Install BrainShare in 60 Seconds

If you've read enough and want to start, here's the shortest path.

Path A: BRAT (works right now, recommended)

BRAT is a community plugin that lets you install beta plugins directly from GitHub. One-time setup, takes about two minutes.

1. In Obsidian: Settings → Community plugins → Browse → search "BRAT" → install and enable it.
2. Open the command palette (Cmd/Ctrl+P) → "BRAT: Add a beta plugin for testing" → paste exactly: MachoMaheen/brainshare
3. BRAT pulls the latest release. Go to Settings → Community plugins and enable BrainShare.
4. Open BrainShare settings and fill in two fields:
   • Publisher URL: your worker URL (see Path C if you're self-hosting) or the public demo worker at https://brainshare-publisher.machomaheen.workers.dev if I've shared you a token
   • Publisher token: the PUBLISHER_TOKEN value from your worker deployment

That's it for the plugin side.

Path B: Community Plugin Store (pending)

The submission is open at obsidianmd/obsidian-releases PR #12449. Once it's accepted, probably 2-4 weeks, you'll be able to search "BrainShare" in Settings → Community plugins and install it from there like any other plugin. Until then, use Path A.

Path C: Self-host the worker (optional, ~10 minutes)

This is the right path if you want your notes going to your infrastructure, not mine. Cloudflare's free tier covers almost everyone.

git clone https://github.com/MachoMaheen/brainshare
cd brainshare/publisher && npm install
npx wrangler login
npx wrangler kv namespace create NOTES
npx wrangler kv namespace create NOTES --preview
echo $(openssl rand -hex 32) | npx wrangler secret put PUBLISHER_TOKEN
echo $(openssl rand -hex 32) | npx wrangler secret put JWT_SECRET
npx wrangler deploy

Save that PUBLISHER_TOKEN. Cloudflare won't show it again. Then use your new worker URL in the plugin settings. Full instructions in the README.

First publish: the actual flow

Once the plugin is installed and pointing at a worker:

1. Open any note. Open the command palette (Cmd/Ctrl+P).
2. Run "BrainShare: Publish slice (folders + notes)..."
3. A modal opens with your vault's folder tree. Check the folders you want, or switch to individual notes.
4. Give your slice a name (something like my-slice) and optionally toggle Gated if you want to control access with per-recipient tokens.
5. Hit Publish. The plugin stamps any missing ULIDs into frontmatter, pushes the markdown to the worker, and copies the URL to your clipboard.
6. Your slice is live at something like https://your-worker.dev/share/my-slice. Share that URL.

For the full picture of what's happening under the hood, see How BrainShare Works (Behind the Scenes).

When you publish your first slice, send me the URL. A letter for my fellow viewers