Practical overview
When it fits
Use Vault Curate when an Obsidian vault is hard to search by exact keywords, when you want help spotting connections without automatic note edits, or when you want to search a desktop-indexed vault on a synced mobile device.
Who it is for
- Obsidian users who remember a note's meaning but not its exact wording.
- People who want to find related notes that they have not linked manually.
- Users who want older, long-untouched notes to reappear in search or rediscovery workflows.
- People working with Chinese or other CJK-language notes.
Documented uses
- Find a note by meaning, keywords or a fuzzy title even when the exact phrase is forgotten.
- See the passage that matched a search and open the note at that passage.
- Find similar notes and view suggested relationships on an Obsidian Canvas relation graph.
- Review recently touched or long-untouched notes with Hot and Cold filters.
- Search an indexed vault on a phone or tablet after syncing it from desktop.
Requirements & limits
The documented setup uses Obsidian v1.7.2 or later. The built-in on-device WebGPU embedding option requires an approximately 110 MB model download. Mobile search requires a desktop-built index synced with the vault.
- The core documented search combines keyword, semantic and fuzzy-title retrieval.
- The built-in embedding option is on-device and does not require an API key, according to the project documentation.
- Ollama or an OpenAI-compatible server is needed for the advanced provider paths.
- AI curation is optional; the documentation describes descriptions, tags and topic tables of contents as its functions.
- Suggested connections are not automatically applied: users can accept them as wikilinks or dismiss them.
Check current requirements in the official documentation. Source-based guidance does not mean OpenViST has run or independently tested this project.
Install Vault Curate and build a local index
Set up the plugin in Obsidian and index a vault using the built-in on-device embedding provider.
Before you start
- Obsidian v1.7.2 or later
- Restricted mode turned off to install through Community plugins
- A desktop Obsidian installation to build the index
Steps
In Obsidian, open Settings → Community plugins, turn off Restricted mode if needed, and choose Browse.
Search for Vault Curate, then select Install and Enable.
In the welcome modal, choose Built-in (on-device, WebGPU) under Embedding provider and select Index my vault now.
After the model download and indexing finish, open the sidebar compass icon to search.
Expected outcome
The vault has a local index available for searching in Vault Curate.
Guide limitations
- The built-in model download is about 110 MB.
- The documented mobile workflow requires a desktop-built index and syncing the vault, including its index, to the mobile device.
Prepare a synced vault for mobile search
Make an existing desktop-built Vault Curate index available for searching on a phone or tablet.
Before you start
- Obsidian v1.7.2 or later
- Vault Curate installed on desktop and mobile
- The desktop has built the index at least once
- A sync method that carries the vault and index to the mobile device
Steps
Install and enable Vault Curate on the mobile device through Obsidian Community plugins.
Use a sync method such as iCloud, Obsidian Sync or Syncthing to carry the indexed vault to the device.
Open the Vault Curate sidebar search panel on mobile.
Expected outcome
The mobile device can load the synced index and search the vault.
Guide limitations
- The index must first be built on desktop.
- Mobile search depends on the sync carrying the index along with the vault.
Sources & review
Source record details
- Source availability
- Active
- Sources checked
- 12 October 2026
- Original website title
- notoriouslab/vault-curate · Official homepage title · retained in its source language