# Ollama Chat Plugin for Obsidian

A plugin that integrates Ollama with Obsidian to create a chat interface that can access your vault content.

## Features

- Chat with Ollama models directly in Obsidian
- Vault context search — the assistant can reference your notes
- Tool integration — create files based on chat responses
- Streaming responses
- Semantic response cache — repeated or similar queries are answered instantly without hitting the model (requires ChromaDB)
- Customisable model, URL, and cache settings

## Installation

1. Install the plugin via Obsidian's community plugins
2. Make sure you have Ollama installed and running

## Setup

### Required

1. **Install Ollama**: Follow the instructions at [ollama.ai](https://ollama.ai)
2. **Start Ollama**: `ollama serve`
3. **Pull a chat model**: `ollama pull llama3` (or any other model you prefer)

### Optional — Semantic Cache

The semantic cache stores responses in a local [ChromaDB](https://www.trychroma.com) vector database. When you ask a question that is semantically similar to one already cached, the stored answer is returned immediately instead of calling the model.

1. **Install ChromaDB**:
   ```bash
   pip install chromadb
   ```
2. **Start ChromaDB**:
   ```bash
   chroma run --host localhost --port 8000
   ```
3. **Pull an embedding model** (used to generate vectors for cache lookups):
   ```bash
   ollama pull nomic-embed-text
   ```
4. Enable the cache in the plugin settings and configure the ChromaDB URL.

## Configuration

Open **Settings → Ollama Chat** to configure the plugin.

| Setting | Default | Description |
|---------|---------|-------------|
| Ollama URL | `http://localhost:11434` | Base URL of your Ollama instance |
| Model | `llama3` | Model used for chat responses |
| Enable Semantic Cache | Off | Cache responses for fast repeated queries |
| ChromaDB URL | `http://localhost:8000` | URL of your running ChromaDB instance |
| Cache Embedding Model | `nomic-embed-text` | Ollama model used to generate cache embeddings |
| Cache Similarity Threshold | `0.85` | Minimum cosine similarity (0–1) for a cache hit — higher values require closer matches |
| Clear Semantic Cache | — | Button to wipe all cached responses from ChromaDB |

## Usage

1. Click the ribbon icon to open the chat view
2. Type your message in the input box
3. Press **Enter** or click **Send** to send your message
4. Press **Shift+Enter** to insert a line break
5. Click **New Chat** to start a fresh conversation

## Semantic Cache Behaviour

- The cache is **bypassed** when tool calls are involved (e.g. file creation), since those requests have side effects.
- Responses are stored against the last user message in the conversation. If a new query is sufficiently similar (above the configured threshold), the cached response is returned.
- Re-asking the same question updates the existing cache entry rather than creating a duplicate.
- Use the **Clear Semantic Cache** button in settings to remove all stored responses (for example after switching embedding models).

## Supported Models

Any model supported by Ollama should work, including:

- `llama3`
- `llama2`
- `mistral`
- `codellama`
- and many more — see [ollama.com/library](https://ollama.com/library)

## Development

```bash
npm install
npm run build
npm test
```

## Troubleshooting

| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---------|-------------|-----|
| Cannot connect to Ollama | Ollama is not running | Run `ollama serve` |
| Model not found | Model not pulled | Run `ollama pull <model>` |
| Semantic cache unavailable (notice shown) | ChromaDB is not running, or the ChromaDB URL is wrong | Start ChromaDB (`chroma run`) and verify the URL in settings |
| Cache always misses | Similarity threshold is too high, or the embedding model was changed | Lower the threshold or click **Clear Semantic Cache** and let the cache rebuild |
| Slow first response after enabling cache | Embedding model not yet pulled | Run `ollama pull nomic-embed-text` (or the model you configured) |
| Permission issues | Vault write permissions | Check that your Obsidian vault has proper write permissions |

## License

MIT