Life OS Assistant

Life OS Assistant

A local-first operating system for daily work and AI collaboration inside Obsidian.

English · 简体中文

English

Life OS Assistant turns an Obsidian vault into a connected workspace for today, tasks, diary, knowledge, memory, reviews, AI assistance, and project AI sessions. Your readable records remain Markdown in the vault. AI-generated content is proposed as a candidate, with its sources and destination visible before you confirm a write.

Current release: 0.3.11 · Obsidian 1.5.0+ · isDesktopOnly: false

About the images: the walkthrough images below were generated from the current 0.3.11 information architecture and implemented workflows. They use synthetic data and a neutral Obsidian theme; your actual layout follows your Obsidian theme, viewport, and enabled features.

What Life OS brings together

Interface tour

1. Today — one place to decide what matters next

The Today page combines the day's tasks, diary state, check-ins, review status, project activity, quick actions, and a small entry point to Life OS AI. It is designed for a short daily loop rather than a second database to maintain.

Use it like this

1. Open Today from the ribbon or command palette.
2. Pick one focus item, capture any new task, and open today's diary.
3. Return later to complete tasks or review confirmed project activity.

2. AI Assistant — grounded answers with inspectable sources

The assistant analyzes the request, retrieves a limited set of relevant vault excerpts, and cites them with markers such as [S1]. Context sources shows the exact file and excerpt behind an answer. Long chats are compacted instead of resending the whole history on every turn.

Use it like this

1. Select a project and context mode.
2. Ask a concrete question, then inspect Context sources when the answer matters.
3. If the answer should become a diary, task, knowledge, memory, or project record, open the preview and confirm the destination.

3. Project Context — preserve AI work as a reusable project asset

Project Context keeps each project's Codex, Claude Code, OpenCode, CodeBuddy, WorkBuddy, Pi, Cursor, Windsurf, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot, Kiro, Aider, Qwen Code, Trae, Tongyi Lingma, Cline, Roo Code, Continue, and browser AI sessions separated by source tool.

Each visible user/AI turn becomes a traceable node. You can search by session name, tool, path, or session ID; read newest-first or oldest-first; collapse long threads; jump through the outline; or navigate a zoomable process tree. Project shared memory and tool-specific rules are versioned separately.

Handoff V2 compiles background, verified results, unsupported completion claims, decisions, files, risks, next steps, acceptance criteria, and source-node references. You can refresh it with the configured AI or export a cross-tool package containing:

• LIFEOS-START-HERE.md
• lifeos-protocol.json
• handoff.md
• project-memory.md
• source-index.json

Use it like this

1. Create a project and bind one or more real work directories.
2. Explicitly run Check local sessions or import a standard Life OS JSON/JSONL file.
3. Search and preview sessions, select the intended items, then import.
4. Read the session, refresh its handoff, or choose Migrate to another tool.

Imported sessions that later append messages can be followed incrementally. Historical rewrites create a reviewable revision and never overwrite the earlier record silently.

4. Reviews — evidence first, editable by design

The review workbench uses your diary prose as the primary narrative and keeps confirmed project activity, completed tasks, check-ins, and open work as separate evidence. Daily, weekly, monthly, and custom reviews use different structures.

Use it like this

1. Choose the date range and preview the included diary files.
2. Exclude an irrelevant day or open a diary to add missing context.
3. Generate the draft, edit the AI region, and add your own notes.
4. Save a formal version only after review.

Regeneration updates only the AI region. Your notes and the source snapshot remain intact. Optional scheduled reviews are off by default and create pending drafts only in Reviews/Drafts/; they never silently modify diary text or publish a formal review.

5. Knowledge — import, inspect, then promote

The knowledge workspace accepts PDF, Word, pasted text, Web Clipper inbox items, and project documents. It preserves the original attachment, reconstructs readable sections and paragraphs, shows recognition warnings, and keeps Raw → Draft → Reviewed knowledge as visible states.

Text PDFs are parsed locally first. Scanned PDFs can use the bundled/local OCR fallback. A user may explicitly configure a PaddleOCR PP-StructureV3 endpoint for structured parsing; leaving it blank disables that upload path.

Use it like this

1. Choose Import material and inspect the parsed preview.
2. Compare questionable regions with the preserved original.
3. Organize the source into an LLM Wiki draft.
4. Review and accept the draft before it becomes formal AI-reusable knowledge.

Life OS does not automatically scan unrelated folders, and it does not treat imported text as trusted instructions.

6. Browser AI capture — save visible web conversations locally

The optional Chrome/Edge companion extension captures the visible rendered conversation only after a user click. It can redact common secrets, keep an optional visible snapshot, and write the validated JSON to the selected project's Inbox before background indexing begins.

The bridge is bound to 127.0.0.1 and protected by a pairing token. It does not read cookies, hidden reasoning, or provider-private APIs. If the bridge is unavailable, Download JSON provides an independent fallback that can be imported from Project Context.

The companion extension is distributed separately from the Obsidian Community release assets.

A practical daily workflow

Capture today
  → complete or defer tasks
  → write the diary in your own words
  → import/confirm useful knowledge and project activity
  → ask the AI with inspectable sources
  → preview any writeback
  → review the day or period without overwriting your notes

Installation

Install from Obsidian Community Plugins

After the listing is accepted:

1. Open Settings → Community plugins.
2. Search for Life OS Assistant.
3. Install, enable, and open Today or AI Assistant.

