Connect Obsidian

With the server running, the rest happens inside Obsidian. Every device of one person signs in with that same user key.

1. Get a user key

A user key (ck_...) is one person’s identity: the notes it creates are that person’s, and every one of their devices uses it. The desktop app is the easy way; the command line is the same request.

Desktop app

1. Open Courier and go to the Keys page, then click New key.
2. Give it a name (whoever will use it), leave the expiry and limits at their defaults, and click Create key.
3. The dialog shows a key starting with ck_ — copy it.

Command line

On the server, this creates a key and prints the whole thing once (the ak_ host key it asks with is the one from the deployment):

curl -sS -X POST https://YOUR_IP:8443/api/users \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ak_xxxxxxxxxxxx" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name":"Alice"}'

The answer’s "key" is the ck_... to copy. name is who the key belongs to, and it is the only required field.

2. Install the plugin

Courier is not in Obsidian’s community list yet, so it is installed through BRAT, a plugin that installs other plugins from a repository:

1. Settings → Community plugins → Browse, search for BRAT, install it and enable it.
2. Open the command palette (Ctrl/Cmd+P) and run BRAT: Add a beta plugin for testing.
3. Enter ah-yu/courier and confirm.
4. Back in Settings → Community plugins, enable Courier.

If Obsidian says community plugins are restricted, turn Restricted mode off first.

3. Sign in to the server

1. Open Settings → Courier in Obsidian.
2. Server address: the one the deployment showed, e.g. https://YOUR_IP:8443.
3. User key: the ck_... you copied.
4. Click Sign in.

4. Create the remote vault

1. After signing in, click Create remote vault.
2. Give it a name.
3. Choose a vault password: it encrypts your notes and is never uploaded. Losing it means the notes cannot be recovered — by you or by the server.

5. Connect it

1. Enter the vault password once.
2. Turn on Remember password: Obsidian then unlocks by itself next time.
3. Check the device name, e.g. Windows PC or iPhone; it only distinguishes devices in the sync history.
4. Leave Excluded folders empty for now.
5. Click Start sync. The Courier icon appears in the bottom-right corner and shows Syncing, and this device is connected.

6. Connect a second device

On the other device (your phone, say), repeat steps 2, 3 and 5:

1. Install the plugin, and enter the same server address and user key.
2. In the vault list, choose the vault that already exists, enter the same vault password, and start syncing.

The only difference: the first device created the remote vault, and every device after that chooses it.

Once both are connected, change a note on either one — the other sees it almost immediately.