TL;DR

Use the Strict setup if you want to avoid machine-specific conflicts and leaks. Add a simple .gitattributes for clean diffs. Keep your repo private unless you intentionally want to share it.

A) Minimal (Keep plugin settings, drop noise)

Preserves most of .obsidian/ directory but excludes cache and local workspace files.

# OS and editor clutter
.DS_Store
._*
Thumbs.db
ehthumbs.db
Icon?
.Spotlight-V100
.Trashes
*.swp
*.swo
*.tmp

# Obsidian
.trash/
.obsidian/cache/
.obsidian/workspace*
.obsidian/updates.json

# Common plugin caches
.obsidian/plugins/*/cache/
.obsidian/plugins/*/.cache/
.obsidian/plugins/*/node_modules/

B) Strict (Maximum conflict prevention)

Excludes the entire .obsidian/ directory to avoid any machine-specific configuration conflicts. You’ll need to set up plugins and settings on each device.

# OS and editor clutter
.DS_Store
._*
Thumbs.db
ehthumbs.db
Icon?
.Spotlight-V100
.Trashes
*.swp
*.swo
*.tmp

# Obsidian - exclude all configuration
.obsidian/
.trash/

Add this to get better diffs and prevent line-ending issues:

# Ensure consistent line endings
* text=auto
*.md text

# Treat binary files properly
*.png binary
*.jpg binary
*.jpeg binary
*.gif binary
*.pdf binary

Quick Safety Checklist

  1. Keep your repository private - Unless you’re building a public knowledge base, your notes likely contain personal information
  2. Review before first commit - Use git status and git diff to check what you’re committing
  3. Don’t commit sensitive data - Check for API keys, passwords, or personal information in your notes
  4. Test on a clone first - Before syncing between devices, test the workflow by cloning your repo to a different location
  5. Use meaningful commit messages - Future you will appreciate knowing what changed and why

Basic Sync Workflow

# Pull changes from other devices
git pull

# Stage and commit your changes
git add .
git commit -m "Update notes from [device name]"

# Push to GitHub
git push

For automatic syncing, consider using Git plugins like Obsidian Git that can auto-commit and push at regular intervals.