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RUNLOCALAI · v38
← Home·/apps·Editor plugin

Smart Connections (Obsidian)

Fully offline

Local semantic search across all your Obsidian notes. Embed-once, query-fast, fully offline.

Editorial verdict: “Best local semantic search for personal notes. Foundational layer for Obsidian RAG.”

Editor plugin
Freemium
AGPL-3.0
★ 4.4 / 5
GitHub ★ 3,000
↗ Homepage↗ GitHub

Compatibility at a glance

Which runtime + OS combos this app works against. Source of truth for "will it run on my setup?"

§ Runtimes supported
ollamaopenai-compat
§ OS / platform
macoslinuxwindowsiosandroid
§ Hardware + model hint
Minimum VRAM
4 GB
Recommended starter model
bge-small-en or nomic-embed-text
→ Build the rest of the stack with /stack-builder→ Pick a GPU for this app

What it is

For solo note-takers running Ollama on a laptop, Smart Connections turns Obsidian into a local semantic search engine. It embeds each note into a vector index using models like bge-small-en or nomic-embed-text, then surfaces related passages from any line you click. The entire pipeline runs offline on macOS, Linux, Windows, iOS, or Android with at least 4 GB VRAM. Initial embedding of a large vault takes time, and some advanced features require a paid license, but the core search is fast and reliable for vaults of 1,000+ notes. It also pairs with Obsidian Copilot for fully local RAG workflows.

✓ Strengths

  • +Genuinely fast local semantic search
  • +Embedding model + vector store all local
  • +Great with vaults of 1000+ notes

△ Caveats

  • −Initial embed of large vaults is slow
  • −Some power features behind freemium gate

About the Editor plugin category

Plugin for VS Code, JetBrains, Vim, etc.

§ Other editor plugin apps
Codeium (with local backend)

Best 'enterprise Copilot' replacement when self-hosting is mandatory. Paid tier.

Obsidian Copilot

Best Obsidian plugin for local LLM in your notes. Pair with Smart Connections for RAG.

Where to go from here

Stack Builder →

Pre-filled with this app's recommended use case + budget tier. Get the full rig + runtime + model picks.

Back to /apps →

The full directory — filter by category, runtime, OS, privacy posture, or VRAM.

Runtimes (/tools) →

What this app talks to: Ollama, vLLM, llama.cpp, MLX, LM Studio. The upstream layer.

Community benchmarks →

Did this app work for you on a specific rig? Submit the benchmark — it powers the model + hardware pages.