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You have a vault. Years of Markdown, a folder of daily notes, a tag system you half remember.
Now you want Claude Code or Codex working in it, and the setup is a chore: a command line, a plugin, something to keep working.
What the Files board does with your vault
A Files board opens the project folders you choose on your computer as linked, searchable notes in your browser. An Obsidian vault is a folder of Markdown, so it opens as it is.
- The tree and the note: your folders on the left, the open note in the middle, with headings, lists, checklists, tables, callouts, code, pictures, diagrams and
[[links]]. - Links and tags: a pane shows what links to the note, with the line each link sits in, what it links to, its tags, and its neighbours drawn small.
- Search and quick open: search finds words inside your notes, a tag list shows every tag, and Ctrl O opens a note by name.
- Editing that stays small: click into a note and it saves to the file a second after you stop typing. Only what you typed changes.
The board keeps no copy of your files. It reads each one from your computer when you open it, through a small program you set up once with one line from Connect, so your computer has to be on. A Files board is never shared by link.
Your agent works in the same folder
This is the reason to use it. Claude Code or Codex, running on your computer, reads and edits the folder with its own tools, and the board shows each change at once.
The board’s chat can run on the same plan. It knows which note you have open, so “tidy this note” or “what links here?” works. It has file tools of its own, and in a read only folder it changes nothing. A file it changes or deletes is kept on your computer for 30 days.
Beside the folder, the rest of your work gets its own boards. A canvas can show the Claude Code session working in your notes, what waits for you and your to-dos. Doc boards hold new pages, and Import brings in Obsidian, Notion, Google Docs, Word, ChatGPT and Claude exports as doc boards. An import is a copy, unlike a Files board.
What it costs
Obsidian is free without limits, and its pricing page says no sign-up is needed. A commercial license is $50 per user a year, and optional. Sync is $4 a month billed annually, or $5 billed monthly. Publish is $8 a month per site billed annually, or $10 monthly. We read all of this on October 27, 2026.
Context Board is free for 3 days, then $12 a month. One plan covers every board type, with several boards in a workspace.
Where Obsidian still fits
Obsidian is where you write when you want a local app. It stores your notes as plain Markdown on your device, works offline, and has thousands of plugins and themes. Its interactive graph view covers your notes, while the board draws one note’s neighbours. Sync adds end-to-end encryption and version history, Publish puts notes on the web, and the apps cover iOS and Android. Context Board has no native app.
Obsidian also ships a command line that controls the app from your terminal, which needs the app running. Plugins are Obsidian’s own, so they do not run on the board.
So keep Obsidian for writing, and open the same folder on a Files board for the agent and everything else. Our guide to Obsidian alternatives compares more note apps, and best second brain apps places Obsidian among them.
Try it on your own vault
Choose the vault folder, read only at first. Open a note, follow a link, check the backlinks. Then switch one folder to read and write and ask for one small tidy-up. The board types docs show how a Files board works, and Context Board vs Notion covers the other notes app people ask us about.