Why I Use Forgejo Instead of GitHub for My Obsidian Vault

I've been using Obsidain for managing my knowledge base with the PARA method (Projects, Areas, Resources, Archives) and keeping a daily journal. As my vault grew, I realized I needed a proper backup and version control system fo rthese Markdown files.

Why Not GitHub?

The obvious choice would be GitHub with a private repostiory. It's free, reliable, and widely used. However, there's one critical issue for me: privacy.

Even with a private repository, GitHub (or any company-hosted service) technically has access to your data. For casual projects or code, this might not matter. But my Obsidian vault contains personal journal and private notes-things I don't want stored on someone else's servers, even if they're "private."

Why Forgejo?

I decided to self-host my Git server using Forgejo on my Synology NAS. This gives me complete control over my data. No third party can access it, and I don't have to trust any company's privacy policy.

Beyond privacy, I also appreciate Forgejo's clean and simple UI. It's straightforward to use and does exactly what I need without unnecessary complexity.

My Setup

I use the Obsidian Git plugin to manage version control. Here's how I've configured it:

• Manual commits and pushes: I turned off automatic commits and pushes. I prefer to control when changes are commited, especailly since I'm only using a single device for now.
• PARA structure: I use all four PARA folders (Projects, Areas, Resources, Archives) for organizing my knowledge.
• Seperate journal folder: My daily nnotes are kept in a different folder outside the PARA structure for cleaner organization.
• Periodic Notes plugin: I use this for my daily journaling, with only the daily notes feature enabled.

Benifits of This Approach

The main advantage is that Markdown files work perfectly with Git. Text-based version control is stable, efficient, and easy to manage. I can track every change I make, review my note history, and restore previous verions whenever needed.

Since everything is on my own NAS, I have complete peace of mind knowing my personal thoughts and knowledge are truly private.

Conclusion

If you're using Obsidain for personal journals or seneitive information and want full control over your data, self-hosting with Forgejo is worth considering. It requires a bit more setup than using GitHub, but the privacy and control you gain make it worthwhile.

For casual note-taking or collaborative work, GitHub is still great. But for my personal vault, Forgejo on my NAS is the perfect solution.