Finish Obsidian sentences with a local model

Obsidian can now open individual Markdown files anywhere on your Mac, giving everyday drafts another reason to land there. Its October 5 desktop release, 1.14, adds this support; enabling it requires downloading the latest installer and reinstalling Obsidian.

Companion can finish sentences directly at your cursor using a locally hosted Ollama model; privacy also depends on the plugin’s file access and network behavior. Obsidian’s built-in [[ and # suggestions complete links and tags, while Various Complements draws suggestions from files, vaults and custom dictionaries.

The new Open file from outside the vault… command and the operating system’s Open with option make those files accessible. That creates room for personal letters, unfinished article drafts and other everyday writing alongside your notes.

Match the suggestion to the writing#

If you want to connect a draft to an existing note, Obsidian’s built-in completion fits the job. Typing [ starts [link suggestions, including when you have configured Obsidian to insert standard Markdown links. Those suggestions retrieve a link target rather than generate the next part of a sentence.

Typing # offers tag selection. A community walkthrough describes choosing a tag with the arrow keys and pressing Enter.

For vocabulary already present in your material, Various Complements is the better fit. It supports completion from the current file, the current vault and custom dictionaries, along with internal links and front matter. Choose it when you want suggestions drawn from those sources.

For new prose continuing a sentence you started, Companion offers AI-generated words, phrases and sentences inline. Its documented controls include Toggle Completion and Tab acceptance of the next word. This is the relevant category when you know what you mean but need help getting the next words onto the page.

The processing destination needs a separate check. Obsidian saves notes locally, but community plugins inherit access to computer files and the internet. A Markdown draft stored on your disk can still be read by a plugin that connects to an outside service. Local storage alone does not establish private sentence completion.

Check a fresh paragraph offline#

Companion documents a setup route through Ollama: run the Ollama service and choose Ollama as the provider in the plugin’s settings. Install Companion through Community plugins in Obsidian. Use the check below to confirm that fresh suggestions appear in your draft while offline and arrive quickly enough for your typing pace.

Check both the service address and the selected model. Ollama’s default local address is 127.0.0.1:11434, but Ollama also supports cloud models. Choosing its name as the provider does not establish where processing happens. Its privacy and cloud controls include an option to disable cloud features, followed by a service restart.

Use this sequence as a reader check once the software is installed. Start in a vault note, then repeat the check in the draft you intend to use. The desktop release establishes support for opening external Markdown files; it does not establish that community plugins work with those files.

1. Download a local model in Ollama and start its local service.
2. Configure Companion to use Ollama at the local service address. Explicitly select the downloaded local model rather than a cloud model. Disable Ollama’s cloud features if you want that additional control, then restart the service.
3. Disconnect your Mac from the internet.
4. Start a fresh sentence in Obsidian and use Companion’s Toggle Completion command to enable suggestions if needed.
5. Confirm that new words appear at the cursor while offline. Press Tab to accept the next suggested word.

Continue for a paragraph and watch how long suggestions take to appear. Check whether they arrive while you are still deciding how to finish the sentence. Our guide to judging local suggestion speed on your Mac can help you assess that delay against your own typing pace.

A successful offline check shows that the selected setup can produce fresh text without an internet connection. It does not audit the plugin’s network behavior when connected. Keep the selected model and provider settings part of your decision, and review Obsidian’s separate sync settings for how your notes are stored elsewhere.

Moving from an Obsidian draft to a Mail reply should preserve one small habit: start the sentence, read the suggestion, press Tab. Typeahead works in every app on your Mac and processes writing locally. Our Mac setup guide covers getting started.

After the model download, suggestions work offline without sending your writing to the cloud. Network access supports license activation and checks, model downloads and optional updates; those requests contain none of your writing.