Move from Obsidian

Obsidian and Betelgeuse both keep notes as Markdown files in a folder, and Betelgeuse uses Obsidian's syntax for links, embeds and callouts. So there's very little to move. There are two ways in.

	Open your vault	Import a copy
Your files	Stay where they are. Betelgeuse and Obsidian both work on the same folder.	Copied into your Betelgeuse workspace, under one new page. Your vault isn't touched.
Good for	Switching over, or using both apps side by side	Adding your vault to a workspace you already have
Callouts	Kept in Obsidian's style	Changed to Betelgeuse's colours and icons
Attachments	Stay where they are	Copied into `.assets/`

Open your vault

In Betelgeuse, open Settings → Workspace and click Open another….
Choose your vault's folder.

That's it. If the vault isn't a git repository yet, Betelgeuse makes it one and saves its current state as the first commit, so every change from now on has history. It also tells git to ignore Obsidian's window layout files (.obsidian/workspace*.json), which change every time you click around.

Your pages, folders, links, embeds, tags and frontmatter work as they are. Keep Obsidian open on the same folder if you like: each app picks up the other's changes as they happen.

💡

Already sync your vault with the Obsidian Git plugin, or another git setup? Betelgeuse uses the same repository. Add its address in Settings → Git & sync and it pulls and pushes in the background. See History and sync.

Import a copy

Click Import at the bottom of the sidebar, or open Settings → Import.
Under Obsidian, click Choose vault folder… and choose your vault.

Everything goes under a new page named after your vault, as one git commit you can undo.

Pages and folders keep their structure, and [[links]] keep working.
Attachments (images, PDFs and other files) are copied into the workspace's .assets/ folder, and image embeds (![[photo.png]]) point to the copies.
Embedded notes (![[Note]]) show as cards that open the note.
Callouts become Betelgeuse callouts with matching colours and icons: a [!warning] turns yellow with ⚠️, a [!tip] green with 💡.
Hidden folders such as .obsidian and .trash are skipped.

What carries over, and what doesn't

In Obsidian	In Betelgeuse
Notes and folders	Pages and sub-pages
`[[Links]]`, `[[Note\|alias]]`, `[[Note#Heading]]`	Links, with backlinks
Frontmatter (`tags`, `aliases` and your own fields)	Kept in the file. `tags` show as the page's tags.
Callouts	Callouts
Images and attachments	Images and files
Daily notes	Ordinary pages: there's no daily-note button
Canvas (`.canvas`)	Kept as a file, but Betelgeuse can't show canvases
Dataview and other plugin queries	Shown as code blocks. A Betelgeuse database can often do the same job.
Community plugins and themes	Not carried over. Betelgeuse has its own plugins.

After moving

Gather similar notes into a database. Create one with /Database – Full page and move notes of one kind (books, projects, meetings) into it: each becomes a row, and its frontmatter fields become the row's values, with table, board and calendar views. See Databases.
Use it on your phone. Connect a git repository, then set up sync in the Betelgeuse phone app. See History and sync.
Connect your AI agents. They can search and update your notes, and only the pages you share. See Connect your AI agents.

Something didn't come across as you expected? Open an issue.