I am puzzled why there is not an x-obsidian:// or similar feature by Obsidian to allow other apps to link to Obsidian just like x-devonthink:// allows other apps to link to Devonthink.
Many applications don’t have their own URL schemes. And not all development teams or companies want to share data between apps.
Totally understandable - except when your software prides itself on the value of links and connections!
I suggest you ask Erica or Shida on their forum for Obsidian. They are pretty engaged and responsive.
This software is still in beta. They started working on it three months ago. May be you should take this into consideration when you complain about the lack of features. The whole matter does not seem to be related to DT anyway.
To add to what others have said: once I discovered the magic of Indexing within DevonThink I’ve been using it (perhaps over-using it!) for any case where I want to be able to view (and more importantly, search) content while preserving the original file structure.
This has been true for markdown docs within iA Writer, some miscellaneous stuff in iCloud, and Org-mode text files. AFAICT Obsidian should fit this mold just fine too.
Also adding to what others have said, I’m finding Obsidian to be very useful in my day to day work, and have it set to be indexed by DevonThink.
That way I can work within Obsidian for specific types of note taking I like doing there - it is very good at showing multiple notes - and multiple parts of the same note - simultaneously and using keyboard only to zip around - but have my notes available inside DT too for completeness.
If you use 1Writer on iOS to read your Obsidian vault, you can actually use the [[wikilinking]] among documents stored in the same folder level; to use document linking on iOS within DTTG right now you have to do the copy-item-link routine.
I have found is that Obsidian feels very light to work with, and the text folding is super helpful for my work. But DT is way better at searching and manipulating files, so it’s not really an either/or. I’ve found it pretty useful to have them work together. I’ve been using this system pretty solidly for about 8 weeks now.
-Robert
DT supports the use of custom CSS files, but the rendered text does not use the same classes as Obsidian. So you need separate files for Obsidian and DT.
No.
In a way, if you just use the search.
Of course not.
Obsidian and DT are two completely different apps. If you want, you can view the same MD files in both of them, but to expect them to behave in the same way and to offer the same things is unrealistic. Think of Obsidian as a place where you have all those features you mentioned; and of DT as a place where you can organize and categorize your files, adding all the metadata you need to make things more organized. You can even navigate your files in both of them and, if you want to go ballistic with linking, you can add aliases to your files and turn on every kind of links available in DT and see where this takes you. (This obsidian cannot do).
You could also view these files using other apps that offer different functions, like BBEdit, Sublime, VSCode, nvUltra, Ulysses, Notebooks, and so on.
Absolutely true - except I must be in the minority here in that I find it extremely disruptive to not be able to open Obsidian directly from within DT3 - just like I do with virtually ever other app whose data I store in DT3. At the risk of being repetitive, Obsidian says it best:
I cannot fathom why Obsidian feels so strongly about links internally but does not see equal value in linking to data from other applications.
Hopefully this will be added during the Beta period. It looks like a worthwhile app to. pursue. But the absence of external linking into an Obsidian vault is a non-starter at least for me.
Linking between documents, or between sections of a document, or between a document and a resource (such as a browser URL), versus opening for a document for editing are two different things.
What Obsidian discusses in its mission and roadmap only deals with the former, not with editing. The owners have made it clear in many venues that they chose plain text / markdown files as their medium because it gives users portability.
It makes little sense to me to open a document from someplace else into Obsidian using macOS “Open With” features, because Obsidian’s architecture involves storing all linked files and references in the same “vault”. I think for that reason, Obsidian is not a stand-alone editor like iAWriter, MultiMarkdownComposer, etc. This of course has nothing to do with “linking”
And similar reasons, that’s why DEVONthink is also not available in “Open With” menus, because the architecture assumes that documents are in, or indexed in, a DEVONthink database. Also, nothing to do with “linking”.
Do you think there would be a use for an x-Obsidian:// URL scheme similar to Item Links for Devonthink?
You’ve already found the thread on the Obsidian forum for this, I assume, since you posted the link earlier in this thread.
This thread really belongs on the Obsidian forum, I suggest, not here. It’s nothing to do with DEVONthink.
If this feature can be restricted in access then it may be a workaround:
A “workaround” for what?
The link points to a “publishing” feature on Obsidian’s roadmap. How does that relate to indexing documents in an Obsidian vault.
I think this thread is getting far far away from DEVONthink.
It’s on-point for Devonthink.
The point is - if it is not possible to “Open With” an Obsidian Vault and there is no obsidian:// URL structure, then a “publishing” link would be a workaround to include a direct link to an Obsidian graph and other high-level Obsidian output formats from inside DT3.
I recognize that a lot of people are mostly interested in including data by indexing so it is searchable. That is clearly a valid and common use of data from other applications, though it is not my particular use case. For me, I curate/write information applicable to a particular client case I am working on. I do not need to index/search documents; what I need instead is to put together an eclectic set of data all within a pertinent DT3 Group. So I may have a case I am working on where some info is in Google Sheets, others are in regular PDF, some info is in annotations in LiquidText, some info is in an Aeon Timeline, etc. I can put those all in a DT3 group and then it is super easy to open the various items in their respective applications. If Obsidian adds any of these features (Open With, Obsidian:// URL, or publishing link) then I would be able to add an Obsidian Vault/graph as an additional type of info for me to include in such a DT3 group.
Sorry, I’m going to repeat this again: “Open with” has nothing to do with URL schemes.
“Open with” applies to an application registering itself with the operating system as software that can be used for editing and/or viewing a particular document type. (In this case we’re talking about .md, .mmd, .markdown, and .txt types). If the app registers itself this way then the user can configure that software (e.g., Obsidian) in Finder’s Get Info settings as that user’s preferred app for opening that file type. Obsidian currently does not register itself that way, so users cannot configure Finder Get Info as mentioned.
URL schemes are different animals.
I get the difference.
I totally understand that for some use cases, one will work and the other will not.
For my use case, either of them would be just fine. Or a “publish link” would be fine too.
Totally basic question: What is Obsidian? Googling brings a few different businesses. A link from the original poster would’ve been great…
Thanks. Looks cool! Certainly worth checking out!
A URL Scheme has now been added to Obsidian and it works well with Devonthink!
Very nice feature to have - this is a natural integration
