claimed-docs] “you'll compile a sample plugin from source code and load it into Obsidian.”
- [claimed-docs] “Plugins let you extend Obsidian with your own features to create a custom note-taking experience.”
- [github] “Vault, the interface that lets you interact with files and folders in the vault.”
- [github] “`Vault`, the interface that lets you interact with files and folders in the vault.”
- [claimed-docs] “By default, Obsidian runs in Restricted Mode to prevent third-party code execution.”
- [community] “Confirmed via Obsidian's own docs: there is no sandboxing at all for community plugins - every plugin has full access to your computer's fil…”
- [probe] “PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counte…”
Reflect exposes a documented REST API with OAuth2/PKCE authentication that developers can build against, confirmed live via probe, but there is no dedicated SDK package, no OpenAPI/swagger spec, and no llms.txt for AI-native tooling — the API itself is limited (append-only, no note read due to E2E encryption). missing for 10: official SDK libraries, OpenAPI spec, llms.txt/AI-friendly docs, read access to note content.
- [claimed-docs] “For authentication, we support OAuth 2. You will need to create credentials here.”
- [claimed-docs] “Our supports appending data to your notes, returning a list of the links you've bookmarked, and a few other things.”
- [claimed-docs] “We do support OAuth's PKCE extension which means you can build a client to Reflect without shipping secret keys around.”
- [probe] “PROBE llms.txt: HTTP 404 at https://reflect.academy/llms.txt”
- [probe] “PROBE openapi: all candidate paths 404 (https://reflect.academy/openapi.json, https://reflect.academy/swagger.json, https://reflect.academy/…”
- [probe] “PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): keyless GET to the documented REST base https://reflect.app/api/graphs returned HTTP 401 {"error":{"typ…”
ai-native userSubscribe to events via webhooks
weight 2 · round drawnObsidiannone0/10No evidence in the pack of Obsidian offering webhooks or an event-subscription API; the plugin system exposes in-app events (e.g., Vault interface) but nothing about outbound webhook subscriptions, and the probe explicitly notes no official MCP/CLI or webhook-style integration exists, only community projects.
Reflectnone0/10Reflect's API docs describe OAuth2-based REST access for appending/reading data, but there is no mention of webhooks or event subscriptions anywhere in the docs or probes; the API is described as append-only and pull-based, not event-driven.
- [claimed-docs] “For authentication, we support OAuth 2. You will need to create credentials here.”
- [claimed-docs] “Our supports appending data to your notes, returning a list of the links you've bookmarked, and a few other things.”
- [claimed-docs] “We do support OAuth's PKCE extension which means you can build a client to Reflect without shipping secret keys around.”
- [probe] “PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): keyless GET to the documented REST base https://reflect.app/api/graphs returned HTTP 401 {"error":{"typ…”
Agentic features
ai-native userGet AI-generated insights and suggestions from my data inside the product
weight 2 · round to ReflectObsidiannone0/10Obsidian's core product has no first-party AI-generated insights or suggestions feature; the only AI capability comes from third-party community plugins (e.g., Text-Generator), and community evidence explicitly notes 'no decent RAG functionality among Obsidian AI plugins,' indicating this is not a native, reliable capability of the product itself.
- [community] “There's no decent RAG functionality among Obsidian AI plugins, but the Text-Generator plugin with links/backlinks pulled into inference cont…”
- [probe] “PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counte…”
Reflect's AI palette lets users summarize meeting notes into action items/key takeaways, ask free-form questions, chat with filtered notes, and choose between GPT-4o and Claude 3.5 Sonnet — clear AI-generated insight/suggestion features built into the product. Missing for 10: independent/hands-on validation of insight quality and any proactive (vs. purely on-demand) suggestion generation.
- [claimed-docs] “List action-items and key takeaways from meeting notes”
- [claimed-docs] “You can also ask the AI palette anything you’d like using the open text field, and save it as a custom prompt to quickly call on again later…”
- [claimed-docs] “To use it, first highlight some text, and then press `cmd j`... That’ll popup the AI palette.”
- [claimed-docs] “You can also **ask the AI palette anything** you’d like using the open text field, and save it as a custom prompt to quickly call on again l…”
- [claimed-docs] “Reflect's AI tools give you the option to now use either GPT-4o (the latest model from OpenAI) or Claude 3.5 Sonnet (the latest model from A…”
- [claimed-docs] “you can also “chat” with those specific notes to ask questions and extract information.”
- [claimed-docs] “After applying any desired filters to the search, you can also “chat” with those specific notes to ask questions and extract information.”
ai-native userSet up automations that run autonomously in the background
weight 2 · round drawnObsidiannone0/10The evidence pack shows Obsidian's plugin architecture, URI protocol for triggering actions, and a large community-plugin ecosystem, but nothing demonstrates autonomous background automation (e.g., scheduled/triggered agent-like workflows running without user interaction). The probe explicitly notes no official CLI or vendor MCP server, and Restricted Mode by default blocks third-party code execution unless manually enabled, further undercutting any 'runs autonomously in background' claim.
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian URI is a custom URI protocol supported by Obsidian that lets you trigger various actions, such as opening a note or creating a note…”
- [claimed-docs] “By default, Obsidian runs in Restricted Mode to prevent third-party code execution.”
- [probe] “PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counte…”
Reflectnone0/10Reflect is a note-taking app with integrations, deep links, and an append-only API, but there is no evidence of any automation/workflow engine, scheduler, or trigger system that runs autonomously in the background without user action. Integrations (Trello, Asana, calendar sync) are passive data pulls, not user-configured autonomous automations.
ai-native userDelegate tasks to a built-in AI assistant inside the product
weight 3 · round to ReflectObsidiannone0/10There is no evidence of a built-in AI assistant in Obsidian; all AI-related capability mentioned (e.g., Text-Generator plugin) is explicitly a third-party community plugin, not a native feature, and the probe confirms no official vendor MCP server or AI tooling. Community plugins requiring full filesystem access (obsidian-comm-10) are the only AI-adjacent route, but that's an ecosystem extension, not a delegated built-in assistant.
- [community] “There's no decent RAG functionality among Obsidian AI plugins, but the Text-Generator plugin with links/backlinks pulled into inference cont…”
- [probe] “PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counte…”
- [community] “Confirmed via Obsidian's own docs: there is no sandboxing at all for community plugins - every plugin has full access to your computer's fil…”
Reflect ships a built-in 'AI palette' that can summarize notes, list action items, answer custom prompts, and let users 'chat' with their notes using GPT-4o or Claude 3.5 Sonnet — a real in-app AI assistant a user can delegate simple analysis/writing tasks to. However, this is limited to text generation/QA over notes rather than broader agentic task execution (no evidence of multi-step autonomous actions, tool use, or task automation beyond note content). Missing for 10: evidence of autonomous multi-step task delegation, agentic tool-use/actions beyond text Q&A, and independent hands-on verification of the AI assistant's reliability.
- [claimed-docs] “List action-items and key takeaways from meeting notes”
- [claimed-docs] “You can also ask the AI palette anything you’d like using the open text field, and save it as a custom prompt to quickly call on again later…”
- [claimed-docs] “To use it, first highlight some text, and then press `cmd j`... That’ll popup the AI palette.”
- [claimed-docs] “You can also **ask the AI palette anything** you’d like using the open text field, and save it as a custom prompt to quickly call on again l…”
- [claimed-docs] “Reflect's AI tools give you the option to now use either GPT-4o (the latest model from OpenAI) or Claude 3.5 Sonnet (the latest model from A…”
- [claimed-docs] “you can also “chat” with those specific notes to ask questions and extract information.”
ai-native userOperate the product with natural-language commands
weight 2 · round to ReflectObsidiannone0/10Obsidian's own docs describe a traditional Command Palette, keyboard shortcuts, and a plugin API, but there is no first-party natural-language command interface; the probe explicitly notes Obsidian ships no official CLI or vendor MCP server, with any LLM/NL functionality (e.g. Text-Generator plugin) coming from community plugins rather than the product itself.
- [claimed-docs] “Tabs, Command Palette, plugins,”
- [probe] “PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counte…”
- [community] “There's no decent RAG functionality among Obsidian AI plugins, but the Text-Generator plugin with links/backlinks pulled into inference cont…”
Reflect's AI palette lets users type natural-language prompts to summarize, extract action items, or chat with notes (cmd-j palette, custom prompts), and search supports semantic natural-language queries. However, this NL support is limited to content Q&A/summarization rather than controlling the app's actions—actual app commands are exposed via structured deep-link URLs (reflect://...&command=...) rather than natural language, so full agentic NL control is not evidenced. Missing for 10: evidence of NL commands driving app actions (e.g., creating/organizing notes, triggering integrations) beyond querying/summarizing content, and any independent/hands-on confirmation of this NL interface's reliability.
- [claimed-docs] “You can also ask the AI palette anything you’d like using the open text field, and save it as a custom prompt to quickly call on again later…”
- [claimed-docs] “To use it, first highlight some text, and then press `cmd j`... That’ll popup the AI palette.”
- [claimed-docs] “You can also **ask the AI palette anything** you’d like using the open text field, and save it as a custom prompt to quickly call on again l…”
- [claimed-docs] “you can also “chat” with those specific notes to ask questions and extract information.”
- [claimed-docs] “After applying any desired filters to the search, you can also “chat” with those specific notes to ask questions and extract information.”
- [claimed-docs] “reflect://reflect?command=<command_name>&<parameter1>=<value1>&...”
Api quality
ai-native userExplore an interactive API reference with runnable examples
weight 2 · round drawnObsidiannone0/10The axis applies to this product kind (peer products hold positive or none verdicts on this story), so lack of evidence for an applicable capability is "none", never "na". (na/none harmonized at arena bring-up — see pipeline/scripts/na-harmonize.ts.)
