Obsidian

local-first markdown knowledge base. primary thinking and note-taking tool.

installed via: brew install --cask obsidian

role: the main knowledge base. notes, ideas, project docs, daily logs — all stored as plain markdown files on disk. the local-first approach means everything is accessible to CLI tools, scripts, and AI agents that can read the filesystem.

why Obsidian over alternatives: markdown files on disk. no vendor lock-in, no proprietary format. the vault is just a folder — Claude Code, grep, and any editor can read it. this is a genuine advantage over Notion or cloud-based tools: your AI agent has direct filesystem access to your entire knowledge base.

complements: Ideaflow for freeform idea capture, Apple Notes for quick capture, Google Docs for collaboration.

ecosystem: the awesome-obsidian community maintains a massive list of plugins, themes, and workflows.