ObsidianAI/SYNC_SETUP.md

CouchDB Sync Daemon Setup

The Problem

Files in CouchDB can be "read" by Obsidian's self-hosted sync plugin, but they don't automatically sync to the filesystem. The daemon only monitors changes but doesn't write files.

The Solution

The sync_daemon.py script watches CouchDB for changes and writes files to disk in real-time.

Setup

1. Configure Your Vault Path

Edit sync_daemon.py and set your Obsidian vault path:

TARGET_FOLDER = os.path.expanduser("~/ObsidianVault")  # Change this!

Or use the current directory structure (seems like you have notes here):

TARGET_FOLDER = "/home/diego/Scratchpad/obsidian-magic/obsidian_automator"

2. Run the Daemon

cd obsidian_automator
source .venv/bin/activate  # or use your virtual environment
python3 sync_daemon.py

3. What It Does

1. Initial Sync: Downloads all notes from CouchDB to filesystem
2. Real-time Watch: Monitors CouchDB changes and updates files immediately
3. Handles Chunks: Reconstructs files from LiveSync's chunked storage format
4. Skips Encryption: Ignores encrypted files automatically

Running as a Service (Optional)

Using systemd (Linux)

Create /etc/systemd/system/obsidian-sync.service:

[Unit]
Description=Obsidian CouchDB Sync Daemon
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=diego
WorkingDirectory=/home/diego/Scratchpad/obsidian-magic/obsidian_automator
ExecStart=/home/diego/Scratchpad/obsidian-magic/obsidian_automator/.venv/bin/python3 sync_daemon.py
Restart=always
RestartSec=10

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Then:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable obsidian-sync
sudo systemctl start obsidian-sync
sudo systemctl status obsidian-sync

Using screen/tmux (Quick method)

screen -S obsidian-sync
cd obsidian_automator
python3 sync_daemon.py
# Press Ctrl+A, then D to detach

To reattach: screen -r obsidian-sync

Troubleshooting

Files Not Appearing

• Check that TARGET_FOLDER path is correct
• Ensure CouchDB credentials are correct
• Check file permissions on target folder

Connection Issues

• Verify CouchDB is accessible: curl http://100.100.112.48:5984/
• Check firewall rules
• Verify database name is correct

Encrypted Files

The daemon automatically skips encrypted files. If you need to sync encrypted files, you'll need to configure the passphrase in the code.

Architecture

CouchDB (LiveSync Format)
    ↓
sync_daemon.py (watches _changes feed)
    ↓
Filesystem (Obsidian Vault)
    ↓
Obsidian App (reads local files)

Key Files

• sync_daemon.py - Main sync daemon (NEW)
• couch_sync.py - CouchDBSync class (used by web UI)
• couch_manager.py - CouchDB operations (move, flag, etc.)
• watch_changes.py - Simple change monitor (doesn't write files)