claude-vault 0.7.0

Sync Claude conversations to Obsidian markdown files

Claude Vault

Transform your Claude conversations into a searchable, organized knowledge base in Obsidian.

Quick Start

pip install -e .
claude-vault init          # run inside your Obsidian vault folder
claude-vault sync ~/Downloads/conversations.json

That's it. Your conversations are now in conversations/ as Markdown files.

Installation

Requirements: Python 3.8+, optional: Ollama for AI tagging and semantic search.

git clone https://github.com/MarioPadilla/claude-vault.git
cd claude-vault
python3 -m venv venv && source venv/bin/activate
pip install -e .

Optional — Ollama setup for AI features:

ollama serve
ollama pull llama3.2:3b        # for tagging & summarization
ollama pull nomic-embed-text   # for semantic search

Features

• Local-first — everything stays on your machine, no external APIs required
• Two import formats — Claude Web exports (.json) and Claude Code history (.jsonl) auto-detected
• AI tagging & summarization — local LLM (Ollama) generates tags and summaries; falls back to keyword extraction
• Semantic search — find conversations by concept, not just exact words
• Smart relationship detection — automatically links related conversations via shared tags
• Bi-directional sync — rename or move files freely; UUID tracking keeps everything in sync
• Watch mode — auto-syncs when your export files change
• PII protection — detect, redact, or skip conversations containing personal or sensitive data
• Dry-run mode — preview all changes before writing anything

Usage

Export your conversations

1. Go to claude.ai → Settings → Export data
2. This downloads conversations.json
3. For Claude Code history, point directly at ~/.claude

Sync

# Web export (auto-detected)
claude-vault sync ~/Downloads/conversations.json

# Claude Code history
claude-vault sync ~/.claude

# Preview changes without writing
claude-vault sync conversations.json --dry-run

Search

# Semantic search (requires Ollama + nomic-embed-text)
claude-vault search "async error handling"

# Keyword search
claude-vault search "python" --mode keyword

# Filter by tag
claude-vault search "API" --tag debugging

Watch mode

claude-vault watch-add ~/Downloads --source web   # register a path
claude-vault watch                                # start (foreground)
claude-vault watch-status
claude-vault watch-stop

PII & sensitive content protection

Scan conversations for personal or confidential data before they are written to disk.

Detected patterns: emails, phone numbers, SSNs, credit card numbers, API keys, IP addresses, credential contexts (password:, token:, etc.). If Ollama is running, an LLM pass also classifies broader sensitive content.

Risk levels: high (SSN / credit card / API key), medium (email / phone), low (IP / credential context).

# Tag conversations that contain PII (adds pii-* tags + frontmatter fields)
claude-vault sync conversations.json --detect-pii

# Redact PII before writing — stored files contain [REDACTED-EMAIL] etc.
claude-vault sync conversations.json --detect-pii --redact-pii

# Skip conversations at medium risk or above entirely
claude-vault sync conversations.json --detect-pii --skip-sensitive

To make these behaviours permanent, set them in ~/.claude-vault/config.json:

{
  "pii": {
    "enabled": false,
    "redact": false,
    "skip_sensitive": false,
    "use_llm": true,
    "risk_threshold": "medium"
  }
}

Other commands

claude-vault status              # vault statistics
claude-vault retag               # regenerate AI tags (requires Ollama)
claude-vault retag --force       # regenerate even existing tags
claude-vault verify              # check file/database consistency
claude-vault verify --cleanup    # remove orphaned database entries
claude-vault config              # view current configuration

Use claude-vault [command] --help for full options on any command.

Configuration

Global config lives at ~/.claude-vault/config.json. Run claude-vault config to view and edit it.

Key settings:

Section	Key	Default	Purpose
ollama	model	llama3.2:3b	Model used for tagging
ollama	url	http://localhost:11434/api/generate	Ollama endpoint
embeddings	model	nomic-embed-text	Model used for semantic search
pii	risk_threshold	medium	Minimum level to tag as sensitive
pii	use_llm	true	Enable LLM-based classification
root	custom_keywords	null	Extra tag → keyword mappings for fallback tagging

Troubleshooting

Error	Fix
"Ollama not running"	Run ollama serve
Semantic search returns nothing	Run ollama pull nomic-embed-text
"Module not found"	Run pip install -e .
"Not initialized"	Run claude-vault init first

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for setup and pull request guidelines.

License

Claude Vault is dual-licensed:

AGPL-3.0 (free) — for personal use, open-source projects, education, and non-commercial work. Modifications must be shared under the same license.

Commercial license — required for proprietary applications, SaaS products, or any deployment where you cannot comply with AGPL-3.0 copyleft terms. Contact via GitHub for pricing.

Use case	License
Personal / open-source / education	AGPL-3.0 ✅
Internal tool (source shared with employees)	AGPL-3.0 ✅
Commercial SaaS or closed-source product	Commercial 💼
Enterprise deployment (no source disclosure)	Commercial 💼