Repository navigation
Settings
Menu bar icon → Settings… (⌘,), or a vault's Vault Settings…. If the menu bar icon is hidden, open the app again (Finder or Spotlight) to get here. Every change is saved to config.json right away and applies immediately; there's nothing to relaunch. A field that doesn't validate shows the problem under it and isn't saved until fixed.
The list shows every vault with its live status and a checkbox to watch it or not.
- + opens a folder picker. The folder must be the top folder of a git repository with a remote; anything else is refused with the reason (not a repository, inside another repository, no remote, already in the list).
- − (or Delete) removes the selected vault after a confirmation. Only the app's reminder state for it is deleted; the folder and its git history are never touched.
- Drag to reorder, or right-click → Move Up / Move Down. Right-click also has Show in Finder and Remove….
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Watch this vault | Off = kept in the list, but no checks or reminders | on |
| Name | Shown in the menu, dialogs and notifications | folder name |
| Folder | Show in Finder, or Change… to point at another folder (same checks as +) | |
| Obsidian vault name | Used by Open in Obsidian (obsidian://open?vault=…) |
open the folder with Obsidian |
| Remind after | Minutes without file changes before the first reminder (1–1440) | 60 |
| Daily reminder at | When a dismissed reminder comes back | 10:00 |
| On (days) | Days reminders may appear; on other days they wait for the next one | every day |
| Remind with | A dialog with Commit / Snooze / Skip, or a notification banner | dialog |
| Snooze options | Hours offered in the dialog and menu, comma-separated (1, 3, 0.5) |
1, 3 |
| Message | Commit message template when you leave the message empty | Vault update {date} |
| Stage | All changes (git add -A) or only files git already tracks (git add -u) |
all |
| Ignored paths | Never trigger a reminder, never committed (git pathspecs, * and **) |
.obsidian/workspace*.json, .stversions, .stfolder
|
| Push after committing | Off = commit only | on |
| Remote, Branch | Where to push; empty = the current branch's upstream | upstream |
Message template tokens: {date} (2026-10-19), {time} (14:30), {files} (number of
changed files), {vault} (the vault's name). The field shows a live preview.
-
Launch at login — a LaunchAgent (
com.roypadina.obsidian-vault-git-watcher) starts the app at login and restarts it if it crashes. Turning it on or off takes effect at the next login; it never starts a second copy or stops the running one. Quit stops the app until the next login. - Menu bar — show the icon always, or only when a vault needs attention (changes or an error); optionally the number of uncommitted files next to it.
-
Log — where the app writes its log (default
~/Library/Logs/obsidian-vault-git-watcher.log): Change…, Show in Finder, Open. -
Configuration — Show in Finder, Export… (a copy of your config.json) and
Import… (validated, confirmed, and the replaced config is kept as
config.json.bak). - About — version, About window and Ko-fi.
