Obsidian for Documentation

Setting up Obsidian with Quartz

2 min read

Quartz is an open-source static site generator specifically designed to transform an Obsidian vault into a clean, searchable, and link-aware website. It aims to replicate much of Obsidian’s “second brain” feel on the web, including graph views and backlink panels.

Why Quartz for Obsidian Publishing?

  • Obsidian-Native: Built with Obsidian users in mind, handling internal links, image embeds, and other Obsidian syntax naturally.

  • Graph View: Can generate a navigable graph view of your published notes, mirroring Obsidian’s core visualization.

  • Search Functionality: Includes robust client-side search across your entire published vault.

  • Backlinks & Transclusions: Supports displaying backlinks at the bottom of notes and can render embedded notes (transclusions).

  • Markdown Extensions: Supports many common Markdown extensions used in Obsidian.

  • Easy Deployment: Designed for easy deployment to free hosting services like GitHub Pages.

Basic Setup Steps

  1. Prerequisites: Ensure you have Node.js and Git installed on your system.

  2. Create a Quartz Repository:

    • Fork the official Quartz starter template repository on GitHub.

    • Clone your forked repository to your local machine.

  3. Link to Your Obsidian Vault:

    • Inside your Quartz repository, you’ll find a content folder. This is where your Markdown files go.

    • You can either copy your Obsidian notes into this content folder or, more effectively, create a symbolic link (symlink) from your Obsidian vault’s main folder (or a subfolder dedicated to public notes) to the content folder in your Quartz project. This allows you to edit notes directly in Obsidian and have Quartz see the changes.

    • Example Symlink (Linux/macOS): ln -s /path/to/your/Obsidian/Vault /path/to/your/quartz/project/content

    • Example Symlink (Windows Admin PowerShell): New-Item -ItemType SymbolicLink -Path “C:\path\to\quartz\project\content” -Target “C:\path\to\your\Obsidian\Vault”

  4. Configure quartz.config.ts:

    • Edit this file to customize your site’s title, description, navigation, and other settings.

    • Configure how links are resolved, how images are handled, and which plugins you want to enable (e.g., for graph view, search).

  5. Install Dependencies: Run npm install in your Quartz project directory.

  6. Develop Locally: Run npx quartz build —serve to build your site and view it live in your browser at localhost:8080. Quartz will watch for changes in your Obsidian notes and rebuild automatically.

  7. Deploy:

    • Commit your changes to your Git repository.

    • Deploy to GitHub Pages by following Quartz’s documentation for connecting to GitHub Actions, or use other services like Netlify/Vercel.

Further Customization

Quartz offers extensive customization options, from modifying CSS and themes to adding custom components and plugins. Refer to the official Quartz documentation for advanced features and troubleshooting.

By using Quartz, you can seamlessly extend your Obsidian note-taking environment into a powerful and interactive web presence for your documentation.

Graph View

Backlinks