Introduction to Notemd
Notemd (Note + EMD — Enhanced Markdown Documents) is an open-source Obsidian plugin that transforms LLM-powered reading into persistent knowledge. Unlike chat-based AI where insights vanish after the session, Notemd writes results directly into your vault as wiki-links, concept notes, research summaries, translations, workflows, and diagrams. It is built for researchers, students, and knowledge workers who want reading, research, and visual explanations to accumulate into a structured, evolving knowledge graph.
What is Notemd?
Notemd integrates 30+ Large Language Models (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, DeepSeek, Qwen, Ollama, and more) into your Obsidian workflow to automate knowledge extraction, organization, translation, research, and diagram generation.
Key Difference: Ephemeral vs. Persistent Knowledge
| Aspect | Chat-based AI (ChatGPT, etc.) | Notemd |
|---|---|---|
| Where results go | Chat history (disappears) | Your Obsidian vault (persists) |
| Format | Plain text answers | Structured files: [[wiki-links]], concept notes, diagrams |
| Long-term value | Must re-ask each time | Accumulates into a knowledge graph |
| Offline access | Requires internet | Works fully offline with Ollama |
Core Capabilities
1. Automatic Wiki-Linking
- LLM identifies key concepts in your notes
- Inserts
[[wiki-links]]at each occurrence - Optionally creates linked concept notes
- Synonym suppression to avoid duplicates
2. Concept Note Generation
- Extracts core concepts from papers, articles, notes
- Generates dedicated concept files with backlinks
- Customizable output paths and templates
3. Web Research Integration
- Query Tavily or DuckDuckGo from within Obsidian
- LLM summarizes results with source citations
- Appends research findings to current note
4. Multilingual Translation
- Translate selections or entire notes
- Supports 21+ UI languages
- Independent output language configuration
- Batch translation support
5. Diagram Generation
- Mermaid: Flowcharts, sequence, class, state, ER, Gantt
- JSON Canvas: Obsidian native layouts
- Vega-Lite: Data charts, time series, scatter plots
- HTML / Editable HTML/SVG: Self-contained figure artifacts with semantic annotations
- Draw.io / Drawnix artifact boundaries: Maintainer-facing export paths from the same semantic figure model
- Circuit diagrams roadmap: circuitikz/TikZJax support is being designed around golden references, constrained prompts, render feedback, and topology/layout validation rather than raw unconstrained LLM TikZ
- Preview diagnostics: Render artifacts can surface compile/render smoke diagnostics, and non-inline sources can be inspected without requiring a plugin-side LaTeX runtime
- Syntax auto-fix for Mermaid errors
6. One-Click Workflows
- Chain multiple actions into sidebar buttons
- DSL-based workflow definition
- Example:
add-links > extract-concepts > research > diagram
Who Should Use Notemd?
✅ Researchers reading papers and building literature reviews ✅ Students organizing study notes and creating concept maps ✅ Knowledge workers who want reading insights to persist ✅ Bilingual professionals needing translation + wiki-linking ✅ Privacy-conscious users wanting local LLM support (Ollama) ✅ Power users who customize prompts and workflows
Why Notemd + Obsidian?
Obsidian is a local-first, markdown-based knowledge base. Notemd adds AI superpowers:
- Your data stays in your vault (not a cloud service)
- Works offline with local models
- Free and open source (MIT license)
- Integrates with existing Obsidian plugins
- Scales to tens of thousands of notes
Getting Started
- Install: Settings → Community Plugins → Browse → "Notemd"
- Configure: Add your LLM provider API key (or use local Ollama)
- Try it: Open a note → Right-click → "Process file (add links)"
- Explore: Check the sidebar for one-click workflows
👉 Installation Guide | Quick Start Tutorial
Diagram Capability Direction
Notemd's diagram work is moving away from "ask the model to write one syntax string" and toward a layered pipeline:
The current implementation already supports Mermaid, JSON Canvas, Vega-Lite, HTML fallback, editable HTML/SVG, Draw.io XML artifacts, a minimal Drawnix JSON subset, preview diagnostics/source-only fallback, and an offline CircuitSpec -> circuitikz prototype for common-source and CMOS inverter golden templates. Circuit diagrams are a harder class: circuitikz can express accurate electrical topology, but unconstrained LLM output often produces unreadable routing or non-rendering LaTeX. The next direction is to keep circuitikz constrained with golden-reference templates, node-grid layout rules, render diagnostics, and screenshot feedback loops.
Read the details in Diagrams.
Architecture
Notemd vs Other Obsidian AI Plugins
Most Obsidian AI plugins are conversation-first (you ask, AI answers, insights stay in chat). Notemd is write-first: AI processes your notes and writes structured results directly into your vault.
| Capability | Notemd | Copilot | Smart Connections | Text Generator |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auto wiki-link insertion | Yes | No | No | No |
| Concept note generation | Yes (with backlinks + dedup) | No | No | No |
| Diagram generation | Yes (Mermaid, Canvas, Vega-Lite, HTML, editable artifacts) | No | No | No |
| Web research integration | Yes (Tavily + DuckDuckGo) | No | No | No |
| Batch folder processing | Yes | Limited | No | Limited |
| Per-task model routing | Yes (7 tasks, independent models) | No | No | No |
| One-click workflow chains | Yes (DSL) | No | No | No |
| Translation (batch) | Yes | No | No | No |
| Chat with vault | No | Yes | No | No |
| Semantic similarity search | No | No | Yes | No |
| Template-based generation | No | No | No | Yes |
| LLM providers | 36 (cloud + gateway + local) | 3-5 | 2-3 | 3-5 |
| Fully offline | Yes (Ollama) | Partial | Partial | Partial |
When to choose Notemd: You want AI to build a persistent knowledge graph — not just chat about your notes.
When to choose Copilot: You want a conversational AI assistant inside Obsidian.
When to choose Smart Connections: You want to discover existing relationships between notes via semantic search.
Philosophy
Notemd believes that AI should augment human knowledge work, not replace it. The plugin:
- Keeps you in control (review before applying changes)
- Preserves context (all results link back to source)
- Respects privacy (local LLM support, no telemetry)
- Stays extensible (open APIs, custom workflows)
Open Source
- License: MIT
- Source: github.com/Jacobinwwey/obsidian-NotEMD
- Community: Discord | GitHub Discussions
- Contribute: PRs welcome, see CONTRIBUTING.md
Next: Installation →