# Vault Lens Vault Lens (formerly "Obsidian Browser Search") is a browser extension by Jakob Osterberger that searches your [[Obsidian Vault|vault]] while you search the web. Type a query in your search engine and matching vault notes appear alongside the web results. The pitch: you already wrote about this, so let your own notes compete with the internet for your attention. It closes the loop that the [[Obsidian Web Clipper]] opens: the Clipper captures web content into the vault, Vault Lens resurfaces those notes when you revisit the page or search for the topic again. Capture without resurfacing is where most web-clipping habits quietly die. ## How it works - The extension talks to [[Obsidian]] locally through either the [[Local REST API plugin for Obsidian]] or the [[Omnisearch plugin for Obsidian]] (its HTTP server); you pick the provider and enter the vault name plus API credentials in the extension settings. - Everything stays on your machine: browser to local Obsidian API, no external service in between. Credentials live only in the extension settings. - Beyond search-result embedding, it recalls notes by URL while browsing, shows badge notifications when a page has a dedicated note, previews notes in a sidebar without leaving the browser, and supports excluding files and folders. ## Good to know - Available for Chrome, Edge, and Firefox; works with any search engine you configure. - Obsidian must be running for results to appear; the extension queries the live app, not the files. - Open source, GPL-3.0, actively maintained. ## References - Chrome Web Store: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/obsidian-browser-search/ikdemlfoilfdmcdiegelchlhfnkpmaee - Sources: https://github.com/jk-oster/obsidian-search-for-web ## Related - [[Obsidian]] - [[Obsidian Vault]] - [[Obsidian Search]] - [[Obsidian Web Clipper]] - [[Local REST API plugin for Obsidian]] - [[Omnisearch plugin for Obsidian]]