Can I open my existing Obsidian Markdown files in Kintari?

Yes. Kintari works on regular files — Markdown is read, indexed, and pulled into the knowledge graph. You don't need to migrate the vault; just point Kintari at the folder. Obsidian-specific plugin syntax (e.g., Dataview queries) is treated as text, and the content around it remains usable.

How is the Kintari vault different from the Obsidian vault?

The Obsidian vault is a regular folder with .md files — portable, but unencrypted by default. The Kintari vault is an encrypted file (.kintarivault) that carries the knowledge index, configuration, and credentials. The content itself stays as files — you don't lose portability, you gain an encrypted index.

Obsidian has thousands of plugins — how can Kintari keep up?

It doesn't, and doesn't try to. If your workflow rides on a specific plugin chain (Dataview, Excalidraw, Tasks plugin, etc.), Obsidian is your tool. Kintari is curated rather than open: AI, knowledge graph, and agents are built in and don't need wiring. Both approaches have their place.

Do I need Obsidian Sync if I have Kintari?

No — and Kintari Sync deliberately doesn't exist. Synchronization is the sort of thing where any cloud hook would punch a hole back into the cloud-free design. If you need to sync devices, put your vault on a path you control (NAS, Syncthing, your own WebDAV). Kintari stays out of the way.

Plain Markdown files will still be readable in 30 years — what about Kintari?

Same. Content stays as files in your filesystem in the format you put them in. The vault itself is a documented format with published tools for export. If Kintari ever disappears, your files remain accessible and the vault decryptable.

Compare · Kintari vs Obsidian

Built in vs. wired together.

Obsidian is a first-class Markdown editor with an enormous plugin ecosystem. If you enjoy tinkering and bolting on AI via plugins, it is a wonderful tool. Kintari approaches the same problem from the other direction: AI, agent, and an encrypted vault are built in — you don\'t assemble a plugin stack.

Markdown-compatible encrypted vault built-in agent local models

Chapter I · What Obsidian is built for

Plain Markdown, your plugin chain.

Obsidian stores every note as a plain Markdown file in a folder of your choosing. That is the strength: the files belong to the filesystem, not the app. If you like plain text, Obsidian gives you a tool whose content will still be readable in any text editor thirty years from now.

Around that core, an ecosystem of roughly four thousand community plugins has grown. There are plugins for task lists, for database-style queries over notes, for diagrams, for spaced repetition, for academic citation — and, for a few years now, for hooking into language models: Smart Connections, Copilot for Obsidian, Text Generator.

If your workflow lives in a particular plugin and you enjoy configuring, then Obsidian is an exceptionally good tool. Kintari doesn\'t even try to copy that ecosystem.

When Obsidian

— You prefer working in plain Markdown.
— You want to build your stack from plugins yourself.
— You have years of notes and don\'t want to migrate.
— AI is optional, not central.
— Privacy matters, but plain files are enough.

Chapter II · Where Kintari takes a different path

Four things already in the box.

I.

AI as the workbench, not a plugin

In Obsidian, you pick an AI plugin, configure API keys, learn its settings, hope it stays maintained. Switch plugins and the dance starts over. In Kintari, the agent is part of the app: chat, tool calls, history, and approvals share the same surface as your notes.

There\'s a tradeoff — you can\'t pick between three competing AI plugins. You get an agent that knows how to use the knowledge graph and vault search.

II.

Vault encrypted by default

The Obsidian vault is a folder — anyone with filesystem access can read your notes. The Kintari vault is an encrypted file holding the index, the configuration, and credentials. A stolen laptop gives nothing away as long as the vault passphrase isn\'t lying next to it.

You can still keep your content as plain files if format portability matters. The encryption is the wrapper around them, not necessarily each individual note.

III.

Local models on equal footing

In Obsidian, you have to find the right plugin that talks to Ollama and configure it. In Kintari, Ollama is a first-class provider alongside Anthropic Claude and Google Gemini — switch mid-conversation, without losing the thread.

That makes data ownership concrete: you choose per task whether the box at home does the computing (client data) or whether a cloud model with broader quality jumps in (general research).

IV.

External CLI agents and a real knowledge graph

Obsidian shows a graph of backlinks — pretty to look at, semantically fuzzy. Kintari maintains a knowledge graph of named entities, embedding similarity, and typed relations — the same index the agent consults first.

On top of that, a bridge to CLI agents — Claude Code, Gemini CLI, OpenCode, Aider — all speaking in the same session, all asking for approvals through the same queue. Obsidian simply isn\'t built for that.

Chapter III · Side-by-side

Axis by axis.

Axis	Obsidian	Kintari
Data location	local .md files	encrypted vault, local
Encryption at rest	no (except with Sync)	yes, built in
Native AI	no, only plugins	yes, multi-provider
Local models (Ollama)	via plugin	first-class integration
Knowledge graph	backlink graph	semantic + typed
Plugin ecosystem	very large (~4,000)	curated, young
CLI agent bridge	no	Claude Code, Gemini CLI, others
Sync	paid first-party service	your choice (NAS, own WebDAV)
Price	app free · Sync & Publish paid	€99 once, yours forever

Chapter IV · Where Obsidian wins

What we don\'t promise.

Obsidian has a huge, lively plugin ecosystem that we deliberately don\'t copy. Anyone deeply set up with Dataview, Excalidraw, Templater, or another established plugin chain won\'t find a 1:1 equivalent from us.

Plain-text purists also find something in Obsidian that Kintari doesn\'t offer: absolute certainty that every note lives in a Markdown file with nothing in between. Our vault is transparently documented and exportable — but it is a layer between you and the files that Obsidian doesn\'t have.

If your tool today is Obsidian and you\'re happy with it: stay. Kintari is for people who want AI and knowledge management integrated, without building the stack themselves.

Questions we hear

FAQ — Obsidian and Kintari.

Can I open my existing Obsidian Markdown files in Kintari?: Yes. Kintari works on regular files — Markdown is read, indexed, and pulled into the knowledge graph. You don't need to migrate the vault; just point Kintari at the folder. Obsidian-specific plugin syntax (e.g., Dataview queries) is treated as text, and the content around it remains usable.
How is the Kintari vault different from the Obsidian vault?: The Obsidian vault is a regular folder with .md files — portable, but unencrypted by default. The Kintari vault is an encrypted file (.kintarivault) that carries the knowledge index, configuration, and credentials. The content itself stays as files — you don't lose portability, you gain an encrypted index.
Obsidian has thousands of plugins — how can Kintari keep up?: It doesn't, and doesn't try to. If your workflow rides on a specific plugin chain (Dataview, Excalidraw, Tasks plugin, etc.), Obsidian is your tool. Kintari is curated rather than open: AI, knowledge graph, and agents are built in and don't need wiring. Both approaches have their place.
Do I need Obsidian Sync if I have Kintari?: No — and Kintari Sync deliberately doesn't exist. Synchronization is the sort of thing where any cloud hook would punch a hole back into the cloud-free design. If you need to sync devices, put your vault on a path you control (NAS, Syncthing, your own WebDAV). Kintari stays out of the way.
Plain Markdown files will still be readable in 30 years — what about Kintari?: Same. Content stays as files in your filesystem in the format you put them in. The vault itself is a documented format with published tools for export. If Kintari ever disappears, your files remain accessible and the vault decryptable.

Getting started

Try both.

If you\'re still unsure whether Kintari or Obsidian fits your workflow better — a 30-minute call usually settles it.

Book a demo call Kintari home