Set up the companion

You need Node.js 22.12 or newer on the macOS or Linux computer that holds your vault.

Download vaultlink-<version>-companion.zip from the latest release and extract the whole zip into a folder.
In that folder, run:
Terminal
```
node setup.mjs
```
Enter the path to your vault. Press Enter at the Tailscale question if you only need this computer.
Open the printed address and enter the pairing token.
Open a note, add a line, save and reopen it to confirm the change.

Keep the terminal open while you use VaultLink; Ctrl+C stops it. The pairing token is a password for the vault. It is stored in a private file under ~/.vaultlink.

Add the Chromium side panel

Extract vaultlink-<version>-chromium.zip into its own folder.
Open chrome://extensions (or edge://extensions), turn on Developer mode and choose Load unpacked.
Select the extracted folder, click the VaultLink icon and connect with the same address and token.

Chromium 116 or newer with a working Side Panel API is required. Firefox and Safari packages are not included.

Open it on another device

Install and sign in to Tailscale on the vault computer and the other device, and restrict your tailnet rules to the devices allowed to reach the vault. On the vault computer, while the companion runs:

Terminal

tailscale serve --bg --https=8443 http://127.0.0.1:27124
tailscale serve status

Restart node setup.mjs and enter the private https://…ts.net:8443 address. Open that address on the other device and enter the token. Use Tailscale Serve, not Funnel. Remove the route with tailscale serve --https=8443 off.

Run native Obsidian

The native option runs LinuxServer's Obsidian container on a Linux host with Docker Compose and Tailscale, on a different HTTPS address with its own desktop password. Follow native/README.md in the repository. Plugin compatibility depends on the Linux environment.

Supported files

File	Tools
Markdown	Source editor, preview, split view, wiki links, local images, outline, conflict handling
Text, JSON, CSV	Source editing with revision checks
PDF	Viewing, text and highlight overlays, rotation, page removal, a new PDF copy
Images	Crop, rotate, flip, resize and export a new PNG or JPEG copy
Obsidian Canvas	View and edit supported text nodes
Audio and video	Playback when the browser supports the codec

PDF tools do not securely redact content. Dataview, Bases, Excalidraw and plugin views are not rendered in the workspace.

Safety

The companion listens on loopback only and requires the token for every request.
Note bytes are backed up outside the vault before replacement.
Hidden folders, including .obsidian, are not served.
Close other editors before changing the same note; VaultLink detects saved changes and offers conflict recovery.

Build from source

Terminal

npm ci
npm run check
npm run demo

The demo creates a synthetic vault and prints a sample token for http://127.0.0.1:27124. npm run package builds both release zips and release/SHA256SUMS.