Keep it Simple and Stupid - An intelligent Obsidian plugin that evolves your notes automatically using AI. When you add or edit a note, SANE finds the 3 most relevant notes in your vault and enhances them with smart tags, keywords, links, and summaries.
SANE follows a simple but powerful approach:
- 📝 You add/edit a note → SANE detects the change
- 🔍 SANE finds the 3 most relevant notes → Using AI embeddings for semantic similarity
- ✨ SANE enhances those 3 notes → Adds tags, keywords, links, and summaries via YAML frontmatter
- 🔄 Your knowledge evolves → Notes become more connected and discoverable over time
- KISS Principle: Simple, predictable behavior that's easy to understand
- Efficient: Only processes 3 notes per change, saving time and API costs
- Non-intrusive: Adds YAML frontmatter at the beginning, preserving your original content
- Evolving: Your vault becomes smarter as you add more notes
- OpenAI (gpt-4o-mini)
- Google AI (gemini-2.0-flash)
- Grok (grok-3-latest)
- Azure OpenAI
- Local LLMs (Ollama support)
- Configurable Triggers: Immediate, delayed (10 mins after editing), scheduled daily, or manual
- Targeted Scope: Process only specific folders to maintain control
- Simple Embeddings: Full note embeddings for better context understanding
- Cost Control: Daily budget limits and real-time cost tracking
- Privacy Warnings: Clear notices about data usage
- Backup Reminders: Prompts to backup your vault before first use
- Folder Restrictions: Limit processing to specific folders
- Local Options: Support for local LLMs to keep data private
- Daily Budgets: Set spending limits to prevent surprises
- Real-time Tracking: Monitor usage and costs
- Provider Comparison: See estimated costs for each AI provider
- Free Option: Use local LLMs for zero-cost processing
- Download from Obsidian Community Plugins (coming soon)
- Or manually install from GitHub releases
- Choose from OpenAI, Google AI, Grok, Azure, or Local
- Add your API key in settings
- Set a daily budget (recommended: $1-2 for most users)
- Create a specific folder like "Knowledge Base" or "Smart Notes"
- Set this as your target folder in SANE settings
- Only notes in this folder will be processed
- Run "Initialize: Process all notes in target folder"
- SANE will process all existing notes, treating each as new
- This builds the initial knowledge graph
- Add or edit notes in your target folder
- SANE automatically finds and enhances the 3 most relevant notes
- Watch your knowledge evolve!
When SANE processes a note, it adds YAML frontmatter like this:
---
sane_tags: ["machine-learning", "neural-networks", "ai"]
sane_keywords: ["deep learning", "backpropagation", "training data"]
sane_links: ["Introduction to AI", "Neural Network Basics"]
sane_summary: "Comprehensive guide to understanding neural networks and their applications in modern AI systems."
sane_version: "1.0"
created_at: "2025/5/5 19:59:11"
modified_at: "2025/6/29 12:15:12"
---
# Your Original Content
Your original note content remains completely unchanged...Small vault (100 notes):
- OpenAI: ~$0.15 total
- Google AI: ~$0.05 total
- Local: Free
Medium vault (1,000 notes):
- OpenAI: ~$1.50 total
- Google AI: ~$0.50 total
- Local: Free
Large vault (10,000 notes):
- OpenAI: ~$15 total
- Google AI: ~$5 total
- Local: Free
Costs are one-time for initial processing. Daily usage is typically $0.01-0.10 depending on how much you write.
- OpenAI: Most capable, moderate cost
- Google AI: Good quality, lowest cost
- Grok: X.AI's latest model, experimental
- Azure: Enterprise OpenAI with your own deployment
- Local: Ollama support, completely free and private
- Immediate: Process as soon as you edit (for instant feedback)
- Delayed: Wait 10 minutes after editing stops (recommended)
- Scheduled: Process once daily at 2 AM (for batch efficiency)
- Manual: Only process when you command it
- Target Folder: Limit processing to specific folder
- Privacy Warnings: Clear disclosure about AI provider data usage
- Backup Reminders: Ensure you backup before first use
- ✅ Stores API keys locally in Obsidian
- ✅ Processes only notes in your target folder
- ✅ Adds YAML frontmatter without changing your content
- ✅ Provides local LLM option for complete privacy
- 📤 Your note content (for AI processing)
- 📤 Content from related notes (for context)
- ❌ Never your API keys or personal data
- 🔄 Backup your vault first (SANE modifies files)
- 📁 Use a specific folder to limit scope
- 🏠 Consider local LLMs for sensitive content
- 💰 Set daily budgets to control costs
For complete privacy and zero costs:
- Install Ollama: Download from ollama.ai
- Download Models:
ollama pull llama2 # For text generation ollama pull nomic-embed-text # For embeddings
- Start Ollama:
ollama serve - Configure SANE: Set provider to "Local" and endpoint to
http://localhost:11434
- Test Local LLMs: Help us improve Ollama integration
- Develop: Contribute code, documentation, or translations
- Community: Share your SANE workflows and tips
Q: Will SANE change my existing notes? A: SANE only adds YAML frontmatter to the beginning of notes. Your original content is never modified.
Q: What if I don't like the AI suggestions?
A: Simply delete the SANE-generated YAML frontmatter. SANE prefixes all fields with sane_ so they're easy to identify and remove.
Q: How much does it cost? A: Very little! Most users spend $0.01-0.10 per day. You can set daily budgets to control costs, and local LLMs are completely free.
Q: Is my data private? A: Your notes are sent to your chosen AI provider for processing. For complete privacy, use the local LLM option with Ollama.
Q: What if the AI returns malformed responses? A: SANE includes robust response parsing that handles JSON wrapped in markdown code blocks, malformed JSON, and provides regex-based fallback extraction. If all else fails, it gracefully returns empty results rather than crashing.
Q: How can I test if my AI provider is working? A: Use the "Test AI Connection" button in settings or run the "Test AI provider connection" command. This will show you exactly what the AI returns and help debug any issues.
Q: What happens if I have a large vault? A: Set a target folder to limit processing scope. SANE is designed to handle vaults of any size efficiently.
MIT License - Feel free to modify and distribute!
SANE - Smart AI Note Evolution: Because your notes should evolve as smartly as your thinking does. 🧠✨