# Shared Tasks for Obsidian Shared tasks inside your private notes. By OpenLFCP (Open Local-First Collaboration Protocol). Website: [openlfcp.org](https://openlfcp.org)  **Beta.** Plugin ID `shared-tasks`; for the current version, see the [latest release](https://github.com/openlfcp/obsidian/releases/latest). ## Quick start Shared Tasks 0.5 leads you through sharing, inviting and joining from a visible pane and from a card on the section, so you don't have to learn the commands. Everything about sections (share, invite, join, insert, repair, conflicts, copy, detach) is in the pane and the card; single tasks are still shared with commands. The pane and its dialogs work from the keyboard. (Stable 0.5.0 reaches Community plugins at its release; until then 0.5.0 pre-releases are installed with BRAT, see [Install](#install).) 1. **Install.** In Obsidian 1.13.4 or later, open Settings → Community plugins → Browse, search for "Shared Tasks", install it and enable it (0.5.0 once released; until then the beta via BRAT, see below). 2. **Open the pane.** Click the Shared Tasks icon in the ribbon. The pane follows the note you are in and offers the next step for the cursor. The first time, short tips explain what each action does; "Hide tip" hides one and "Show tips again" brings them back.  3. **Share.** Put the cursor on a heading. The pane offers "Share section…" and shows what will be shared and what stays private before you confirm. Then it offers "Invite collaborator…": choose Read or Read + write and copy the one-time link. **Send it privately**; Shared Tasks does not send it.  4. **Join.** Your collaborator opens their pane, chooses "Join with a link…" and pastes the link. The pane shows each step, then asks which note to put the section in and previews the result.  5. **Work together.** Edits sync both ways, offline too. When something needs you, the pane's problem list opens the matching fix. The same steps work from the command palette ("Shared Tasks: Share section…", "Invite collaborator", "Join collaboration", "Insert shared section…"); the commands keep their names and have no default hotkeys (assign them in Obsidian's Hotkeys settings). Step by step, with everyday use and troubleshooting: **[the user guide](https://github.com/openlfcp/obsidian/blob/0.4.1/docs/guides/user-guide.md)** (describes the command flow of 0.4; the pane is described above). ## What it does - **Collaboration without learning the commands.** A visible pane and a card on each shared section lead you from Share to Invite, and from Join to choosing where the section goes. - **Problems with a way out.** The pane lists what needs attention (a conflict, a line that went missing) and opens the matching fix. - **Nothing half-done is lost.** A share cut short by closing Obsidian resumes by itself after the restart; an unfinished insert or join is listed in the pane, where you continue it or check the result. - **Share one task, not your vault.** Put the cursor on a task and share it; the rest of the note stays on your device. - **Invite with a one-time link.** The other person joins with it, from their own vault, with "Read" or "Read + write" access. - **Works offline.** Edit while offline; changes sync when you are back, and edits on both sides are kept. - **Markdown stays Markdown.** A shared task is an ordinary task line in the Obsidian Tasks syntax (`📅 2026-10-20`, `✅`), with a small `` comment that links it. - **Shared sections.** Share a heading with everything under it: tasks, subtasks, paragraphs and lists, in order. Whatever is added to the section later is shared too. See [Shared sections](#shared-sections). ## Install Shared Tasks needs Obsidian 1.13.4 or later. **From Community plugins (recommended):** 1. Settings → Community plugins. If "Restricted mode" is on, turn it off. 2. Click "Browse" and search for **Shared Tasks** ([directory page](https://obsidian.md/plugins?id=shared-tasks)). 3. Install it, then enable it. **Pre-release builds, with BRAT:** 1. Install and enable [BRAT](https://github.com/TfTHacker/obsidian42-brat) from Settings → Community plugins. 2. Run "BRAT: Add a beta plugin for testing" from the command palette. 