Reflectnone0/10Reflect's API docs (reflect.academy/api) describe OAuth2 endpoints and PKCE support in prose, but there is no evidence of an interactive API reference with runnable examples — probes confirm no OpenAPI/Swagger spec (404s) and no llms.txt, and nothing in the docs shows a live sandbox or try-it-now console.
- [claimed-docs] “For authentication, we support OAuth 2. You will need to create credentials here.”
- [claimed-docs] “Our supports appending data to your notes, returning a list of the links you've bookmarked, and a few other things.”
- [claimed-docs] “We do support OAuth's PKCE extension which means you can build a client to Reflect without shipping secret keys around.”
- [probe] “PROBE llms.txt: HTTP 404 at https://reflect.academy/llms.txt”
- [probe] “PROBE openapi: all candidate paths 404 (https://reflect.academy/openapi.json, https://reflect.academy/swagger.json, https://reflect.academy/…”
- [probe] “PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): keyless GET to the documented REST base https://reflect.app/api/graphs returned HTTP 401 {"error":{"typ…”
ai-native userDownload a machine-readable API spec (OpenAPI or equivalent)
weight 2 · round drawnObsidiannone0/10Obsidian has a plugin API and developer docs (TypeScript API reference), but no evidence of a downloadable machine-readable spec like OpenAPI/Swagger for any REST or programmatic interface; the probe explicitly notes no official CLI or vendor MCP server, and no OpenAPI spec is mentioned anywhere in the evidence pack.
- [claimed-docs] “Build plugins to extend the existing functionality in Obsidian using TypeScript.”
- [github] “Vault, the interface that lets you interact with files and folders in the vault.”
- [probe] “PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counte…”
Reflectnone0/10Reflect has an API with OAuth2/PKCE docs, but probes confirm no OpenAPI/Swagger spec or machine-readable schema is published (all candidate paths 404, llms.txt 404); documentation is prose-only.
- [probe] “PROBE openapi: all candidate paths 404 (https://reflect.academy/openapi.json, https://reflect.academy/swagger.json, https://reflect.academy/…”
- [probe] “PROBE llms.txt: HTTP 404 at https://reflect.academy/llms.txt”
- [claimed-docs] “For authentication, we support OAuth 2. You will need to create credentials here.”
- [claimed-docs] “We do support OAuth's PKCE extension which means you can build a client to Reflect without shipping secret keys around.”
ai-native userTest against a sandbox environment without touching production data
weight 1 · round to ObsidianObsidiandisputedcontradicted3/10Obsidian's docs claim a 'Restricted Mode' that prevents third-party code execution (obsidian-docs-27), which could be read as a sandbox safeguard, but hands-on community evidence directly contradicts this: 'there is no sandboxing at all for community plugins - every plugin has full access to your computer's filesystem and can make network requests' (obsidian-comm-10), and a third party built a separate sandboxed app specifically because Obsidian plugins run with full system access on sensitive data (obsidian-comm-11). There is no documented feature for spinning up an isolated test vault/sandbox distinct from a production vault for AI-agent testing. Missing for 10: an official sandbox/test-vault feature, evidence of isolated execution for agent actions, and resolution of the restricted-mode vs. no-sandboxing contradiction.
- [claimed-docs] “By default, Obsidian runs in Restricted Mode to prevent third-party code execution.”
- [community] “Confirmed via Obsidian's own docs: there is no sandboxing at all for community plugins - every plugin has full access to your computer's fil…”
- [community] “A company wrote a sandboxed alternative app because community plugins are too risky running with full system access when working on sensitiv…”
ai-native userRely on versioned APIs with a documented deprecation policy
weight 2 · round drawnObsidiannone0/10Evidence covers Obsidian's plugin API, developer docs, and file formats, but there is no mention of a versioning scheme or documented deprecation policy for the Obsidian API. The developer docs describe building plugins but do not address API version guarantees or backward-compatibility commitments. Missing for 10: any documentation of API versioning, semver policy, or deprecation timelines/announcements.
Reflectnone0/10The API docs describe OAuth2/PKCE authentication and basic endpoints, but there is no evidence of any versioning scheme (e.g., v1/v2 paths), changelog, or documented deprecation policy anywhere in the docs or probes; OpenAPI/spec probes also 404. missing for 10: API version numbering, changelog/release notes, explicit deprecation policy or backward-compatibility guarantees.
- [claimed-docs] “For authentication, we support OAuth 2. You will need to create credentials here.”
- [claimed-docs] “Our supports appending data to your notes, returning a list of the links you've bookmarked, and a few other things.”
- [claimed-docs] “We do support OAuth's PKCE extension which means you can build a client to Reflect without shipping secret keys around.”
- [probe] “PROBE openapi: all candidate paths 404 (https://reflect.academy/openapi.json, https://reflect.academy/swagger.json, https://reflect.academy/…”
- [probe] “PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): keyless GET to the documented REST base https://reflect.app/api/graphs returned HTTP 401 {"error":{"typ…”
Ai in notes — stories about ai in notes in this arenaAi in notes
Stories about ai in notes in this arena
Agent ops
ai-native userMy coding agent or assistant can read AND write my notes headlessly — through a documented local API, vendor API, or MCP server — without me touching the GUI
weight 3 · round drawnObsidian stores notes as plain local Markdown files (obsidian-docs-20, obsidian-docs-23), which lets an agent read/write vault contents directly on disk without touching the GUI — but this is not a documented API or protocol, just an emergent property of the file format. The probe explicitly confirms Obsidian ships no official CLI or vendor MCP server, with MCP servers being community-only projects (obsidian-probe-rt-1), and the only documented headless integration (Obsidian URI, obsidian-docs-8) is for triggering GUI actions, not structured read/write. Missing for 10: an official vendor-documented local API or MCP server, first-party support for programmatic note read/write, and evidence of hands-on agent integration.
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian stores your notes as Markdown-formatted plain text files in a vault.”
- [claimed-docs] “Apps come and go, but your data should last. Obsidian uses non-proprietary plain text Markdown files stored locally on your device.”
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian URI is a custom URI protocol supported by Obsidian that lets you trigger various actions, such as opening a note or creating a note…”
- [probe] “PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counte…”
Reflect documents a real OAuth2/PKCE REST API (confirmed live via runtime probe) that supports appending data to notes and returning bookmarked links, giving agents a write path. However, the same probe notes the API is append-only by design because end-to-end encryption prevents Reflect's servers from reading note content — so headless READ of actual notes is not possible via the documented API, and no MCP server is documented. Missing for 10: a documented way to read/retrieve full note content headlessly, and an official MCP server integration.
- [claimed-docs] “For authentication, we support OAuth 2. You will need to create credentials here.”
- [claimed-docs] “Our supports appending data to your notes, returning a list of the links you've bookmarked, and a few other things.”
- [claimed-docs] “We do support OAuth's PKCE extension which means you can build a client to Reflect without shipping secret keys around.”
- [probe] “PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): keyless GET to the documented REST base https://reflect.app/api/graphs returned HTTP 401 {"error":{"typ…”
- [claimed-docs] “The contents of your notes are end-to-end encrypted. No one else can read them (not even us).”
Ai assist
ai-native userConnect external LLMs and AI tools to my notes through first-party connectors or an ecosystem of AI plugins
weight 2 · round drawnObsidian has no first-party AI/LLM connector or vendor MCP server (confirmed by probe: 'no official CLI or vendor MCP server... MCP servers for Obsidian are community projects'), but its large community plugin ecosystem (7,275 plugins) does include AI tools like the Text-Generator plugin, cited by users as a productive LLM interface. This satisfies the 'ecosystem of AI plugins' half of the story but not the 'first-party connectors' half. Missing for 10: official first-party AI/LLM integration or vendor-maintained MCP server, broader documentation of AI plugin capabilities (e.g., RAG), and evidence these plugins are robust (community notes 'no decent RAG functionality among Obsidian AI plugins').
- [community] “There's no decent RAG functionality among Obsidian AI plugins, but the Text-Generator plugin with links/backlinks pulled into inference cont…”
- [probe] “PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counte…”
- [claimed-docs] “Use plugins to adapt Obsidian to fit your specific needs, such as support for additional file formats or integrating with a third-party serv…”
- [claimed-docs] “Learn how to extend Obsidian with plugins built by the community.”
Reflect ships first-party AI features letting users toggle between GPT-4o and Claude 3.5 Sonnet for in-app AI palette actions (summarize, chat with notes), and exposes an OAuth2/PKCE API for building custom clients. However there's no evidence of a broader plugin ecosystem or first-party connectors letting external AI tools/agents read and act on notes — the API is documented as append-only and scoped narrowly (bookmarks, appending data), not an AI integration surface, and no third-party AI plugin marketplace is mentioned. Missing for 10: a documented AI-plugin ecosystem, evidence of external AI tools consuming notes via API, and richer API scope beyond append-only actions.
- [claimed-docs] “Reflect's AI tools give you the option to now use either GPT-4o (the latest model from OpenAI) or Claude 3.5 Sonnet (the latest model from A…”
- [claimed-docs] “To use it, first highlight some text, and then press `cmd j`... That’ll popup the AI palette.”
- [claimed-docs] “You can also **ask the AI palette anything** you’d like using the open text field, and save it as a custom prompt to quickly call on again l…”
- [claimed-docs] “For authentication, we support OAuth 2. You will need to create credentials here.”
- [claimed-docs] “Our supports appending data to your notes, returning a list of the links you've bookmarked, and a few other things.”
- [claimed-docs] “We do support OAuth's PKCE extension which means you can build a client to Reflect without shipping secret keys around.”
