Tools OV plays well with

OV stores notes as plain markdown files. That means it doesn't fight other notes apps — you can use them together. This page is a guide to the tools OV is commonly paired with, how to migrate cleanly, and where each one shines.

The short version

An OV vault is just a folder. Open it in Obsidian, iA Writer, or VS Code at the same time and everything keeps working.

Using OV alongside Obsidian

You can point both OV and Obsidian at the same folder. Since both speak plain markdown there are almost no conflicts.

  • Wiki-link compatibility: [[note name]] works identically in both.
  • Live external updates: Edit a note in Obsidian and OV picks it up instantly (chokidar-based).
  • Attachment folders: OV's .attachments/ and Obsidian's attachments/ are separate plain folders — no collisions.
  • When to use OV: when you want calendar, schedule, or the AI assistant.
  • When to use Obsidian: when you need its rich plugin ecosystem.

If both apps edit the same file in the same moment, OV catches the mtime conflict and shows a modal — no silent overwrites.

Migrating from Notion

In Notion, choose Export → Markdown & CSV, unzip the result into your OV vault, and you're done.

  • Notion's page tree becomes folders; databases become frontmatter properties.
  • Images and attachments come in the same zip, so links don't break.
  • The frontmatter automatically becomes columns in OV's database view (⌘2).

iA Writer · Typora · VS Code

Any editor that follows the markdown standard can open OV notes. iA Writer's portable mode and VS Code's markdown preview both work as expected.

Coming from Apple Notes · Bear

Apple Notes doesn't export markdown directly, so this needs a small step.

  1. Export notes from Apple Notes as PDF, or copy → run through a markdown converter like pandoc.
  2. Drop the resulting .md files into your OV vault.

Bear users: File → Export → Markdown for a bulk export, then unzip into the vault.

iCloud · Dropbox · Git

You can place your OV vault inside any sync service.

  • iCloud Drive: works natively. Editing the same note on two devices triggers OV's conflict modal.
  • Dropbox: same.
  • Git: turn your vault into a git repository and version history is your backup. Recommended.

What OV does differently

A short coda. Not because the other tools can't — because we deliberately built these two:

① The approval gate

The AI assistant can read and analyze your notes, but every change passes through an approval gate. The AI builds a proposal — you inspect the diff, and you press Approve. Six of the thirteen tools are propose-tools; every one of them is gated.

② BYOK — direct calls with your key

OV does not run an AI service. AI calls go from your machine directly to OpenAI, using the API key you register. Usage and billing live in your OpenAI account, where you can audit them.

These aren't just slogans — they are structural design choices in the codebase. Without pressing OV's Approve button, not a single character of your notes changes.

Related: Features · Privacy · Try OV in your browser

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