3. Enter `openlfcp/obsidian`. In the version field choose **Latest version**: a specific version stays installed, and BRAT will not update it. 4. Enable "Shared Tasks" in Settings → Community plugins, and check the version it lists is the one you meant to try. Stuck on an older beta? In BRAT's settings, find `openlfcp/obsidian` in the beta plugin list: if it shows a version, it is pinned there. Edit it and choose **Latest version** (or remove it and add it again with Latest version), then run "BRAT: Check for updates to all beta plugins". BRAT's setting "Select latest plugin version by default" saves choosing. **By hand:** from the [latest release](https://github.com/openlfcp/obsidian/releases/latest), download `main.js`, `manifest.json` and `styles.css` into a new folder `/.obsidian/plugins/shared-tasks/`, then enable "Shared Tasks" in Settings → Community plugins. Upgrading from 0.1.0, which was called "OpenLFCP": see [docs/releases/0.2.0.md](docs/releases/0.2.0.md). ## Your first shared section New here? The [step-by-step guide](https://github.com/openlfcp/obsidian/blob/0.4.1/docs/guides/user-guide.md) (describes the command flow of 0.4; the pane is described above) covers setup and everyday use, including what to do when something goes wrong. Two people, each with their own vault and Shared Tasks installed. You can do all of it from the pane; the matching commands are in brackets. 1. **Share.** Put the cursor on a heading and click "Share section…" in the pane ("Shared Tasks: Share section…"). Check the preview, keep the suggested server (`wss://sync.openlfcp.org/v1/ws`, see "Which server") and confirm. A `lfcp-` comment appears after the heading and beside each line; nothing outside the section changes. 2. **Invite.** Click "Invite collaborator…" ("Shared Tasks: Invite collaborator"), choose Read or Read + write, and copy the link. **The link is a secret**: it is one-time and does not expire, and whoever opens it first joins. Send it privately. 3. **Join and insert.** In their vault the other person clicks "Join with a link…" ("Shared Tasks: Join collaboration"), pastes the link, then picks the note and the place to insert the section ("Shared Tasks: Insert shared section…") and checks the preview. 4. **Work together.** When either of you ticks a task or edits a line, the other note shows it within seconds.  5. **If something needs you,** the pane's problem list says what and opens the conflict dialog or "Repair shared sections in this note".  The section card, shown beside a shared heading, offers the same next step:  ### One task at a time You can still share single tasks. Run "Shared Tasks: Create collaboration", give it a name only you see and keep the suggested server. Put the cursor on a task, for example `- [ ] Prepare API contract 📅 2026-10-20`, run "Shared Tasks: Share task under cursor" and pick the collaboration; a `lfcp-ref` comment appears under the task. Invite with "Shared Tasks: Invite collaborator". The other person runs "Join collaboration", puts the cursor on an empty line and runs "Shared Tasks: Insert shared object". When either of you ticks the task (`- [x]`), the other note shows it done, with its `✅` date. The full command walkthrough, with what to expect at each step: [docs/demos/two-vault-demo.md](docs/demos/two-vault-demo.md). ### Many tasks at once - **"Shared Tasks: Share selected tasks"** shares every task line you selected. With nothing selected, it shares the tasks under the heading at the cursor, down to the next heading of the same or a higher level. You pick the collaboration once; each task becomes a shared task of its own, nested ones included. Tasks already shared are skipped, and tasks with a broken `lfcp-ref` are left alone. One notice says how many were shared. - **"Shared Tasks: Insert all tasks from collaboration"** places, at the cursor, every task of a collaboration that this note does not show yet, in the order they were created. Everyone invited to a collaboration sees every task in it, including tasks you add later. Each command handles at most 200 tasks; above that it does nothing and says so. A list shared this way is not itself shared: its order and heading, and tasks added to it later, stay local in each note. To