Run Obsidian as a self-hosted web app
The article describes how to self-host Obsidian as a web application, allowing users to access their notes from any device without relying on Obsidian Sync or the official paid service. It provides a step-by-step guide to set up a Docker container with Obsidian's web interface, enabling full note-taking functionality through a browser while keeping data on the user's own server.
Background
- Obsidian is a popular, free-for-personal-use note-taking app (based on local Markdown files) that is widely used in tech/productivity circles. Unlike cloud-first tools like Notion, Obsidian has always been a local desktop/mobile app, meaning your notes live on your device and syncing is left to the user.
- "Self-hosting" means running software on your own hardware (or a server you control) rather than relying on a third-party cloud service. It gives you full data ownership and privacy but usually requires some technical setup.
- This article details a method to run Obsidian's interface in a web browser by hosting it yourself — which is notable because Obsidian is not natively a web app; the official company does not offer a self-hosted web version.
- The approach likely involves using Obsidian's local API or a community-built server wrapper, tricking the desktop app into behaving like a web app. This matters for users who want Obsidian's experience on devices they cannot install apps on, or who want to centralize their notes on a private server.