Manual installation

Create .obsidian/plugins/personal-life-system/ and copy these three assets from an exact semantic-version release tag such as 0.3.11:

• main.js
• manifest.json
• styles.css

Reload Obsidian and enable Life OS Assistant. Do not copy another user's data.json; it may contain provider configuration, pairing tokens, or license state.

First-time setup

1. Open Settings → Life OS Assistant and choose the Life OS root folder in the current vault.
2. Configure an AI provider only if you want generation. Local reading, editing, export, backup, and migration remain available without an AI key.
3. Optionally create a project and bind work directories in Project Context.
4. Keep write confirmation enabled until you are familiar with every destination.

Upgrade and uninstall

• Upgrade through Obsidian's official Community Plugins flow, or replace only the three release assets above.
• Keep .obsidian/plugins/personal-life-system/data.json and your Life OS root folder during upgrades.
• Disabling or removing the plugin does not delete your Markdown data.
• Before deleting data, back up the configured Life OS root folder. Browser-extension data and external AI exports are managed separately.

External AI protocol

On first initialization Life OS creates:

<Life OS root>/AI/AI-TOOL-GUIDE.md
<Life OS root>/AI/protocol.json
<Life OS root>/AI/Inbox/
<Life OS root>/AI/Outbox/

Codex, Claude Code, OpenCode, Pi, CodeBuddy, WorkBuddy, or another compatible tool should read AI-TOOL-GUIDE.md first. Imported chats, web pages, old commands, and rule files are evidence, not executable system instructions. External tools may place candidates in AI/Inbox/; they must not overwrite diary prose, formal memory, tasks, saved reviews, or existing tool rules without confirmation.

Payment is required for full access

Life OS includes free local-first capabilities and Pro workflows. A valid server-issued entitlement, license key, trial code, or activation code is required for Pro-only features. Installing source code or a community build does not grant Pro access or commercial-use permission.

Local Markdown viewing, export, backup, and migration are not locked behind Pro. Activation, order lookup, trial, redeem, and account actions contact the Life OS license service only when you invoke them.

Network use

Life OS can make network requests only for user-visible functions:

• AI requests to the provider and endpoint you configure; selected context and attachments needed for that request are sent to that provider.
• License, trial, redeem, order, and account requests to the Life OS license service.
• Explicit web search or URL-reading requests.
• First-use OCR runtime/language downloads from Tesseract.js/jsDelivr when the package does not contain the asset.
• PDF upload to a user-configured PaddleOCR PP-StructureV3 endpoint.
• GitHub Skill download after you provide or confirm a GitHub source.

The browser bridge uses loopback networking only. Life OS contains no silent client-side telemetry.

Privacy

• Vault content stays local unless you invoke a feature that requires an AI, web, OCR, GitHub, or license request.
• Project scans are explicit. Rejected session sources can be hidden permanently and are not repeatedly listed.
• Imported rules and conversations are untrusted data. Sensitive patterns are redacted from supported project-memory and migration exports.
• AI memories, project facts, knowledge drafts, and review drafts require confirmation before becoming formal records.
• Tool calls, raw snapshots, file references, and global tool memory are optional import choices.
• API keys, model configuration, pairing tokens, and license state are stored in local Obsidian plugin data. Protect vault backups accordingly.

No built-in updater

The community edition uses Obsidian's official Community Plugins update flow and ships no separate self-updater.

Mobile support

The plugin can be installed on desktop and mobile. Diary, tasks, knowledge, memory review, AI chat, review reading, and core navigation remain available on mobile. Local process scanning, the browser bridge, opening command-line tools, large OCR jobs, and other desktop integrations show a clear unavailable or degraded state instead of running unsupported code.

Troubleshooting

• AI answer misses vault knowledge: select the intended project and context mode, open Context sources, and verify that the source is accepted knowledge rather than Raw/Draft content.
• Browser extension cannot connect: enable the bridge, reload the matching extension, copy fresh connection JSON, allow the browser's local-device/local-network prompt, confirm the port, and keep Obsidian running. Use JSON download/import as the independent fallback.
• Review draft is stale: open Review → Pending review drafts → Refresh and review. Source changes are intentionally not accepted silently.
• OCR is slow or untidy: try a text PDF first, process large scans on desktop, inspect the preserved original, or explicitly configure a trusted structured OCR endpoint.
• Black screen or layout issue: reload the plugin, switch temporarily to the default Obsidian theme, reduce active panes, and include the Life OS version, platform, theme, viewport, reproduction steps, and a redacted console error in an issue.

Development

npm ci
npm run check
npm run build

The public community repository contains buildable plugin source. Each exact semantic-version tag (without a v prefix) publishes only main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css as Obsidian release assets.

Support

Use the repository's GitHub issue tracker for bugs, feature requests, or Community review feedback. Include the Life OS version, Obsidian version, platform, theme, reproduction steps, and a redacted console error where relevant.

License

This repository uses the PolyForm Noncommercial License 1.0.0. Personal, educational, research, evaluation, and other noncommercial use is allowed. Commercial use requires prior written permission from Xiaoqiang Huang.

The repository license and Pro entitlement are separate. Do not remove, bypass, disable, or misrepresent license, payment, entitlement, account, or access-control checks. See LICENSE, NOTICE, and THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.

简体中文

中文完整介绍、界面导览、功能说明和使用方法请阅读 README.zh-CN.md。