share a section as a whole, use a shared section (below). ## Shared sections A shared section is a heading and everything under it, down to the next heading of the same or a higher level. Everyone in it keeps the section in their own note, edits it, and sees the others' changes. Its order, nesting and paragraphs are shared, and so is whatever is added inside it later. Each section has its own collaboration and its own key. Shared sections are on since Shared Tasks 0.4.0: there is nothing to turn on. Put the cursor on a heading, or under it, and run "Shared Tasks: Share section…"; a preview shows exactly what will be shared and what stays private. The 0.3 setting `"sectionsPreview"` no longer does anything. To turn sections off, quit Obsidian, add `"sectionsDisabled": true` to `.obsidian/plugins/shared-tasks/data.json` and start it again; shared tasks work either way. The [shared sections guide](https://github.com/openlfcp/obsidian/blob/0.4.1/docs/guides/shared-sections.md) covers sharing, inviting, joining and inserting, what the marks mean, conflicts, removing access, detaching and repair. In the note, a shared section carries one comment after its heading, one at its end, and one beside each task, paragraph and list item. Live Preview hides them. Source mode shows them, and so does "Show or hide sharing metadata". "Copy readable text (without sharing metadata)" copies the text without them. ## What's shared, what stays private, what the server sees | | | | --- | --- | | **Shared** with your collaborators | The tasks you share: title, status, dates, priority, tags. For a shared section: its heading's title and everything under it (tasks, paragraphs, list items, their order and nesting), including what is added later. Comments inside a section (`%% … %%`, ``) stay on your device unless you choose to share them in the settings. End-to-end encrypted: only members of the collaboration can read them. | | **Stays private** | Everything else in your vault, including the text around a shared task or outside a shared section, and your keys, which never leave your device. Each vault has its own identity, a key pair, not an account. | | **The server sees** | Encrypted data it cannot read, plus the metadata it needs: public keys, collaboration IDs, who may read or write, sizes and counts of changes, and your IP address when you connect. Details: the server's [privacy note](https://github.com/openlfcp/.github/blob/main/docs/operations/sync-server-privacy.md). | ## Which server "Create collaboration" suggests the free public beta server of the OpenLFCP project, `wss://sync.openlfcp.org/v1/ws`. Read its [privacy note](https://github.com/openlfcp/.github/blob/main/docs/operations/sync-server-privacy.md) and [terms](https://github.com/openlfcp/.github/blob/main/docs/operations/sync-server-terms.md) first. Or run your own: [openlfcp/server](https://github.com/openlfcp/server) has a container setup in [`deploy/`](https://github.com/openlfcp/server/tree/main/deploy). Change the suggestion in Settings → Shared Tasks → "Default server". A collaboration stays on the server it was created on, and people who join use the server named in the invitation. More: [docs/guides/choosing-a-server.md](docs/guides/choosing-a-server.md). If the server lost data (it was restored from an older backup), Shared Tasks repairs it from your device: it hosts a lost collaboration there again, sends back the changes the server no longer has, and shows one short notice. Your collaborators' devices do the same, so whoever connects first brings the server up to date. If the server no longer has a collaboration and refuses to host it again, or no longer lets you read it, Shared Tasks shows one notice and "Resource status" says why, for example "Not hosted by wss://…". Syncing that collaboration stops (Shared Tasks does not keep retrying), and your tasks stay on this device. Restarting Obsidian asks the server again. ## Offline and conflicts Edit shared tasks offline as usual. Changes wait on your device and are sent when the server is reachable again. Edits to different fields merge: if you rename a task while your collaborator moves its date, both changes arrive. If you both change