- [probe] “PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): keyless GET to the documented REST base https://reflect.app/api/graphs returned HTTP 401 {"error":{"typ…”
ai-native userA built-in AI assistant can answer questions, summarize, and draft grounded in my own notes — with clear controls over what data it sees
weight 2 · round to ReflectObsidiannone0/10Obsidian's core product ships no built-in AI assistant; the only AI-related evidence describes third-party community plugins, and one commenter explicitly states 'there's no decent RAG functionality among Obsidian AI plugins,' undermining any grounded-in-notes assistant claim. There is no first-party documentation of an official AI feature with data-access controls.
- [community] “There's no decent RAG functionality among Obsidian AI plugins, but the Text-Generator plugin with links/backlinks pulled into inference cont…”
Docs show a built-in AI palette (cmd-j) that can summarize meeting notes, list action items, answer custom prompts, and 'chat' with filtered/specific notes grounded in the user's own content, with model choice (GPT-4o/Claude 3.5). Data-scoping control is shown via search filters before chatting with a subset of notes, and E2E encryption is claimed for note content, though community evidence notes files/images are excluded from encryption. Missing for 10: independent hands-on review of AI answer quality/grounding, explicit UI controls for restricting AI's data access beyond search filters, and no clarification on how E2E encryption interacts with cloud-based AI processing.
- [claimed-docs] “List action-items and key takeaways from meeting notes”
- [claimed-docs] “you can also “chat” with those specific notes to ask questions and extract information.”
- [claimed-docs] “You can also ask the AI palette anything you’d like using the open text field, and save it as a custom prompt to quickly call on again later…”
- [claimed-docs] “After applying any desired filters to the search, you can also “chat” with those specific notes to ask questions and extract information.”
- [claimed-docs] “To use it, first highlight some text, and then press `cmd j`... That’ll popup the AI palette.”
- [claimed-docs] “You can also **ask the AI palette anything** you’d like using the open text field, and save it as a custom prompt to quickly call on again l…”
- [claimed-docs] “Reflect's AI tools give you the option to now use either GPT-4o (the latest model from OpenAI) or Claude 3.5 Sonnet (the latest model from A…”
- [claimed-docs] “Reflect’s Semantic search lets you find specific pieces of information without knowing the exact words.”
- [claimed-docs] “The contents of your notes are end-to-end encrypted. No one else can read them (not even us).”
- [community] “Question about Reflect's E2E encryption claims: 'We do not end-to-end encrypt things like files or images you upload' - user noted this excl…”
Automation depth — how much of the product can run unattendedAutomation depth
How much of the product can run unattended
ai-native userPerform bulk operations across many items at once
weight 2 · round drawnObsidiannone0/10The evidence pack shows Obsidian's file-based storage, plugin/API extensibility (Vault interface, community plugins), and Bases for database-like views, but nothing documents a bulk-operation capability (e.g., batch rename, bulk tag/metadata edit, multi-note transform) that an AI-native user could invoke across many items at once. The generic plugin API and 7,275-plugin ecosystem are extensibility building blocks, not evidence of a delivered bulk-operations feature.
- [claimed-docs] “Bases is a core plugin that lets you create database-like views of your notes.”
- [github] “Vault, the interface that lets you interact with files and folders in the vault.”
- [github] “`Vault`, the interface that lets you interact with files and folders in the vault.”
- [probe] “PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counte…”
Reflectnone0/10Reflect's API supports appending data to individual notes and returning bookmark lists, but there is no evidence of any bulk/batch operation capability (e.g., batch update, multi-note transformation, or scripted bulk edits across many items at once); the API is explicitly append-only per note due to E2E encryption.
- [claimed-docs] “Our supports appending data to your notes, returning a list of the links you've bookmarked, and a few other things.”
- [claimed-docs] “We do support OAuth's PKCE extension which means you can build a client to Reflect without shipping secret keys around.”
- [probe] “PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): keyless GET to the documented REST base https://reflect.app/api/graphs returned HTTP 401 {"error":{"typ…”
ai-native userDefine rules that trigger actions automatically on events
weight 3 · round drawnObsidiannone0/10Obsidian's evidence shows a plugin API, a URI protocol for triggering actions, and a large community plugin ecosystem, but there is no documented built-in rule engine or automation system that fires actions automatically on events (e.g., note-created, tag-added triggers). Obsidian URI (obsidian-docs-8) requires an external caller, not an internal event-trigger rule system, and no plugin or first-party feature is cited that implements conditional automation.
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian URI is a custom URI protocol supported by Obsidian that lets you trigger various actions, such as opening a note or creating a note…”
- [claimed-docs] “Use plugins to adapt Obsidian to fit your specific needs, such as support for additional file formats or integrating with a third-party serv…”
- [claimed-docs] “Plugins let you extend Obsidian with your own features to create a custom note-taking experience.”
- [probe] “PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counte…”
Capture editing — stories about capture editing in this arenaCapture editing
Stories about capture editing in this arena
Capture
researcherClip web pages, articles, and highlights from my browser straight into my notes with an official clipper or capture flow
weight 2 · round drawnObsidian ships an official free browser extension, the Web Clipper, explicitly documented to let users highlight pages and save web content directly into their vault, covering pages, articles, and highlights as described in the story. missing for 10: independent hands-on user reports specifically confirming the Web Clipper's reliability/quality beyond the vendor docs.
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian Web Clipper is a free browser extension that lets you highlight pages and save web content to your vault.”
Reflect ships an official Chrome and Safari browser extension for bookmarking websites, capturing snippets, and highlights, which are automatically added to the daily note — directly matching the researcher's clipper/capture workflow. Documentation is detailed and first-party; missing for 10: independent hands-on review specifically validating the clipper extension's reliability/quality.
- [claimed-docs] “Reflect lets you quickly bookmark websites and capture snippets from across the web using our Chrome extension”
- [claimed-docs] “The link and your highlights will automatically be added to your daily note.”
- [claimed-docs] “Reflect lets you quickly bookmark websites and capture snippets from across the web using our Chrome extension and Safari extension.”
Daily notes
power-userI get an automatic daily note for each day, pre-filled from a template, as the default landing place for journaling and capture
weight 3 · round drawnObsidian's core Daily Notes plugin opens/creates a note for today's date and can be paired with the Templates core plugin to pre-fill content, directly matching the story [obsidian-docs-4][obsidian-docs-5]. Community evidence corroborates daily notes as a common power-user workflow (mixed freely with folders/Zettelkasten) [obsidian-comm-4][obsidian-comm-17]. Missing for 10: explicit first-party documentation confirming daily note as the literal 'default landing/startup' page, and independent confirmation of template auto-fill reliability at scale.
- [claimed-docs] “Daily notes is a core plugin that opens a note based on today's date, or creates it if it doesn't exist.”
- [claimed-docs] “Templates is a core plugin that lets you insert pre-defined snippets of text into your active note.”
- [community] “As an outliner, Logseq is too opinionated about usage; Obsidian is less strict, allowing mixing Zettelkasten, daily notes, and folder struct…”
- [community] “Used Obsidian for organizing and running tabletop RPG sessions with folders of monsters, encounters, and world notes; also good enough to re…”
Reflect's docs explicitly confirm automatic daily notes created every day as the journaling landing place, and multiple features (voice transcription, bookmarking, calendar sync, integrations) are documented as auto-filling into that daily note, showing it's the default capture surface. Missing for 10: explicit confirmation of a customizable daily-note *template* pre-filling structure/content, and independent hands-on verification of the daily-note experience beyond docs.
- [claimed-docs] “Tools like Reflect will create a new _daily note_ for you everyday for you to journal in.”
- [claimed-docs] “Tools like Reflect will create a new daily note for you everyday for you to journal in.”
- [claimed-docs] “Speak your note, then click stop recording... their transcription will be added to your daily note.”
- [claimed-docs] “The link and your highlights will automatically be added to your daily note.”
- [claimed-docs] “We support connecting your Google, iCloud and Office 365 account(s) to Reflect. This lets you: Pull in your calendar events, so you can easi…”
- [claimed-docs] “Add Trello cards or Asana tasks to your Daily Note”
- [claimed-docs] “Add Trello cards or Asana tasks to your Daily Note Add Google Docs and Slack notes to Reflect Save emails and Tweets to your notes Sync your…”
Editor
power-userDefine reusable templates (with variables like date and title) and apply them when creating recurring kinds of notes
weight 2 · round to ObsidianObsidian ships a first-party Templates core plugin for inserting reusable text snippets, and a Daily notes core plugin that creates date-based notes automatically, together covering variable-driven, recurring note templates (date/title insertion is a documented core feature of these plugins). Missing for 10: no explicit doc snippet showing custom variable syntax beyond date/title, and no independent hands-on report confirming template variable behavior in practice.
- [claimed-docs] “Templates is a core plugin that lets you insert pre-defined snippets of text into your active note.”
- [claimed-docs] “Daily notes is a core plugin that opens a note based on today's date, or creates it if it doesn't exist.”
Reflectnone0/10The evidence pack shows daily notes, backlinks, tags, filters, imports, and AI palette features, but nowhere mentions reusable note templates with variable substitution (e.g., date/title placeholders) for creating recurring note types. Missing for 10: any documentation of a templates feature, variable/placeholder syntax, or ability to save/apply templates to new notes.
power-userWrite and format notes with headings, callouts, tables, code blocks, and embedded media in a fast keyboard-driven editor
weight 2 · round to ObsidianEvidence confirms Obsidian is a plain-text Markdown editor with linking, templates, mobile editing toolbar, and command palette (keyboard-driven), supporting the general shape of the story, but the pack never explicitly documents callouts, tables, code-block rendering, or embedded media handling. Missing for 10: explicit documentation/citations on callout syntax, table support, code block rendering, and media embedding, plus any performance/speed benchmarking of the editor.
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian stores your notes as Markdown-formatted plain text files in a vault.”
- [claimed-docs] “By linking notes, you can create a network of knowledge.”
- [claimed-docs] “Templates is a core plugin that lets you insert pre-defined snippets of text into your active note.”
