OMI Obsidian Setup (2026 AI Second Brain Guide)

The OMI Obsidian setup is the closest thing to a real-life Jarvis you can build right now — and this guide shows the exact 2026 stack I use daily.

This post covers:

What OMI does and why Obsidian is the right destination.
The exact wiring between OMI cloud and your Obsidian vault.
How Hermes plugs in for active recall.
Real workflows I run on top of it.

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What OMI Actually Is

OMI is a tiny wearable that listens to your day.

Conversations, ideas, meetings — captured passively.

Then transcribed and exported.

The magic isn't OMI alone.

It's where the data goes next.

Why Obsidian Is The Destination

Three reasons.

1 — Local files

Obsidian stores notes as plain markdown.

You own the data forever.

No vendor lock-in.

2 — Plugin ecosystem

Hundreds of plugins.

You can wire AI agents directly to the vault.

3 — Linkable knowledge

Backlinks turn captured thoughts into a real network.

The compound effect over months is enormous.

The Stack At A Glance

Three layers.

OMI — the capture layer (passive recording).
Obsidian — the storage layer (markdown vault).
Hermes — the recall layer (AI agent reading the vault).

Each layer is replaceable.

But this combo is what's working in 2026.

Step 1 — Set Up OMI

Order the OMI device.

Pair to phone.

OMI cloud account auto-syncs transcripts.

You can also use OMI software-only if you don't want hardware.

Step 2 — Set Up Obsidian Vault

Download Obsidian (free).

Create a vault — call it second-brain.

Folder structure I use:

00-inbox → raw OMI captures land here.
10-daily → daily notes.
20-projects → active work.
30-areas → ongoing life areas.
40-resources → reference material.
50-archive → done/dormant.

Simple PARA-style structure.

Step 3 — Wire OMI To Obsidian

OMI's cloud has a markdown export.

Two paths.

Path A — Manual export

Daily/weekly download → drop into 00-inbox.

Simple. No automation.

Path B — Automated sync

Use a small script (cron job) that pulls OMI exports into the vault.

I cover this in Hermes Second Brain in detail.

For most people, manual export weekly is enough.

Step 4 — Add Hermes For Recall

OMI captures.

Obsidian stores.

But you need recall.

Hermes is the agent that reads the vault and answers questions.

Install Hermes (one-click via Ollama).

Point it at the Obsidian vault folder.

Now ask Hermes:

"What did I decide about pricing last Tuesday?"
"Summarise my conversations with Sarah this month."
"Pull every note tagged #client-x and draft a status update."

Hermes searches the vault, reads, summarises.

That's the second brain in action.

Step 5 — Install Key Obsidian Plugins

Three plugins to install.

1 — Dataview

Lets you query notes like a database.

Build dashboards from your captures.

2 — Templater

Auto-format incoming OMI notes.

Saves cleanup time.

3 — Smart Connections

AI semantic search inside Obsidian.

Finds related notes you forgot existed.

Watch The Walkthrough

The Hermes side of the stack — this is what makes the vault useful.

Daily Workflows On Top Of OMI Obsidian

What I actually do every day.

1 — Morning prep

Hermes reads yesterday's OMI transcripts.

Generates a brief: decisions, todos, follow-ups.

5 minutes of clarity before the day starts.

2 — Meeting recall

After every call, OMI transcript is in the vault.

Ask Hermes for action items + summary.

No manual notes during meetings.

3 — Idea capture

Random ideas flow through OMI all day.

Friday: ask Hermes for the week's best ideas.

Most weeks I find 1-2 worth exploring.

4 — Client briefs

Hermes pulls every conversation about Client X.

Generates a status update.

What used to take 30 mins takes 30 seconds.

5 — Content drafts

OMI captures my voice notes about content.

Hermes turns them into blog post outlines.

Privacy Considerations

Important.

What's local

Obsidian vault → on your machine.

Hermes (Ollama) → on your machine.

What's cloud

OMI transcription → OMI's cloud by default.

You can run local STT if privacy is critical.

For most people, OMI cloud is fine.

For sensitive industries (legal, healthcare), use local STT.

Cost Breakdown

OMI device: £79 one-off (or use software-only — free).
Obsidian: free (Sync optional £8/mo).
Hermes + Ollama: free.
Total: £79 one-off, then £0/month.

Compare to enterprise note-taking + AI:

Notion AI: £8/user/month.
Granola: £14/month.
Otter: £17/month.

OMI Obsidian + Hermes is dramatically cheaper long-term.

Common OMI Obsidian Mistakes

Three to avoid.

1 — Over-organising

Don't build 20 folders on day one.

Start with PARA structure.

Refactor as needed.

2 — Skipping Hermes

Vault without AI = pile of notes.

Vault with AI = second brain.

Don't skip the agent layer.

3 — Ignoring inbox

Process the inbox weekly.

Tag, link, archive.

Otherwise the vault becomes a graveyard.

What OMI Obsidian Won't Do

Be honest.

1 — Replace deliberate writing

OMI captures — but writing forces clarity.

You still need to write.

2 — Solve the "what to focus on" problem

The vault is a tool.

Strategy is still your job.

3 — Magically fix scattered work

Garbage in, garbage out.

If your inputs are scattered, the vault will be too.

What OMI Obsidian Replaces

In my stack:

Evernote.
Apple Notes.
Roam.
Notion AI.
Granola.
Otter.

All gone.

Replaced by one stack.

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The Compound Effect

Month 1: A few useful captures.

Month 3: Second brain starts answering questions you'd forgotten you asked.

Month 6: It becomes a genuine cognitive prosthetic.

Month 12: You can't imagine working without it.

The compounding is the whole point.

Start small.

Stay consistent.

Let it grow.

When OMI Obsidian Fits

Best for:

Knowledge workers.
Solo founders.
Consultants.
Anyone who does mostly thinking work.

Not great for:

Manual labour roles.
Sales-floor work where typing is fine.
People who hate journaling.

OMI Obsidian Vs Other Stacks

Quick comparison.

Stack	Capture	Storage	AI Recall	Cost
OMI + Obsidian + Hermes	Wearable	Local MD	Local LLM	Free + £79
Notion AI only	Manual typing	Cloud	Built-in	£8/mo
Granola	Mac app	Cloud	Built-in	£14/mo
Otter	Mobile/web	Cloud	Built-in	£17/mo

For privacy + ownership, OMI Obsidian wins.

FAQ — OMI Obsidian Setup

Do I need the OMI hardware?

No — OMI software-only works.

Hardware is just hands-free convenience.

Can I use a different vault than Obsidian?

Yes — Logseq, Foam, plain folder all work with Hermes.

Obsidian is the easiest.

What if I don't have Hermes?

Use Smart Connections plugin or AI like Claude/ChatGPT manually.

Hermes is best for daily automation.

How much storage do I need?

A year of OMI transcripts is ~500MB-1GB.

Tiny.

Can my team share the vault?

Yes — via Obsidian Sync (£8/mo) or Git-based sync.

What's the steepest part?

Wiring Hermes to the vault.

Skill takes 30 mins to write the first time.

Worth the £79 OMI?

For me — yes, by week two.

If you don't want hardware, software-only is free.