the same field while apart, nothing is lost and no conflict text is written into your note. The note shows one of the two values, the status bar says "Shared Tasks: 1 shared task has a conflict", and the task line gets a marker naming the field. Example: you mark the task in progress (`[/]`) and your collaborator cancels it (`[-]`). Put the cursor on the task, run "Shared Tasks: Resolve shared task conflict", pick `status` and the value to keep; both notes then show it. ## Compatibility - Obsidian 1.13.4 or later. - Before 0.4.0, automated runs in real Obsidian 1.13.4 and 1.14.4 (on Linux) checked a fresh install, updates from 0.3.4 and from a 0.4 beta, turning the plugin off and on, light and dark theme in Source, Live Preview and Reading view, and running with the Tasks plugin on and off ([support matrix](docs/devel/testing/support-matrix-0.2.md)). - The automated platform smoke (build, tests and the two-vault E2E against the real server) runs on macOS, Windows and Linux. The plugin has not been tried by hand on Windows, nor with an input method (IME) for languages such as Chinese, Japanese or Korean. - Mobile (iOS, Android): the plugin is not desktop-only, and on mobile it opens shared sections read-only (see "Limitations"). Automated tests cover that read-only path; it has not been tested on a phone or tablet. - Tasks use the Obsidian Tasks plugin's emoji syntax for dates, priority and completion. Some Tasks tokens (🔁 🛫 ➕ ❌ 🔼) stay local to your note; the share preview shows them. ## Limitations Beta software. **Not for data you need to protect yet.** - Data on the public server can be lost, including recent changes after the server is restored from a backup; keep your vault, whose notes hold the text of everything you share, and keep this device's sync data (see [Where your data is kept](#where-your-data-is-kept)). - A collaboration cannot move to another server. - Invitations offer "Read" and "Read + write" only. For tasks shared one by one, there is no member management in the plugin yet. For a shared section, "Remove access…" in its details removes someone's future access; copies they already received cannot be erased. - An invitation is a link (no QR code); a copied link stays on the clipboard. - Shared text in your notes is ordinary Markdown, readable by anyone who can read the vault; only the plugin's copy of the shared state is encrypted on the device (see [Where your data is kept](#where-your-data-is-kept)). Obsidian's secret storage, which holds the keys, is shared by every plugin on the device. - **Mobile.** Shared sections are read-only on mobile: they arrive and are shown, and edits made there stay on the device. The section commands are still listed, but sharing a section, inviting to one and removing access are refused there as read-only. Shared tasks are not restricted. None of this has been tested on a real device yet. - **Section size.** About 200 tasks with their notes is the qualified size of a section. A much larger one works, but each edit blocks the editor for seconds. A section after many thousands of edits gets slower. - **No headings inside a section:** sharing offers to split it into sections. - **No going back to 0.3.x** on a device once 0.4 has upgraded its sync data; downgrade only to 0.4.x or later ([details](docs/releases/0.4-compatibility.md)). All known limitations: the release notes of [Shared Tasks](docs/releases/) (for 0.4, [0.4.0](docs/releases/0.4.0.md) and [0.4.1](docs/releases/0.4.1.md)), [OpenLFCP MVP 0.2](https://github.com/openlfcp/.github/blob/main/docs/release/mvp-0.2-release-notes.md), [OpenLFCP MVP 0.1](https://github.com/openlfcp/.github/blob/main/docs/release/mvp-0.1-release-notes.md) and [server 0.2.0](https://github.com/openlfcp/.github/blob/main/docs/release/server-0.2.0-release-notes.md). ## Where your data is kept - **Your notes are plain Markdown.** Shared tasks and sections are ordinary text in your notes, with small `lfcp-` comments that link them. They are stored like the rest of your vault, readable and not encrypted by Shared Tasks; whoever can read your vault can read them. - **The shared state on the device is encrypted.