- [claimed-docs] “Mobile toolbar is a customization toolbar for editing notes.”
- [claimed-docs] “Tabs, Command Palette, plugins,”
Reflectnone0/10The evidence pack covers linking/backlinks, daily notes, import/export in Markdown, AI features, and encryption, but contains no documentation or community evidence about core rich-text editing capabilities such as headings, callouts, tables, code blocks, or embedded media, nor about keyboard-driven editing speed. Missing for 10: any docs mentioning headings/callout blocks/tables/code blocks/embedded media support, and any evidence of keyboard-shortcut-driven formatting workflow.
Import export — stories about import export in this arenaImport export
Stories about import export in this arena
Migration
switcherExport my entire knowledge base at any time in open formats, so leaving is as easy as arriving
weight 2 · round to ObsidianObsidian stores all notes as local, non-proprietary plain-text Markdown files (not a proprietary database or cloud lock-in), so a user's entire vault is always exportable/portable by simply copying the folder, and this is explicitly marketed as a future-proofing/anti-lock-in feature ('apps come and go, but your data should last'). Community testimonials corroborate this in practice (users migrated to/from Roam, Notion, Google Docs citing plain-text ownership as the reason switching was easy). Missing for 10: no independent hands-on verification of a bulk 'export' action for non-Markdown assets (attachments, plugin data) or edge cases in migration fidelity.
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian uses non-proprietary plain text Markdown files stored locally on your device. You have total control over your data, which means yo…”
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian stores your notes as Markdown-formatted plain text files in a vault.”
- [claimed-docs] “Apps come and go, but your data should last. Obsidian uses non-proprietary plain text Markdown files stored locally on your device.”
- [community] “Moved from Google Docs to Obsidian for de-Googling; notes stored only locally and via storage sync, files are just text so notes can outlive…”
- [community] “Migrated from Roam to Obsidian and it's really awesome - ownership of files, constant updates with new features and bug fixes, and a really …”
Reflect explicitly documents export into open formats (HTML, Markdown) at any time, and the founder corroborates this as an anti-lock-in feature in community discussion. missing for 10: independent hands-on verification of a full/bulk knowledge-base export (vs per-note export) and confirmation that all note types/attachments are included.
- [claimed-docs] “you can always export it into an open format (like HTML or Markdown).”
- [community] “Reflect founder on data lock-in: 'you can always export your notes into markdown or HTML so you shouldn't feel too locked in.' Also noted th…”
switcherImport my existing notes from Notion, Evernote, Roam, or plain Markdown with structure, links, and attachments preserved
weight 3 · round to ObsidianObsidian ships dedicated first-party importers for Notion, Evernote, Roam-style Markdown, and Airtable/OneNote (obsidian-docs-1, 24, 29, 30), converting content to durable local Markdown files with links/attachments/structure preserved, and Notion databases even convert to Bases. Community evidence (obsidian-comm-20) confirms a real-world Roam→Obsidian migration went well. Missing for 10: no independent hands-on verification of attachment/link fidelity across all four sources (Notion, Evernote, Roam, plain Markdown) in one report, and no detail on edge-case fidelity issues during import.
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian lets you easily migrate your data from Notion using the Importer plugin.”
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian lets you easily migrate your data from Notion using the Importer plugin. This converts your Notion workspace to durable Markdown fi…”
- [claimed-docs] “Notion account (recommended) connects directly to your workspace and lets you preserve Databases and formulas which are converted to Bases.”
- [claimed-docs] “Import from Notion|Notion - Import from Airtable|Airtable - Import from Microsoft OneNote|Microsoft OneNote - Import from Evernote|Evernote”
- [community] “Migrated from Roam to Obsidian and it's really awesome - ownership of files, constant updates with new features and bug fixes, and a really …”
- [claimed-docs] “Apps come and go, but your data should last. Obsidian uses non-proprietary plain text Markdown files stored locally on your device.”
Reflect's docs confirm native import support for Evernote (ENEX), Roam (JSON), and Markdown files, three of the four sources named in the story, plus Apple Notes and Workflowy. However, Notion import is not mentioned anywhere in the import/export documentation, and there is no explicit confirmation that internal links or attachments are preserved through the import process for any of these formats. Missing for 10: Notion import support, explicit evidence that links and attachments (not just note text) survive import.
- [claimed-docs] “We currently support imports from: Apple Notes (HTML) Evernote (ENEX) Markdown files Roam (JSON) Workflowy (OPML)”
- [claimed-docs] “We currently support imports from: * Apple Notes (HTML) * Evernote (ENEX) * Markdown files * Roam (JSON) * Workflowy (OPML)”
- [claimed-docs] “First you’ll have to export your existing Apple Notes using the provided script below, then import them into Reflect normally.”
- [claimed-docs] “you can always export it into an open format (like HTML or Markdown).”
Linking graph — stories about linking graph in this arenaLinking graph
Stories about linking graph in this arena
Graph
researcherExplore my knowledge base as an interactive graph of notes and connections, filtered to what I care about
weight 1 · round to ObsidianGraph view is a documented core plugin that visualizes note relationships built from internal links, and Obsidian's linking system explicitly creates a 'network of knowledge' that the graph renders; Graph view also supports filters (though filtering specifics aren't detailed in this pack). Community evidence confirms users actively rely on the linking/graph model for organizing knowledge (e.g., RPG notes, dev notes). Missing for 10: no evidence of advanced graph filtering UI details (tags/colors/query filters) or independent hands-on praise/critique specifically of graph view's filtering usability.
- [claimed-docs] “Graph view is a core plugin that lets you visualize the relationships between the notes in your vault.”
- [claimed-docs] “By linking notes, you can create a network of knowledge.”
- [community] “Used Obsidian for organizing and running tabletop RPG sessions with folders of monsters, encounters, and world notes; also good enough to re…”
Reflectnone0/10Reflect's docs describe backlinks, [[ ]] linking, and filtering notes by tags/date/backlinks, but nowhere is an interactive visual graph view of the knowledge base mentioned or shown — the evidence only covers list-style backlinks and search filters, not a graph exploration UI.
- [claimed-docs] “Networked note-taking tools, like Reflect, support creating links between notes... backlinks”
- [claimed-docs] “Backlinks are just a list of incoming links from other notes.”
- [claimed-docs] “You can filter notes by: Date created or updated, Daily Notes, Where they are backlinked to/from, #tags, Pinned notes”
- [claimed-docs] “You can filter notes by: Date created or updated Daily Notes Where they are backlinked to/from #tags Pinned notes”
- [claimed-docs] “You can filter notes by: * Date created or updated * Daily Notes * Where they are backlinked to/from * #tags * Pinned notes”
Links
researcherLink notes with [[wiki-style]] links and see every backlink and unlinked mention of a note in context
weight 3 · round to ObsidianObsidian's core feature set is wiki-style [[linking]] and a network of knowledge (obsidian-docs-18), backed by Graph view for visualizing note relationships (obsidian-docs-3), and this is corroborated by independent community usage reports praising Obsidian's linking/organization model (obsidian-comm-17, obsidian-comm-20). Missing for 10: explicit documentation snippet describing the 'unlinked mentions' panel/backlinks pane in context (only inferred from linking/graph docs, not directly quoted) and no independent hands-on confirmation of backlink-in-context UI specifically.
- [claimed-docs] “By linking notes, you can create a network of knowledge.”
- [claimed-docs] “Graph view is a core plugin that lets you visualize the relationships between the notes in your vault.”
- [community] “Used Obsidian for organizing and running tabletop RPG sessions with folders of monsters, encounters, and world notes; also good enough to re…”
- [community] “Migrated from Roam to Obsidian and it's really awesome - ownership of files, constant updates with new features and bug fixes, and a really …”
Docs confirm [[ ]] wiki-link shortcut, backlinks as incoming links, and filtering notes by where they're backlinked to/from, covering the core linking-graph story. However, evidence never explicitly mentions detection/surfacing of 'unlinked mentions' in context, which is a specific part of the story. Missing for 10: explicit unlinked-mention detection/surfacing, independent hands-on demonstration of backlink UI in context.
- [claimed-docs] “Networked note-taking tools, like Reflect, support creating links between notes... backlinks”
- [claimed-docs] “Generally note-taking tools, including Reflect, use the `[[` shortcut to link some text.”
- [claimed-docs] “Backlinks are just a list of incoming links from other notes.”
- [claimed-docs] “You can filter notes by: Date created or updated, Daily Notes, Where they are backlinked to/from, #tags, Pinned notes”
- [claimed-docs] “You can filter notes by: Date created or updated Daily Notes Where they are backlinked to/from #tags Pinned notes”
- [claimed-docs] “You can filter notes by: * Date created or updated * Daily Notes * Where they are backlinked to/from * #tags * Pinned notes”
power-userReference or transclude an individual block or section of one note inside another and have it stay in sync
weight 2 · round drawnObsidiannone0/10The evidence pack only shows generic internal linking ('By linking notes, you can create a network of knowledge' — obsidian-docs-18) and graph view for whole-note relationships, but contains no documentation or community evidence of block/section-level embedding (transclusion) syntax or behavior. Missing for 10: any docs on block references (^blockid), section embeds, or confirmation that embedded content stays live-synced with the source note.
- [claimed-docs] “By linking notes, you can create a network of knowledge.”
Reflectnone0/10Evidence shows Reflect supports note-to-note linking and backlinks ([[ shortcuts, backlinks list) but nowhere documents block- or section-level transclusion/embedding that stays synced across notes — only whole-note linking and filtering by backlink is described.
- [claimed-docs] “Networked note-taking tools, like Reflect, support creating links between notes... backlinks”
- [claimed-docs] “Generally note-taking tools, including Reflect, use the `[[` shortcut to link some text.”
- [claimed-docs] “Backlinks are just a list of incoming links from other notes.”
