Smart Chat FAQs

Smart Chat lets you use provider conversations from the notes they serve. Smart Chat API Extension lets you ask configured models inside Obsidian with context you review.

Core provider codeblocks do not need an API model; they use provider web interfaces and can require provider sign-in. The universal Smart Chat codeblock can host either supported provider web threads or Smart Chat API Extension threads. API Extension threads require a compatible working local model or the credentials required by their cloud provider.

A visible response to a concrete prompt. Installing Chat, opening a view, inserting a block, selecting a model, or saving a URL is preparation. For a note-grounded Smart Chat API Extension request, the answer must also match the approved source.

A completed reply is the first visible result. Saving the conversation requires a recognized durable thread URL.

Provider codeblocks support ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, Perplexity, Grok, Google AI Studio, Open WebUI, and Kimi. See Supported providers and exact insert commands.

Saved web thread URLs can remain useful as external bookmarks on mobile. The embedded provider surface, new-chat capture, automatic URL saving, and state actions require the desktop main Markdown pane.

Add a provider codeblock to the note that owns the conversation. Use the provider until it creates a recognized durable conversation URL. Smart Chat can then write that URL into Markdown. Reopen the saved entry. Make sure that it returns to the same conversation before you rely on it.

Response success and durable saving are separate. The provider returned an answer, but it has not produced a recognized durable conversation URL. Continue until a supported thread URL exists. Do not treat a temporary URL or a provider home-page URL as a saved conversation.

Active means the saved provider thread still needs attention. Done means you reviewed it and closed the loop for now. These are user-owned Markdown states.

Keep the thread Active until you can reopen it. Review the result. Change the thread to Done only after this review.

No. Done is a user-owned tracking state. It does not validate the response.

No. Chat Inbox reads note-attached chat-active:: and chat-done:: provider bookmarks. Chat Manager manages Smart Chat API Extension thread records. Run Open: Chat Manager view from the Command Palette under Smart Chat Pro.

Yes. Dataview can read note-attached chat-active:: and chat-done:: fields without Chat Pro. When Dataview is enabled, run Insert Smart Chat thread Dataview blocks. Otherwise, add equivalent queries manually.

No. Done thread links remain normal Markdown references until you remove them.

Yes. In Chat Pro settings, use this sequence:

1. Find Chat models.
2. Choose + New.
3. Select an enabled provider.
4. For a cloud provider, enter its API Key.
5. For Ollama, enter the Ollama host.
6. For Ollama, start the Ollama app.
7. Choose Refresh Models when the model list is not current.
8. Select Chat Model.
9. If several model rows exist, select the intended row under Default chat model.
10. Make sure that the row is Current.
11. Run Test or Test model.

Current means that the model is selected. It does not confirm credentials, provider access, or a running local server.

Open model setup through Open settings on the Chat Pro Store row or through Smart Environment settings. Then use this sequence:

1. Under Chat models, choose + New.
2. Select the cloud provider.
3. Enter the API Key.
4. Choose Refresh Models when the model list is not current.
5. Select Chat Model.
6. If several model rows exist, select the intended row under Default chat model.
7. Run Test or Test model.

Do not send note content when the test returns an authorization error such as 401.

The composer is empty, no usable model is configured, or the selected model has no usable provider. For MISSING MODEL, follow the Chat models setup sequence. For MISSING PROVIDER, repair the provider, credential, or local server. Then run Test again.

Enter a prompt before you expect Send to enable. For the first request, enter at least three words or more than ten characters. Then expect Lookup context to enable.

No. Provider codeblocks send only what you enter or upload through the provider interface. Smart Chat API Extension uses the sources selected through Add context, @, Lookup context, drag and drop, or Context Builder. The active note and whole vault are not attached automatically.

In Smart Chat API Extension, use the simplest way to add the sources you need:

• Use Add context or @ when you know the source.
• Use Lookup context when you know the question but not the note.
• Use a saved named context or Context Builder when the required sources are already collected.
• Use Continue without context only when the request intentionally needs no information from your vault.

No. Prior non-excluded user and assistant messages can influence a later response, but attached source context is request-specific. Use Add context or Open context builder to select the required sources again.

Provider codeblocks store a durable provider URL and optional Active or Done fields, not the provider transcript. Smart Chat API Extension stores its messages and attached context as Smart Plugin application data rather than ordinary Markdown note text.

Include and Exclude change which prior messages can influence a later response in the current thread. They do not rewrite earlier messages, restore source attachments automatically, or guarantee that the next answer will use every included message.

A provider codeblock sends what you type or upload through that provider's site. Smart Chat API Extension sends the prompt, included prior messages, and context selected for that response to the chosen model provider. A local model can keep the request on the machine when its local runtime is active. Review the selected sources and provider terms before sending sensitive material.

Do not edit synchronized Smart Plugin application data from several devices at the same time. See the Smart Environment FAQ for the authoritative third-party sync boundary.

Review the context attached to the current response. Keep stable constraints in custom instructions. Exclude irrelevant prior exchanges from future conversation history. Reattach required sources for later requests. Do not assume that attached context carries forward.

A failed generation ends in an Error state and produces no completed answer. Correct the model, provider, credential, server, or request problem. Retry the same bounded prompt.

A bad response completes but is generic, unsupported, or contradictory. Correct the prompt or source set, then send a new request.

Choose Chat History from the thread toolbar. It searches thread names and displayed recent user-prompt previews. Press Enter to open the selected thread. It does not search every word in every message.

No. The control exposes the action. The resulting thread record or list state shows whether it completed.

Smart Chat does not apply arbitrary AI-generated edits to your notes. It does write its own thread/bookmark state into Markdown and Smart Plugin application data. Use Connect Pro when you want an explicit general-purpose vault change.

Complete sign-in through Obsidian Web Viewer. Return to the provider codeblock. Choose Refresh. Clear Web Viewer browser data only after you confirm that you can recreate the credentials and session. Otherwise, use the provider's account-recovery guidance or open a saved thread externally.