The Tool Desk
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Where are your notes stored?
In Obsidian’s documented storage model, the original notes are Markdown plain-text files in a vault—a folder on the device’s file system. They can be opened with other text editors and file managers. Obsidian also keeps backend state in local IndexedDB and uses a metadata cache for features such as Graph and Outline; that cache is separate from the note files and can become unsynchronized or be rebuilt. Obsidian explains its file and cache model.
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This distinction matters for other apps, too: a local source file does not tell you where an AI assistant keeps its index, conversation history, settings, or credentials. Those may have separate locations and retention behavior.
What happens when an assistant searches or answers questions about notes?
To answer questions about a collection of notes, an assistant may search for relevant passages, use an index or embeddings, and include retrieved text in a prompt. These are distinct operations. An index may be local even when embeddings are generated by a cloud service, and the model endpoint may receive note text even if the source files never move.
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Indexes, embeddings, and assistant history
AI-Vault documents a local default: its retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) index is built and searched on the machine, while its index, projects, and conversation history are stored on disk outside the vault. However, if a user enables semantic search and confirms the option, AI-Vault sends the text of every indexed note and each question asked with RAG enabled to OpenAI’s embeddings endpoint—even when the selected chat model is local or Claude. AI-Vault’s documentation describes these settings and data flows.
That example shows why “the model is local” is not a complete privacy description. Ask whether an integration sends raw note text, selected passages, derived embeddings, prompts, or history—and whether that happens by default or only after enabling a feature.
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Model inference and other network requests
Inference is the step where a model processes a prompt to produce an answer. A locally hosted model can perform that step on the user’s device or on a local service, but integrations vary. The Private AI plugin listing describes locally hosted models through LM Studio, says it transmits no data to external services, and lists desktop-only support. This is the plugin author’s description of that plugin, not a guarantee about every assistant or future version. See the Private AI plugin listing.
Synapse documents Ollama as a local provider using a localhost endpoint by default and says note content goes only to that endpoint. It also offers cloud providers, including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Gemini, which receive the note content being acted on. Its local Whisper path is intended to transcribe on-device; other transcription options may use remote services, and link-reading features may fetch linked content. Synapse documents its providers and feature paths.
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Before using a feature, identify the payload and destination. A chat request might send a selected excerpt and prompt; transcription may involve an audio recording; a link-reading tool may request a URL. A setting that keeps chat inference local does not necessarily control embeddings, transcription, or link fetching.
Does local AI work offline?
Only the operations that do not need a network connection can be assumed to work offline. A local model and local index may support on-device inference and retrieval without internet, but cloud model calls, remote embeddings, sync, or features that fetch a linked page require connectivity. The exact offline behavior depends on the app, plugin, provider, and enabled features; verify it for the operations you intend to use.
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Local processing also has practical requirements: the selected model must be available through a local runtime, and the device must be able to run it. The cited product documentation does not establish a general hardware minimum, so check the runtime and model documentation for your specific setup rather than relying on a universal specification.
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Yes. Cloud sync and cloud AI processing are separate data flows: an assistant can run locally while a sync service stores a remote copy, or an app can keep files local while an AI feature sends selected content to a provider.
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For Obsidian Sync, end-to-end encryption is the default for a new remote vault, with standard encryption available as an alternative. In end-to-end mode, the user’s password is needed to decrypt vault contents and Obsidian says it cannot access the notes. In standard mode, Obsidian manages the key and can decrypt data in situations described in its documentation. Sync does not encrypt the local vault; some metadata, such as which device uploaded or deleted a file and when, is not end-to-end encrypted. Obsidian details Sync’s encryption modes and metadata.
At the platform level, Apple says Apple Intelligence combines on-device processing with Private Cloud Compute. Apple also says iCloud data is encrypted in transit and stored encrypted; Advanced Data Protection adds end-to-end encryption for many categories for eligible users who enable it. These platform descriptions do not establish how a particular note app or AI plugin handles its data. Apple describes Apple Intelligence and privacy.
How to evaluate an assistant’s data handling
Use the same questions for every app and configuration. Look for answers in the app’s privacy documentation and the plugin’s current settings; where a behavior is unclear, do not assume it is local.
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- Source storage: Are original notes ordinary local files, app-managed records, or both? Can you open them without the assistant?
- Inference endpoint: Does the model run on the device, a local server, or a provider’s cloud? Can you identify and configure the endpoint?
- Retrieval and embeddings: Where is the index built and stored? Does semantic search send note text, selected excerpts, or derived embeddings to a service?
- Triggers and payloads: Which actions make network requests, and what do they send—note content, a prompt, audio, a URL, metadata, or history?
- History, cache, and credentials: Where are conversations, indexes, metadata caches, and API credentials stored? Are any included in sync?
- Sync and encryption: Is remote sync optional? Who holds the encryption key, and what metadata remains visible?
- Offline behavior and recovery: Which features work without connectivity, and do you have an independent backup that you have tested restoring?
Why a local vault still needs a backup
A local copy is not automatically a recoverable backup. Obsidian’s guidance includes operating-system backups to an external drive and discusses NAS backups for experienced users. Keep a separate copy in a destination suited to your needs, and check that you can restore the files you care about. Sync and backup are different choices: a synchronized remote vault is not, by itself, proof that you have an independent backup. Obsidian’s backup guidance covers external drives and other approaches.
Quick Recap
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