Local first ownership — stories about local first ownership in this arenaLocal first ownership
Stories about local first ownership in this arena
Ownership
power-userMy notes live in local files or a local-first store that I own and can read without the app, and everything keeps working fully offline
weight 3 · round to ObsidianObsidian's core design stores notes as plain-text Markdown files locally in a user-owned vault, explicitly marketed for offline use and future-proofing/app independence, corroborated by independent community reports of migrating away from cloud apps because files are local text that outlive the app. Minor caveat is Canvas's JSON format (still local, but less human-readable than Markdown), and mobile has a save-timing quirk under sync; missing for 10: independent long-term audit of full offline reliability across all core plugins and confirmation Canvas/Bases data remain equally portable as plain Markdown.
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian stores your notes as Markdown-formatted plain text files in a vault.”
- [claimed-docs] “Apps come and go, but your data should last. Obsidian uses non-proprietary plain text Markdown files stored locally on your device.”
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian uses non-proprietary plain text Markdown files stored locally on your device. You have total control over your data, which means yo…”
- [community] “Moved from Google Docs to Obsidian for de-Googling; notes stored only locally and via storage sync, files are just text so notes can outlive…”
- [community] “Obsidian Canvas uses a new JSON-based file format, open-sourced under MIT license; canvas files remain local and still link to your own futu…”
- [community] “The Obsidian Android app does not save files to storage until the note unloads, which can break things if you sync/pull mid-edit, sometimes …”
Reflectnone0/10Reflect is a cloud-synced, end-to-end-encrypted note service (docs-16/35) with export-to-Markdown/HTML available (docs-44, comm-7), but there is no evidence notes are stored as local files or in a local-first store the user can read without the app, nor evidence of full offline functionality — the API and encryption model imply server-mediated sync rather than local-first ownership.
- [claimed-docs] “End-to-end encryption keeps your notes secure.”
- [claimed-docs] “The contents of your notes are end-to-end encrypted. No one else can read them (not even us).”
- [claimed-docs] “you can always export it into an open format (like HTML or Markdown).”
- [community] “Reflect founder on data lock-in: 'you can always export your notes into markdown or HTML so you shouldn't feel too locked in.' Also noted th…”
- [community] “Question about Reflect's E2E encryption claims: 'We do not end-to-end encrypt things like files or images you upload' - user noted this excl…”
researcherMy notes are stored or exportable in open, documented formats (Markdown, JSON) so my archive outlives the vendor
weight 2 · round to ObsidianObsidian core storage is plain-text Markdown files on local disk with no proprietary lock-in, explicitly marketed as future-proof so notes 'outlive the app,' and this is corroborated by independent user reports of migrating away and still having usable text files. missing for 10: independent long-term archival/format-stability audit and clarity on the newer Canvas JSON format's durability (community notes flag it as less readable than Markdown, a minor caveat).
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian stores your notes as Markdown-formatted plain text files in a vault.”
- [claimed-docs] “Apps come and go, but your data should last. Obsidian uses non-proprietary plain text Markdown files stored locally on your device.”
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian uses non-proprietary plain text Markdown files stored locally on your device. You have total control over your data, which means yo…”
- [community] “Moved from Google Docs to Obsidian for de-Googling; notes stored only locally and via storage sync, files are just text so notes can outlive…”
- [community] “Obsidian is less opinionated on the file format and folders, making it more future-proof than Logseq, though Logseq's sync is too asynchrono…”
- [community] “Obsidian Canvas uses a new JSON-based file format, open-sourced under MIT license; canvas files remain local and still link to your own futu…”
- [community] “This looks like Obsidian's first move away from markdown - the .canvas JSON files are readable but not as readable as markdown; hope this is…”
Reflect explicitly documents export to open formats (Markdown, HTML) and import from Markdown/JSON-based formats, and the founder publicly confirms notes can always be exported to Markdown/HTML to avoid lock-in. Missing for 10: no independent hands-on verification of export fidelity/completeness, and export format is somewhat limited (HTML/Markdown only, not full JSON archive of all metadata).
- [claimed-docs] “We currently support imports from: Apple Notes (HTML) Evernote (ENEX) Markdown files Roam (JSON) Workflowy (OPML)”
- [claimed-docs] “We currently support imports from: * Apple Notes (HTML) * Evernote (ENEX) * Markdown files * Roam (JSON) * Workflowy (OPML)”
- [claimed-docs] “you can always export it into an open format (like HTML or Markdown).”
- [community] “Reflect founder on data lock-in: 'you can always export your notes into markdown or HTML so you shouldn't feel too locked in.' Also noted th…”
Self host
developerRun the whole system without the vendor's cloud — local-only mode or a self-hosted sync backend I operate myself
weight 2 · round to ObsidianObsidian is fundamentally local-first: notes are plain Markdown files stored on-device, fully usable offline with no vendor cloud dependency (obsidian-docs-2, obsidian-docs-20, obsidian-docs-23), and users can sync via Dropbox, iCloud, OneDrive, or Git instead of Obsidian's paid Sync service (obsidian-docs-19), confirmed by a community user who runs it fully local plus storage sync (obsidian-comm-19). However, self-hosting a sync backend is imperfect in practice — community reports note the Git plugin works for single-device backup but is 'not great for device sync or collaboration,' requiring third-party CRDT plugins to fill the gap (obsidian-comm-8). Missing for 10: an officially documented/first-party self-hosted sync backend with real-time multi-device guarantees (vs. community workarounds), and confirmation that Git/cloud-drive sync avoids conflict issues.
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian uses non-proprietary plain text Markdown files stored locally on your device. You have total control over your data, which means yo…”
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian stores your notes as Markdown-formatted plain text files in a vault.”
- [claimed-docs] “Apps come and go, but your data should last. Obsidian uses non-proprietary plain text Markdown files stored locally on your device.”
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian syncs with Obsidian Sync, Dropbox, iCloud, OneDrive, Git, and many other third-party services.”
- [community] “Moved from Google Docs to Obsidian for de-Googling; notes stored only locally and via storage sync, files are just text so notes can outlive…”
- [community] “The Git plugin is great for single-device backup but not great for device sync or collaboration; a real-time collaboration plugin using CRDT…”
Reflectnone0/10Reflect is a cloud-hosted, closed-source SaaS with E2E encryption on the vendor's servers — there is no evidence of a local-only mode or self-hostable sync backend; only export to Markdown/HTML for backup is documented, not operating your own sync server.
- [claimed-docs] “you can always export it into an open format (like HTML or Markdown).”
- [community] “Reflect founder on data lock-in: 'you can always export your notes into markdown or HTML so you shouldn't feel too locked in.' Also noted th…”
- [claimed-docs] “The contents of your notes are end-to-end encrypted. No one else can read them (not even us).”
Mobile capture — stories about mobile capture in this arenaMobile capture
Stories about mobile capture in this arena
Mobile
power-userFull-featured iOS and Android apps give me my whole knowledge base — capture, search, and linking — not a stripped-down companion
weight 2 · round to ObsidianDocs confirm the mobile app supports tabs, command palette, and full plugin support (docs-34) plus a customizable editing toolar (docs-14/25), indicating feature parity with desktop rather than a stripped companion, and the same Markdown vault format underlies both platforms enabling linking (docs-18, docs-20). However, community evidence surfaces a concrete reliability issue specific to the Android app (files not saved to storage until note unloads, causing lost content on sync) and general dissatisfaction with mobile UX/Electron design relative to native apps, undercutting a fully polished power-user experience. Missing for 10: explicit documentation of mobile search functionality, mobile graph view parity, and independent confirmation the Android save bug has been resolved.
- [claimed-docs] “Tabs, Command Palette, plugins,”
- [claimed-docs] “Mobile toolbar is a customization toolbar for editing notes.”
- [claimed-docs] “Mobile toolbar is a customization toolbar for editing notes. When editing a note, you will notice a row of icons at the bottom of the app.”
- [claimed-docs] “By linking notes, you can create a network of knowledge.”
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian stores your notes as Markdown-formatted plain text files in a vault.”
- [community] “The Obsidian Android app does not save files to storage until the note unloads, which can break things if you sync/pull mid-edit, sometimes …”
- [community] “I dislike the aesthetics and wouldn't use Obsidian because of Electron; spoiled by native note apps like Bear and Noteplan on macOS with nic…”
Reflectnone0/10The evidence pack covers imports, API, AI features, publishing, security, and integrations extensively, but contains no mention of iOS or Android apps, their feature set, or mobile-specific capture/search/linking capabilities. Without any documentation or community evidence describing dedicated mobile apps (full-featured or otherwise), there is nothing to substantiate this story.
Openness — open source, data portability, and self-hosting storiesOpenness
Open source, data portability, and self-hosting stories
ai-native userDo everything through the API that I can do in the UI
weight 2 · round to ObsidianObsidian exposes some programmatic surfaces — the Obsidian URI protocol for triggering actions like opening/creating notes, and a plugin API (Vault interface) for reading/writing files — but these fall short of full UI parity. There is no official CLI or vendor-provided REST/MCP API; the probe explicitly confirms no official CLI or MCP server exists, with third-party community plugins filling that gap instead. missing for 10: comprehensive first-party API/CLI covering all UI actions, official REST or MCP server, evidence of parity for non-file operations (e.g., graph view, canvas, settings) via API.
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian URI is a custom URI protocol supported by Obsidian that lets you trigger various actions, such as opening a note or creating a note…”
- [github] “Vault, the interface that lets you interact with files and folders in the vault.”
- [github] “`Vault`, the interface that lets you interact with files and folders in the vault.”
