Syncing
How it works
The plugin watches your vault for changes using Obsidian's vault.on('modify') event. When you save a file, it is pushed to Sidian immediately — no manual action required.
Each device keeps a cursor (a timestamp of the last successful sync). On push, the server returns any changes made by other devices since that cursor, so your local vault stays up to date.
What gets synced
| File type | Synced |
|---|---|
Markdown (.md) | ✓ Rendered to HTML |
Canvas (.canvas) | ✓ Rendered as interactive canvas |
Images (.png, .jpg, .gif, .webp, .svg) | ✓ Stored and proxied |
| PDFs | ✓ Stored and proxied |
| Other binaries | ✓ Stored as-is |
.obsidian/ config folder | ✗ Never synced |
Multiple devices
Sidian supports syncing from multiple Obsidian vaults (devices) to the same site. Each device is tracked separately in your dashboard under Sync → Devices.
If two devices edit the same file at the same time, Sidian performs a 3-way merge using the last common version as the base. If the merge cannot be resolved automatically, a conflict file is created:
Notes/daily.conflict-2025-05-01T14-32-00.md
Resolve conflicts in Obsidian by editing the conflict file and deleting it when done.
Deleted files
When you delete a file in Obsidian, the plugin sends its path in the deletedPaths list on the next sync. The server removes the file and records a tombstone so other devices delete it locally too.
Deleting a file from the Sidian dashboard does not write a tombstone. On the next sync, the plugin will re-upload the file from your vault. Use the Hide or Unlisted toggle in the dashboard instead if you want to control a file's visibility without removing it. See Sites/File Visibility.
Sync status
The plugin shows sync status in the Obsidian status bar:
| Icon | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ✓ | Last sync successful |
| ↑ | Pushing changes |
| ↓ | Pulling changes from another device |
| ✗ | Sync error — check plugin settings |
Linked from