Installation & quick start
This takes about 3 minutes if your API key is already handy.
Before you start
- Obsidian 1.4 or later on macOS, Windows, or Linux. Vault Operator is desktop-only.
- An internet connection if you plan to use a cloud model. If you want everything offline, install Ollama or LM Studio first.
- One AI provider API key. Free options exist (Google Gemini, Ollama). API keys look like
sk-ant-...for Anthropic,sk-...for OpenAI, or a long random string for Google. Get one from the provider's dashboard before you start. - About 100 MB of disk space for the plugin, the embedding model, and the knowledge database. Large vaults add more.
If something goes wrong, the Troubleshooting page covers the common failures (connection errors, semantic search not working, agent stuck in a loop).
Install the plugin
- Open Obsidian Settings > Community Plugins > Browse
- Search for "Vault Operator"
- Click Install, then Enable
The Vault Operator icon appears in the left sidebar.
BRAT (Beta Testing)
For the latest beta version, install via BRAT: Add pssah4/vault-operator as a beta plugin.
Add your first model
Vault Operator needs an AI model to work. Open Settings > Vault Operator > Models and click "+ add model".
Free option (no credit card)
- Go to Google AI Studio
- Sign in and click "Create API Key"
- Copy the key and paste it into Vault Operator
Google Gemini has a free tier with reasonable rate limits, which is enough to try everything out before paying anyone.
Best quality
| Provider | Model | Strengths |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Best overall quality, excellent tool use |
| OpenAI | GPT-4o | Fast, good at structured output |
| Gemini 2.5 Pro | Free tier, large context window |
Local & private
If you want no data leaving your machine, run a model locally:
- Install Ollama, then run
ollama pull llama3.2 - Or download LM Studio, install a model, and start the server
Multiple providers
Vault Operator supports 10+ providers. You can switch models mid-conversation, so it's fine to configure several and pick per task.
Your first chat
- Click the Vault Operator icon in the left sidebar
- Type a message and press Enter
- Watch the agent work. It shows every tool call in real time
Try these prompts
- "What notes do I have about [any topic]?"
- "Summarize the note I'm currently viewing"
- "Create a new note with a summary of my last 3 daily notes"
- "Find all notes tagged with #project and create a canvas showing their connections"
What happens behind the scenes
When you send a message, Vault Operator reads it and decides which tools to use. It then calls those tools (read files, search, write) while you see each call in the activity block. Before any write operation it asks for your approval, unless you've enabled auto-approve for that category. Then it returns a response.
Every write operation creates a checkpoint, so you can undo any change with one click.
Next steps
From here, read Your first conversation for modes and context, Choosing a model to pick a model for your workflow, and Safety & control for how permissions and checkpoints work.
If something does not work as described above, check the Troubleshooting page first.