- [probe] “PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counte…”
Reflect does expose an OAuth2/PKCE REST API confirmed live via runtime probe, but by its own docs it only supports appending data to notes and returning bookmarked links plus 'a few other things' — a small subset of UI capabilities (semantic search, AI chat, publishing, backlinks, calendar/integrations, deep links) with no evidence these are API-accessible. The API is also explicitly append-only for note content since E2E encryption prevents server-side reads, meaning even reading/editing existing notes via API is not possible as it is in the UI. Missing for 10: API endpoints for search/AI features, note reading/editing, publishing, and integrations parity with the UI.
- [claimed-docs] “For authentication, we support OAuth 2. You will need to create credentials here.”
- [claimed-docs] “Our supports appending data to your notes, returning a list of the links you've bookmarked, and a few other things.”
- [claimed-docs] “We do support OAuth's PKCE extension which means you can build a client to Reflect without shipping secret keys around.”
- [probe] “PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): keyless GET to the documented REST base https://reflect.app/api/graphs returned HTTP 401 {"error":{"typ…”
- [claimed-docs] “Reflect’s Semantic search lets you find specific pieces of information without knowing the exact words.”
- [claimed-docs] “Reflect offers one-click publishing of your notes. Simply hit the publish button and your note will be publicly available behind a long hard…”
ai-native userExport all of my data in open formats and leave
weight 3 · round to ObsidianObsidian stores all data as local plain-text Markdown files with no proprietary lock-in, explicitly marketed as future-proof so users 'can use Obsidian offline and switch to another app easily,' and this is corroborated by independent community accounts of notes outliving the app and easy migration away. Even newer formats like Canvas are open JSON under MIT license, reinforcing the open-export/leave-anytime story. Missing for 10: no independent audit of full fidelity export for all plugin-generated data (e.g., Bases, Sync metadata) beyond core notes.
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian uses non-proprietary plain text Markdown files stored locally on your device. You have total control over your data, which means yo…”
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian stores your notes as Markdown-formatted plain text files in a vault.”
- [claimed-docs] “Apps come and go, but your data should last. Obsidian uses non-proprietary plain text Markdown files stored locally on your device.”
- [community] “Moved from Google Docs to Obsidian for de-Googling; notes stored only locally and via storage sync, files are just text so notes can outlive…”
- [community] “Obsidian Canvas uses a new JSON-based file format, open-sourced under MIT license; canvas files remain local and still link to your own futu…”
Reflect explicitly documents export to open formats (HTML, Markdown) and the founder confirms this is a deliberate anti-lock-in policy, directly matching the story. missing for 10: no independent hands-on verification of a full data export/migration, and export is confined to notes (E2E-encrypted files/images may not be fully portable per reflect-comm-8).
- [claimed-docs] “you can always export it into an open format (like HTML or Markdown).”
- [claimed-docs] “We currently support imports from: Apple Notes (HTML) Evernote (ENEX) Markdown files Roam (JSON) Workflowy (OPML)”
- [community] “Reflect founder on data lock-in: 'you can always export your notes into markdown or HTML so you shouldn't feel too locked in.' Also noted th…”
- [community] “Question about Reflect's E2E encryption claims: 'We do not end-to-end encrypt things like files or images you upload' - user noted this excl…”
ai-native userRead the product's source under an open license
weight 2 · round drawnObsidiannone0/10Obsidian is explicitly noted as closed-source (obsidian-comm-12), and no evidence pack item shows any open-license source availability; only the Canvas file format is MIT-licensed (obsidian-comm-14), not the app's source code itself.
- [community] “Obsidian being closed-source makes it harder to verify their security model compared to note-taking systems where all plugin code is visible…”
- [community] “Obsidian Canvas uses a new JSON-based file format, open-sourced under MIT license; canvas files remain local and still link to your own futu…”
ai-native userSelf-host the core product
weight 3 · round drawnObsidiannone0/10Obsidian's core app is closed-source (obsidian-comm-12) and Sync/Publish are proprietary paid cloud services with no documented self-hosted server alternative; the only 'local' aspect is that vault files live on-device, which is not the same as self-hosting the product's infrastructure. No evidence of an official self-hostable sync/publish server or open-source core.
- [community] “Obsidian being closed-source makes it harder to verify their security model compared to note-taking systems where all plugin code is visible…”
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian Sync encrypts your remote vault and all communication with Obsidian's servers.”
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian Publish is a cloud-based hosting service that lets you publish your notes as a wiki, knowledge base, documentation, or digital gard…”
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian Sync is an add-on service that allows you to privately sync your notes across devices.”
Organization retrieval — stories about organization retrieval in this arenaOrganization retrieval
Stories about organization retrieval in this arena
Metadata
power-userAttach typed properties and tags to notes and use them consistently for organization and retrieval
weight 2 · round drawnObsidian's Bases core plugin (database-like views of notes) and internal linking support the kind of structured organization/retrieval a power-user would want, and community evidence confirms Bases is used as a fast, if less comprehensive, alternative to Dataview for querying notes by metadata. However, the evidence pack never explicitly documents Obsidian's Properties (YAML frontmatter with typed fields) or tag system, nor how tags/properties are used consistently for retrieval. Missing for 10: explicit docs on typed Properties/frontmatter, dedicated tag-pane/tag-search documentation, and hands-on confirmation that typed properties work reliably for retrieval across a vault.
- [claimed-docs] “Bases is a core plugin that lets you create database-like views of your notes.”
- [community] “Bases is essentially a 90% replacement for the Dataview plugin, much faster and more responsive, though not yet as comprehensive.”
- [claimed-docs] “By linking notes, you can create a network of knowledge.”
Reflect clearly supports tags (#tags) for organization and retrieval, including automatic tagging (e.g. Kindle imports tagged #book) and filtering notes by #tags, backlinks, dates, and pinned status. However, there is no evidence of 'typed properties' (structured metadata fields with types, akin to database properties) — Reflect's organization model is built around tags, backlinks, and daily notes, not typed property schemas. Missing for 10: evidence of typed/structured properties (not just tags), evidence of consistent property schemas across notes, and any UI for defining property types.
- [claimed-docs] “You can filter notes by: Date created or updated, Daily Notes, Where they are backlinked to/from, #tags, Pinned notes”
- [claimed-docs] “You can filter notes by: Date created or updated Daily Notes Where they are backlinked to/from #tags Pinned notes”
- [claimed-docs] “You can filter notes by: * Date created or updated * Daily Notes * Where they are backlinked to/from * #tags * Pinned notes”
- [claimed-docs] “Reflect can automatically sync your books, highlights, and comments from your Kindle. They will be imported into Reflect as individual notes…”
- [claimed-docs] “Reflect can automatically sync your books, highlights, and comments from your Kindle. They will be imported into Reflect as individual notes…”
Queries
power-userQuery my notes by their structured properties and render live database-style views (tables, boards, lists) from those queries
weight 3 · round to ObsidianObsidian's core 'Bases' plugin is documented as letting users 'create database-like views of your notes' from structured properties, and community evidence corroborates it as a real, working feature comparable to the popular Dataview plugin, confirming table/board-style query views exist. However, community feedback notes Bases is 'not yet as comprehensive' as Dataview and lacks its imperative dataviewjs scripting for custom dynamic rendering, so some advanced query/view flexibility power-users expect is limited. Missing for 10: detailed first-party documentation of specific view types (table/board/list) and their query syntax, plus independent confirmation these views match the full breadth of 'live database' functionality claimed.
- [claimed-docs] “Bases is a core plugin that lets you create database-like views of your notes.”
- [community] “Bases is essentially a 90% replacement for the Dataview plugin, much faster and more responsive, though not yet as comprehensive.”
- [community] “Dataview's dataviewjs mode lets you write custom imperative JavaScript to dynamically render content in notes, a capability Bases (queries-t…”
Reflectnone0/10Reflect only supports basic filtering (tags, dates, backlinks, pinned) per reflect-docs-15/22/27, with no evidence of structured/typed properties, query language, or database-style table/board/list views like Notion or Roam-style databases. No documentation or community evidence mentions live queryable views rendered from structured properties.
- [claimed-docs] “You can filter notes by: Date created or updated, Daily Notes, Where they are backlinked to/from, #tags, Pinned notes”
- [claimed-docs] “You can filter notes by: Date created or updated Daily Notes Where they are backlinked to/from #tags Pinned notes”
- [claimed-docs] “You can filter notes by: * Date created or updated * Daily Notes * Where they are backlinked to/from * #tags * Pinned notes”
Search
researcherInstantly search all my notes with full-text search plus filters on tags, properties, and paths — including offline
weight 3 · round to ReflectEvidence confirms offline-first, local plain-text storage (docs-2, docs-20, docs-23) and Bases as a database-like filtering view on note properties (docs-6), plus tag-based linking (docs-18), which together imply some filterable retrieval. However, the pack contains no explicit documentation of Obsidian's full-text search engine, search operators for tags/paths, or performance claims about instant search across large vaults. Missing for 10: dedicated full-text search docs, tag/path/property query syntax evidence, independent hands-on confirmation of search speed/completeness.
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian uses non-proprietary plain text Markdown files stored locally on your device. You have total control over your data, which means yo…”
- [claimed-docs] “Bases is a core plugin that lets you create database-like views of your notes.”
- [claimed-docs] “By linking notes, you can create a network of knowledge.”
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian stores your notes as Markdown-formatted plain text files in a vault.”
- [claimed-docs] “Apps come and go, but your data should last. Obsidian uses non-proprietary plain text Markdown files stored locally on your device.”
Reflect documents semantic + full-text search with filters on tags, backlinks, date, daily notes, and pinned status (reflect-docs-6,15,22,27,41), covering most of the story. However, no explicit filter on "properties" (beyond tags) or "paths" is documented, and offline capability/search-while-offline is never mentioned anywhere in the evidence. Missing for 10: explicit property-based filtering, path-based filtering, and any documentation of offline search support.
- [claimed-docs] “Reflect’s Semantic search lets you find specific pieces of information without knowing the exact words.”