** Since 0.4.0, the decrypted shared state and the plugin's own records are sealed at rest under keys kept on that device. The changes themselves and the outgoing queue are stored as they travel, end-to-end encrypted; IDs and counters stay readable. Settings → Shared Tasks → "Local encryption" → "Rotate key" replaces the keys. This is a separate layer from the end-to-end encryption of what goes to the server. - **Keys and sync state are outside the vault.** Your identity, the collaborations' keys and the sync data live in Obsidian's own storage on this device (IndexedDB and secret storage), not in the vault folder. A copy or backup of the vault holds your notes but not your place in the collaborations: opened on another device, through Obsidian Sync, iCloud or Git, Shared Tasks starts there as a new identity that is not a member of them. The plugin's `data.json` holds only settings. ## Network use The plugin connects only to the sync servers of your collaborations, over WebSocket (`wss://`). It sends only end-to-end encrypted data and the protocol metadata a server needs (public keys, Resource IDs, sizes); the server also sees your IP address. There is no account, no telemetry and no payment. ## What the plugin accesses - **Your notes, locally.** At startup the plugin looks through every Markdown note of the vault for its markers (`lfcp-` comments: task refs, and the boundaries and node markers of shared sections), using Obsidian's content cache. Notes with a marker are synchronized; notes without one are not touched. Afterwards it reacts to note changes as you make them. None of your notes leaves the vault: only the shared tasks you chose go out, end-to-end encrypted. - **The clipboard,** written only when you ask: "Copy link" in the invitation dialog, "Copy readable text (without sharing metadata)", "Copy shared section", and copying a diagnostics report. When you copy from a shared section in Reading view, the plugin leaves its status marks out of what you copied. The plugin never reads the clipboard. - **A file in your vault,** only when you save a diagnostics report there ("Export diagnostics…"). The report is shown in full before you copy or save it, holds no note text or secrets, and is never sent. - **The network,** only `wss://` connections to the servers of your collaborations (see "Network use"). - **Local storage on this device:** IndexedDB for the sync state (its decrypted part sealed at rest), and Obsidian's secret storage for the keys; neither is inside the vault. - **Bundled WebAssembly.** The plugin ships Automerge (the CRDT engine) as WebAssembly inside `main.js`, stored compressed and decoded when the plugin starts. Nothing is downloaded at run time. ## Support - Bugs and questions: [GitHub issues](https://github.com/openlfcp/obsidian/issues). - Security vulnerabilities: **security@openlfcp.org**, or a [private security advisory](https://github.com/openlfcp/obsidian/security/advisories/new); not a public issue. - Everything else: **hello@openlfcp.org**. ## For developers This repository is the Obsidian editor adapter and product UI for OpenLFCP. It consumes `sdk-ts`, the Shared Objects Profile, and the Markdown reference format. It owns Markdown scanning, the projection engine, CodeMirror integration, commands, the Resource Explorer, plugin settings, and editor conflict presentation. ### Scope The plugin implements the OpenLFCP product slice on sdk-ts: shared Tasks and shared sections between vaults. The current pins are in `spec.lock` (spec tag), `server.lock` (reference server for live tests) and `package.json` (`@openlfcp/*` versions). Deferred WIRE-01 features: `.github: docs/release/deferred-wire-01-features.md` (in [openlfcp/.github](https://github.com/openlfcp/.github)). ### Documents - [docs/OBSIDIAN-ARCHITECTURE-01.md](docs/OBSIDIAN-ARCHITECTURE-01.md): architecture of the Obsidian adapter. - The Markdown ref grammar it implements is normative and lives in `spec: integration/MARKDOWN-REFS-01.md`. ### Status - Plugin bootstrap (LFCP-058): the plugin loads, registers its commands and has a settings tab. - `lfcp-ref` markers (LFCP-060, done before LFCP-059 on purpose): parsing, diagnostics and serialization per MARKDOWN-REFS-01, in [`src/core/refs`](src/core/refs/README.md). - The