cours/sources/clippings, s/informatique, s/obsidian/Sync obsidian with git on iOS using iSH - Obsidian Forum.md

link, author, published, created, tags

link	author	published	created	tags
https://forum.obsidian.md/t/mobile-sync-with-git-on-ios-for-free-using-ish/20861	Obsidian Forum	2021-07-14	2025-05-08	t/clippings s/obsidian s/informatique

There’s already a post about syncing with WorkingCopy ([Mobile] Setting up iOS git-based syncing with mobile app (using Working Copy)). However, the ability to push is paid, and it costs a lot, but without this there can be no sync!

I propose to use iSH to sync Obsidian with git.

• p Pros:
  • It’s free!
  • It lets you use fully-featured git - the same git that runs on Alpine Linux
• c Cons:
  • It requires using the Linux command-line
  • There appears to be a bug in Obsidian 1.0.3 that doesn’t show new files in the file explorer after you pull them from GitHub. This can be easily circumvented by sorting the notes

Tutorial

Also see the example repository I created to showcase this method.

Also see “Simpler way” below.

Assuming you have an existing repo on GitHub. You can also create the repo right from iSH - the git command you’ll be using is the exact same fully-featured git from Alpine Linux.

1. Create a new empty local vault in Obsidian
2. In iSH:
   1. First-time setup - install git:
   2. Update Alpine repos: apk update
   3. Install git: apk add git
   4. Create a directory called obsidian in your home directory by running cd ~ && mkdir obsidian.
   5. Mount your local vault folder into the obsidian folder
   6. Run mount -t ios . obsidian
   7. A file picker will show up
   8. Choose the folder with your local vault
   9. Clone your git repository into obsidian
   10. Change directory to obsidian: cd obsidian
   11. Delete the .obsidian folder: rm -rf .obsidian
   12. git clone https://github.com/ForceBru/ObsidianVaultTest . - use your own repository instead. Don’t forget the period . - this is what allows you to clone the repo into the current folder.
   13. (Optional) Run ls -a to see whether your files are there
3. In Obsidian
   1. Restart Obsidian (might not be necessary)
   2. Open the file explorer
   3. Currently (Obsidian 1.0.3) it’s empty (looks like a bug)
   4. Tap the “Sort” button (the rightmost one, with up/down arrows)
   5. Select any sorting order you like
   6. The files should appear
   7. Use your Obsidian vault!
4. To push your changes, go back to iSH
   1. Change directory to obsidian in your home directory: cd ~/obsidian
   2. Run git status to confirm that there are modified files
   3. First-time setup - tell git who you are:
   4. Set username: git config user.name ForceBruMobile
   5. Set e-mail address: git config user.email "ForceBru@users.noreply.github.com"
   6. Add files, commit and push. For example:
   7. Add all files into the commit: git add .
   8. Commit: git commit -m "Commit from mobile"
   9. Push: git push
   10. This will ask you to enter your username and password
   11. Git can use your personal access token to login automatically
   12. That’s it! Take a look at this example commit from iSH
5. To pull changes from GitHub:
   1. In iSH:
      1. Change directory to obsidian in your home directory: cd ~/obsidian
      2. (Optional) Check whether there is stuff to pull
      3. Bring remote refs up to date: git remote update
      4. Check status: git status
      5. It should say something like Your branch is behind 'origin/master' by 2 commits, and can be fast-forwarded if there is something to be updated
      6. Actually update from the remote repo: git pull
   2. In Obsidian:
      1. Go to file explorer
      2. If you don’t see your new notes, do the sort trick again:
      3. Tap the “Sort” button (the rightmost one, with up/down arrows)
      4. Select any sorting order you like
      5. The files should appear
   3. Updates to existing notes seem to be reflected correctly

Simpler way

Mount the entire Obsidian folder which contains all your vaults (as opposed to mounting just the vault).

In iSH:

1. Make directory to store Obsidian vaults: cd ~ && mkdir obsidian
2. Mount the file provider: mount -t iOS . obsidian
3. Choose On My iDevice and select and open the Obsidian folder
4. Change directory to obsidian: cd obsidian
5. Clone the repo with your vault right there: git clone https://github.com/ForceBru/ObsidianVaultTest
6. This will create a folder called ObsidianVaultTest that will be a git repo and that Obsidian will recognize as a vault

Then open the vault in Obsidian (might need to restart it), edit stuff, then push/pull changes as described in steps 3 and 4 in the original post.

To avoid entering login/password all the time, cache or store your credentials: Git - Credential Storage