- [claimed-docs] “You can filter notes by: Date created or updated, Daily Notes, Where they are backlinked to/from, #tags, Pinned notes”
- [claimed-docs] “You can filter notes by: Date created or updated Daily Notes Where they are backlinked to/from #tags Pinned notes”
- [claimed-docs] “You can filter notes by: * Date created or updated * Daily Notes * Where they are backlinked to/from * #tags * Pinned notes”
- [claimed-docs] “Reflect's Semantic search lets you find specific pieces of information without knowing the exact words.”
- [claimed-docs] “After applying any desired filters to the search, you can also “chat” with those specific notes to ask questions and extract information.”
Plugins extensibility — stories about plugins extensibility in this arenaPlugins extensibility
Stories about plugins extensibility in this arena
Automation hooks
developerDrive the app from outside — create or open notes via a URI scheme, deep links, or a local endpoint — to wire it into my scripts and workflows
weight 2 · round to ReflectObsidian documents a native URI protocol for triggering actions like opening or creating notes, which directly supports scripting/automation via deep links (obsidian-docs-8). However, there is no first-party local HTTP endpoint or official CLI evidenced — the probe explicitly confirms Obsidian ships no official CLI or vendor MCP server, leaving any local-endpoint automation to third-party community plugins not covered in this pack. Missing for 10: vendor-documented local REST/HTTP endpoint, independent hands-on examples of URI-driven workflows in real automation pipelines.
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian URI is a custom URI protocol supported by Obsidian that lets you trigger various actions, such as opening a note or creating a note…”
- [probe] “PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counte…”
Reflect ships a documented custom URI scheme (reflect://reflect?command=...) for deep linking into the app, plus a REST API with OAuth2/PKCE authentication that a runtime probe confirms is live and enforcing auth, letting developers script note creation/appending from outside the app. missing for 10: independent/hands-on developer confirmation of building an external integration, and full endpoint/command reference beyond the docs snippets.
- [claimed-docs] “Reflect supports deep linking, allowing users to perform actions within the app using custom URLs.”
- [claimed-docs] “reflect://reflect?command=<command_name>&<parameter1>=<value1>&...”
- [claimed-docs] “For authentication, we support OAuth 2. You will need to create credentials here.”
- [claimed-docs] “Our supports appending data to your notes, returning a list of the links you've bookmarked, and a few other things.”
- [claimed-docs] “We do support OAuth's PKCE extension which means you can build a client to Reflect without shipping secret keys around.”
- [probe] “PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): keyless GET to the documented REST base https://reflect.app/api/graphs returned HTTP 401 {"error":{"typ…”
Plugins
power-userBrowse and install from a large catalog of community plugins/extensions to add features the core app doesn't ship
weight 3 · round to ObsidianObsidian's own docs describe a dedicated Community Plugins system for extending functionality (obsidian-docs-7, obsidian-docs-31, obsidian-docs-33), and a runtime probe confirms the vendor's official plugin registry lists 7,275 published community plugins, verifying the catalog's scale beyond marketing claims. Community discussion corroborates real-world reliance on specific popular plugins (Dataview, Git, Text-Generator) as everyday power-user tools, and docs also cover the security model (Restricted Mode) governing plugin installation. Missing for 10: independent step-by-step hands-on installation walkthrough/review of the browse-and-install UI flow itself.
- [claimed-docs] “Use plugins to adapt Obsidian to fit your specific needs, such as support for additional file formats or integrating with a third-party serv…”
- [claimed-docs] “Learn how to extend Obsidian with plugins built by the community.”
- [claimed-docs] “Plugins let you extend Obsidian with your own features to create a custom note-taking experience.”
- [claimed-docs] “By default, Obsidian runs in Restricted Mode to prevent third-party code execution.”
- [probe] “PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counte…”
- [community] “Bases is essentially a 90% replacement for the Dataview plugin, much faster and more responsive, though not yet as comprehensive.”
- [community] “The Git plugin is great for single-device backup but not great for device sync or collaboration; a real-time collaboration plugin using CRDT…”
Reflectnone0/10There is no evidence of a plugin/extension marketplace; instead community evidence explicitly states Reflect is designed to be 'fully functional without any plugins' as a differentiator from Obsidian, indicating no such catalog exists.
- [community] “What drew me to Reflect (away from Obsidian) was full functionality out of the box without the need for plugins... Reflect is fully function…”
developerBuild my own plugins against a documented extension API/SDK with samples and developer docs
weight 2 · round to ObsidianObsidian has a dedicated developer docs site with a 'Build a plugin' tutorial that compiles a sample plugin from source, an official API repository (obsidian-api) documenting interfaces like Vault, and TypeScript-based plugin development guidance; the registry-verified 7,275 community plugins confirm the extension API is actively used at scale. missing for 10: independent hands-on review of doc quality/completeness, and no official CLI/scaffolding tool beyond the sample build tutorial.
- [claimed-docs] “In this tutorial, you'll compile a sample plugin from source code and load it into Obsidian.”
- [claimed-docs] “Build plugins to extend the existing functionality in Obsidian using TypeScript.”
- [claimed-docs] “you'll compile a sample plugin from source code and load it into Obsidian.”
- [claimed-docs] “Plugins let you extend Obsidian with your own features to create a custom note-taking experience.”
- [github] “Vault, the interface that lets you interact with files and folders in the vault.”
- [github] “`Vault`, the interface that lets you interact with files and folders in the vault.”
- [probe] “PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counte…”
Reflectnone0/10Reflect documents a limited OAuth2 REST API for appending data/links and deep-linking (reflect-docs-2,17,18,38), but this is not a plugin extension SDK, and community evidence explicitly states Reflect is 'fully functional without any plugins' by design, unlike Obsidian (reflect-comm-2). No plugin architecture, extension samples, or plugin developer docs exist.
- [claimed-docs] “Our supports appending data to your notes, returning a list of the links you've bookmarked, and a few other things.”
- [claimed-docs] “We do support OAuth's PKCE extension which means you can build a client to Reflect without shipping secret keys around.”
- [community] “What drew me to Reflect (away from Obsidian) was full functionality out of the box without the need for plugins... Reflect is fully function…”
Privacy posture — data-handling and privacy storiesPrivacy posture
Data-handling and privacy stories
ai-native userChoose where my data is stored (region/residency)
weight 2 · round to ObsidianObsidian's core value proposition is local-first storage — notes are plain-text Markdown files kept on the user's own device, giving inherent control over data location without relying on a vendor cloud (obsidian-docs-2, obsidian-docs-20, obsidian-docs-23). However, for users who opt into Obsidian Sync, there is no documented ability to choose a specific storage region/jurisdiction for the encrypted cloud vault. missing for 10: explicit region/residency selection for Obsidian Sync servers, any multi-region hosting options, independent confirmation of server locations.
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian uses non-proprietary plain text Markdown files stored locally on your device. You have total control over your data, which means yo…”
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian stores your notes as Markdown-formatted plain text files in a vault.”
- [claimed-docs] “Apps come and go, but your data should last. Obsidian uses non-proprietary plain text Markdown files stored locally on your device.”
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian Sync is an add-on service that allows you to privately sync your notes across devices.”
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian Sync encrypts your remote vault and all communication with Obsidian's servers.”
ai-native userPrevent my data from being used to train AI models
weight 3 · round to ObsidianObsidian's core architecture (local plain-text Markdown storage, optional end-to-end encrypted Sync where 'no one — not even the Obsidian team — can access your notes') strongly implies user data isn't harvested for AI training since it never leaves the user's control by default. However, there is no explicit vendor statement or policy addressing AI-training use of data, and Obsidian's own docs admit community plugins have unrestricted filesystem/network access with no sandboxing, meaning third-party plugins (e.g. AI plugins) could still exfiltrate data outside Obsidian's control. Missing for 10: an explicit anti-AI-training data policy statement, and any assurance/controls over what community AI plugins do with vault data.
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian stores your notes as Markdown-formatted plain text files in a vault.”
- [claimed-docs] “End-to-end encryption (default) offers the strongest security... This guarantees that no one — not even the Obsidian team — can access your …”
- [claimed-docs] “Apps come and go, but your data should last. Obsidian uses non-proprietary plain text Markdown files stored locally on your device.”
- [community] “Confirmed via Obsidian's own docs: there is no sandboxing at all for community plugins - every plugin has full access to your computer's fil…”
- [community] “Obsidian being closed-source makes it harder to verify their security model compared to note-taking systems where all plugin code is visible…”
Reflectnone0/10Reflect advertises end-to-end encryption of note content (reflect-docs-16, reflect-docs-35), which limits Reflect's own server-side access, but there is no explicit statement anywhere in the evidence about whether note content sent to third-party AI models (GPT-4o, Claude 3.5 Sonnet per reflect-docs-37) is used for model training, nor any opt-out/data-processing policy addressing AI training use. Community evidence even notes files/images are excluded from E2E encryption (reflect-comm-8), raising unaddressed questions rather than resolving them.
- [claimed-docs] “End-to-end encryption keeps your notes secure.”
- [claimed-docs] “The contents of your notes are end-to-end encrypted. No one else can read them (not even us).”
- [claimed-docs] “Reflect's AI tools give you the option to now use either GPT-4o (the latest model from OpenAI) or Claude 3.5 Sonnet (the latest model from A…”
- [community] “Question about Reflect's E2E encryption claims: 'We do not end-to-end encrypt things like files or images you upload' - user noted this excl…”
ai-native userControl data retention and deletion
weight 2 · round to ObsidianObsidian's local-first, plain-text vault model (obsidian-docs-20, obsidian-docs-23, obsidian-docs-2) gives users full control to delete or retain data simply by managing files on disk, and Sync is end-to-end encrypted with version history to restore/rollback (obsidian-docs-21, obsidian-docs-28). However there's no explicit documentation on server-side retention windows, deletion guarantees for Sync/Publish-hosted data, or export/purge tooling tailored to AI-native automation. Missing for 10: explicit Sync/Publish data-retention or deletion policy, documented data-export/erasure API, and any AI-specific retention controls.