TypeScript SDK in the plugin (LFCP-059), in `src/core/lfcp`: - a per-vault install with its own identity and an install marker that locks writing on any copied, wiped or rolled-back state; - IndexedDB storage and `app.secretStorage` secrets; - one sync session per server, opened on demand; - the local Resource registry; - start and stop with the plugin (never blocked on the network). See [docs/architecture/local-state.md](docs/architecture/local-state.md). - Vault-level change events (`src/core/vault`), collected for projection scanning whatever made them (LFCP-059). - Markdown ↔ Shared Object projection (LFCP-061, LFCP-062, `src/core/projection`): edits to bound Tasks (title, status, due, scheduled, completion date, priority, tags) become Shared Objects intents through the SDK, and shared changes are rendered back into every note that projects them. Conflicts show in the status bar and the editor, never in the text. See [docs/architecture/projection.md](docs/architecture/projection.md). - Collaboration commands (LFCP-065, `src/core/collab`, `src/obsidian/ui`): create, join, share the task under the cursor, insert a shared task, invite (Read or Read + write, one-time links), Resource status, detach, and resolving a shared conflict. See [docs/architecture/collaboration.md](docs/architecture/collaboration.md). ### Demo [docs/demos/two-vault-demo.md](docs/demos/two-vault-demo.md) walks through the canonical two-vault demo in real Obsidian. `node scripts/demo-vaults.mjs` prepares the vaults and the server config outside this repository. ### Layout | Path | What it is | | --- | --- | | `manifest.json`, `versions.json` | Obsidian community-plugin manifest (id `shared-tasks`) and its app-version map | | `scripts/release-assets.mjs`, `.github/workflows/release.yml` | The release: assets built and checked from a bare version tag; see [docs/devel/release.md](docs/devel/release.md) | | `src/main.ts` | Entry point; bundled into `main.js` by `scripts/build.mjs` (esbuild) | | `src/obsidian/` | The thin Obsidian adapter: plugin lifecycle, commands, settings tab. The only code that imports `obsidian` | | `src/core/` | Obsidian-free modules, reusable by other editor adapters | | `src/core/lfcp/` | The LFCP runtime over the SDK: install and marker, secret slots, sessions, registry | | `src/core/vault/` | Vault-level file change hub | | `src/core/projection/` | Markdown → Shared Object projection, the mutation guard | | `test/` | Vitest unit tests; `test/mocks/obsidian.ts` stands in for the Obsidian API; `test/fixtures/refs/` holds golden `lfcp-ref` fixtures | | `spec.lock` | The `openlfcp/spec` tag and commit the tests read MARKDOWN-REFS-01 and spec fixtures from (`$LFCP_SPEC_DIR`, or `../spec`) | | `scripts/check-boundaries.mjs` | Fails if code outside the adapter imports `obsidian`, reaches into `src/obsidian/`, or uses Node in `src/` | `obsidian` is a devDependency for types only: the app provides it at runtime. The plugin does not reimplement any LFCP protocol logic: it uses the TypeScript SDK (the `@openlfcp/*` npm packages, at exact versions). The boundary check also refuses Automerge, `@noble`, HPKE, CBOR and COSE libraries, `@openlfcp/wire/cbor` and the Node-only `@openlfcp/storage-node` in `src/`, and keeps `fake-indexeddb` test-only. ### Build from a clean checkout The plugin builds from the `@openlfcp/*` npm packages at the exact versions in `package.json` (locked in `pnpm-lock.yaml`); no sibling `sdk-ts` checkout is needed. A tag release refuses any other setup, such as a `link:` to a local sdk-ts (`scripts/check-release-deps.mjs`). ```sh pnpm install --frozen-lockfile pnpm run build # typecheck src and bundle main.js pnpm run lint # Biome and the boundary check (with its self-test) pnpm run typecheck # src and tests pnpm test ``` `main.js` is about 2.3 MB, minified. Most of it is Automerge's wasm, stored deflated and inflated at load (the community-plugin format ships one script; see the local-state note). Requires Node.js 24 or later and pnpm 10. To try the plugin in Obsidian, see [docs/devel/testing/load-in-clean-vault.md](docs/devel/testing/load-in-clean-vault.md). ## License Apache License 2.0. See [LICENSE](LICENSE).