Sync Engine

Introduction

Sync Engine is a vault syncing plugin to synchronize vault files in multiple devices, it supports:

Backends: S3, WebDAV, Google Drive Features:

• Client-side encryption
• Granular sync strategy configuration (bidirectional / mirror remote / mirror local / don't sync) using Glob rules.
• Startup / periodic / sync-on-focus / save-on-change syncing.
• Conflict resolve strategies (smart merge / keep both / latest survive / keep remote / keep local / skip).
• Syncing file creation / modification time.
• Rate / memory control options.
• Custom headers.

Sync Engine is also a modular platform that everyone can build upon. You can achieve customized experience by building your own modules via the convenient SDK, extending the plugin, contributing to the community, all without modifying the source code.

Access Sync Engine documentation at sync.consensia.cc, which contains usage guides, existing modules, permission claims, benchmarking, and documentation on how to build a module.

There's already a lot of plugins to sync your notes between devices:

• Remotely Save supports many backends (S3, Dropbox, OneDrive, WebDAV). But is optionally paid, development paused for years with stability issues
• Self-hosted LiveSync and Fast Note Sync offer real-time, server-based sync. They work well if you are comfortable setting up your own server.
• Relay is a managed relay service. Convenient, but your notes pass through infrastructure you don't control.

Sync Engine fits the gap: you want to choose your own storage, you want the plugin to stay small because unused features aren't bundled in, and you want a highly optimized syncing that is no slower than a self-hosted server.

Our Claims

Fast

• Incremental syncing never uploads the full vault each time.
• Anchored Asymmetric Storage substantially accelerates syncing.
• Real-time sync uses cached remote states, allowing it to complete within milliseconds.
• Benchmarking shows around 100x faster than Remotely Save in some metrics.
• Handles vaults with thousands of files smoothly.
• No slower than a self-hosted server
• Detailed performance comparison can be found in performance benchmark.

Free and Reliable

• The plugin is completely open-source, free to use and distribute (MIT License)
• All source code, including plugin core, all modules, and the documentation website are publicly accessible in this repo; and thus they are all scanned by Obsidian's automated scan. There's no hidden telemetry or third-party server.
• The documentation documents everything in detail, including permission and security claims.
• The plugin protects you from attacks: encryption, module verification.
• The sync algorithm is battle-tested and has evolved over thousands of usage.

Extensible

• You can add backends, optimizers, sync triggers, i18n resources, decision strategies, conflict strategies, setting entries, custom file processing, and invoke all possible operations in custom modules.
• Documentation and SDK with debug and testing toolkit are provided.
• Plugin provides dedicated module discovery and management UI.
• Repo accepts any module contribution as long as it respects contribution guide.

Usage

1. Download and enable Sync Engine from Obsidian plugin store.
2. Open "Module management" setting, install needed translations, backends and optional features.
3. Fill the necessary information about your cloud service in the settings interface.
4. Start your first sync from command palette or ribbon button.
5. Review the sync tasks that will be performed.
6. Click "Confirm", and your files will arrive the configured backend at the speed of light.
7. Install Sync Engine on your other devices and configure them the same as the first device.
8. If it goes correctly, every sync run will discover local and remote changes automatically and sync files between.
9. Access documentation for advanced usages.

Common Questions

Please follow the steps below to resolve the bug:

1. You can simply retry the sync. An error does not block later syncs nor corrupt your files.
2. If retrying doesn't help, please check whether your Sync Engine has been updated to the latest version.
3. Please vary your network condition and alternate your system proxy / reverse proxy to see whether they are the cause.
4. If the error persists, please open an issue, describing the error, your setup, with the log attached.

According to this plugin's file handling strategy, all remote changes will be propagated to all vaults. So it's generally not recommended to manually manage your remote storage unless you intend to add / remove these files. Manual management is more discouraged when you have encryption or asymmetric storage enabled.

If you installed Sync Engine but its "Module management" page shows no available modules / is always loading. Please check the following:

1. Are Obsidian and Sync Engine updated to the latest available versions? You can find the latest version of obsidian here and Sync Engine's version in the GitHub repository.
2. If you can ensure Obsidian and Sync Engine have been updated to the latest version. Please try to access https://sync.consensia.cc in your browser; if you cannot, please go to Sync Engine's settings in Obsidian, find Development → Module sources, clear existing sources and add source https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hesprs/sync-engine/refs/heads/gh-pages/modules-alternative.json; then see whether the modules can load now.
3. If there's still no modules shown, please test by varying your network setup. E.g. home WiFi, mobile network, with / without proxy.
4. If none of the steps above can help you, please open a new issue in Sync Engine GitHub repository with the symptom and troubleshooting you've already tried.

Access Sync Engine documentation at sync.consensia.cc for more detail. You can also ask questions in GitHub discussions, or report bugs / give suggestions in GitHub issues.

Roadmap

Below is a list of planned features and improvements, the faster this plugin is adopted and the star ⭐ grows, the faster the development will be. Also, we welcome contributors that would like to help us with the development of either modules or core.

• v3.0: Rewrite entirely, dynamic module loading, module store, asymmetric storage, and rebrand
• v3.1: Migrate settings to Obsidian v1.13 API
• v3.2: Granular sync strategy selection / exclusion inclusion rule refactor based on ordered glob match rules.
• v3.3: Metadata syncing.

Sync Engine has a wishlist of features, you can react with thumbs up 👍 on feature comments you would like to have. And the features with more votes will have higher priority.

License

The source code of Sync Engine and modules in this repository are licensed under the MIT License. Pages in the documentation website are licensed under CC BY 4.0 license.

Copyright ©️ 2026 Hēsperus and All Contributors