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian stores your notes as Markdown-formatted plain text files in a vault.”
- [claimed-docs] “Apps come and go, but your data should last. Obsidian uses non-proprietary plain text Markdown files stored locally on your device.”
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian uses non-proprietary plain text Markdown files stored locally on your device. You have total control over your data, which means yo…”
- [claimed-docs] “End-to-end encryption (default) offers the strongest security... This guarantees that no one — not even the Obsidian team — can access your …”
- [claimed-docs] “Version history - View or restore previous versions of a note.”
ai-native userOpt out of telemetry and usage tracking
weight 2 · round drawnObsidiannone0/10The evidence pack covers local-first storage and Sync encryption but contains no mention of telemetry, usage analytics, or an opt-out setting for such tracking. This is a fair question for any desktop app, so absence of evidence yields 'none' rather than 'na'.
Reflectnone0/10No evidence pack item discusses telemetry, analytics, usage tracking, or an opt-out/privacy settings toggle for such tracking; the evidence covers encryption, imports, AI features, and API access instead. Missing for 10: any mention of telemetry collection, opt-out settings, or a privacy policy addressing usage tracking.
Publish sharing — stories about publish sharing in this arenaPublish sharing
Stories about publish sharing in this arena
Publish
researcherPublish selected notes as a browsable website — a digital garden with working links — without leaving the app
weight 2 · round to ObsidianObsidian Publish lets users select notes from their vault and publish them as a hosted, browsable site (digital garden/wiki) at publish.obsidian.md/your-site, with working internal links preserved via Obsidian's native linking system, all configured from within the app. missing for 10: no independent hands-on account of the publish workflow or link-rendering fidelity, and Publish is a paid add-on rather than free/bundled.
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian Publish is a cloud-based hosting service that lets you publish your notes as a wiki, knowledge base, documentation, or digital gard…”
- [claimed-docs] “Select the notes you want to share with the world, press Publish, and we'll host it at publish.obsidian.md/your-site”
- [claimed-docs] “By linking notes, you can create a network of knowledge.”
Reflect docs confirm one-click publishing of individual notes to a public URL with minimal branding, which supports sharing selected notes without leaving the app, but there is no evidence of a browsable multi-page 'digital garden' site (index/navigation) or confirmation that backlinks between published notes remain functional as working links. Missing for 10: evidence of a site-level index/navigation across multiple published notes, confirmation that internal links/backlinks resolve correctly between published pages, and any custom-domain or site-branding options.
- [claimed-docs] “Reflect offers one-click publishing of your notes. Simply hit the publish button and your note will be publicly available behind a long hard…”
- [claimed-docs] “We try to keep the style clean and branding to a minimum.”
- [claimed-docs] “Backlinks are just a list of incoming links from other notes.”
Sync collaboration — stories about sync collaboration in this arenaSync collaboration
Stories about sync collaboration in this arena
Collaboration
researcherShare a vault or space with collaborators and edit notes together without stepping on each other's changes
weight 2 · round to ObsidianObsidiandisputedcontradicted4/10Vendor docs claim Obsidian Sync lets teams 'collaborate on a shared vault' and offers version history to restore prior versions, but this is file-sync-based rather than real-time conflict-free editing — community evidence explicitly notes that neither Sync-adjacent tools (e.g. Git plugin) are 'great for device sync or collaboration' and that a separate third-party CRDT-based plugin had to be built to achieve Google-Docs-style simultaneous editing without overwriting changes, implying native Sync doesn't guarantee non-destructive concurrent edits. missing for 10: evidence of built-in conflict-free simultaneous multi-user editing, first-party documentation on merge/conflict handling during concurrent edits, hands-on reports confirming no data loss when two collaborators edit the same note at once.
- [claimed-docs] “With Obsidian Sync you can collaborate on a shared vault with your team.”
- [claimed-docs] “Version history - View or restore previous versions of a note.”
- [community] “The Git plugin is great for single-device backup but not great for device sync or collaboration; a real-time collaboration plugin using CRDT…”
Reflectnone0/10No evidence pack item mentions shared vaults/spaces, multi-user collaboration, or real-time co-editing/conflict resolution; Reflect's documented features are import/export, linking, AI, search, publishing, integrations, and E2E encryption for a single user's notes, with no mention of collaborative editing between multiple people.
Sync
power-userAn official sync service keeps my notes updated across all my devices with end-to-end encryption the vendor can't read
weight 3 · round to ObsidianObsidian Sync is an official first-party add-on service documented to encrypt the remote vault and all communications, with end-to-end encryption as the default so 'no one — not even the Obsidian team — can access your notes,' directly matching the story. Missing for 10: independent third-party security audit or hands-on verification of the E2E claim, and one community report notes an Android sync edge case (files not saved until note unloads) that can cause missing content during sync, a minor reliability caveat.
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian Sync encrypts your remote vault and all communication with Obsidian's servers.”
- [claimed-docs] “End-to-end encryption (default) offers the strongest security... This guarantees that no one — not even the Obsidian team — can access your …”
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian Sync is an add-on service that allows you to privately sync your notes across devices.”
- [claimed-docs] “End-to-end encryption (default) offers the strongest security but requires you to safely store your encryption password.”
- [community] “The Obsidian Android app does not save files to storage until the note unloads, which can break things if you sync/pull mid-edit, sometimes …”
Reflectdisputedcontradicted5/10Reflect markets end-to-end encryption 'no one else can read them (not even us)' and syncs notes across devices as a core feature, but a founder-sourced community comment reveals a concrete carve-out: files/images uploaded are NOT end-to-end encrypted, contradicting the blanket vendor claim. Missing for 10: explicit documentation of sync architecture/conflict resolution across devices, independent security audit report details, and a full accounting of what content types are/aren't encrypted.
- [claimed-docs] “End-to-end encryption keeps your notes secure.”
- [claimed-docs] “The contents of your notes are end-to-end encrypted. No one else can read them (not even us).”
- [community] “Question about Reflect's E2E encryption claims: 'We do not end-to-end encrypt things like files or images you upload' - user noted this excl…”
- [community] “Reflect founder: 'We're building it as a lifestyle company. There's only four of us. We bootstrapped for a while, and then did a $1m crowdfu…”
- [community] “Props to Reflect for their security audit too. I will be keeping an eye on how they progress.”
power-userView a note's version history and restore earlier versions or recover deleted notes
weight 2 · round to ReflectObsidian's own docs explicitly list 'Version history - View or restore previous versions of a note' as a feature of Obsidian Sync, directly matching the story's core ask for power-users who pay for Sync. Missing for 10: explicit documentation of deleted-note recovery workflow, and independent/hands-on corroboration beyond the single first-party doc line.
- [claimed-docs] “Version history - View or restore previous versions of a note.”
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian Sync is an add-on service that allows you to privately sync your notes across devices.”
Reflect's documentation explicitly states it continually records edits and lets users revert a note to any point in time, directly matching the version history/restore story (docs-8). Deleted note recovery isn't explicitly documented, so missing for 10: explicit documentation of deleted-note recovery/trash restoration, and independent hands-on corroboration of restore functionality.
- [claimed-docs] “We continually record edits to notes which means you can see all your changes and revert a note to any point in time.”
Not comparable on these axes
ai-native userSchedule recurring jobs or workflows
weight 2 · not comparableObsidiannone0/10No evidence describes any Obsidian feature for scheduling recurring jobs or workflows; core plugins (daily notes, templates, bases) and the URI protocol are for triggering/creating notes, not for time-based recurring automation. The plugin ecosystem is large but no specific scheduling/automation plugin or native scheduler is documented.
- [claimed-docs] “Daily notes is a core plugin that opens a note based on today's date, or creates it if it doesn't exist.”
- [claimed-docs] “Obsidian URI is a custom URI protocol supported by Obsidian that lets you trigger various actions, such as opening a note or creating a note…”
- [claimed-docs] “Use plugins to adapt Obsidian to fit your specific needs, such as support for additional file formats or integrating with a third-party serv…”
- [probe] “PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counte…”
Reflectn/aReflect is a personal note-taking/journaling app, not an automation/workflow platform; there is no scheduler, cron, or recurring-job concept in its feature set (daily notes are manually created journaling prompts, not scheduled jobs). Scheduling recurring workflows is a category error for this product type.
- [claimed-docs] “Tools like Reflect will create a new _daily note_ for you everyday for you to journal in.”
- [claimed-docs] “Tools like Reflect will create a new daily note for you everyday for you to journal in.”
ai-native userVersion, review, and roll back my automations
weight 1 · not comparableObsidiannone0/10Obsidian offers file version history for notes (obsidian-docs-28) and third-party Git sync for backups (obsidian-comm-8), but there is no evidence of any built-in mechanism to version, review, or roll back 'automations' (e.g., plugin configs, Templater/QuickAdd scripts, or workflow definitions) — Obsidian has no native automation/workflow builder at all, only community plugins that could theoretically be automation-like but aren't documented with any versioning/rollback tooling. Missing for 10: any documented automation-specific versioning system, review/diff tooling for automation changes, or rollback mechanism tied to plugin/script configurations.
- [claimed-docs] “Version history - View or restore previous versions of a note.”
- [community] “The Git plugin is great for single-device backup but not great for device sync or collaboration; a real-time collaboration plugin using CRDT…”
Reflectn/aReflect is a note-taking/knowledge-management app with API, integrations, and note history (version/revert notes), but it has no automation/workflow-building feature (e.g., triggers/actions pipelines) that could be versioned, reviewed, or rolled back — the axis doesn't apply to this product category.