What syntax distinguishes Obsidian Flavored Markdown from standard GFM?

The key extensions are double-bracket wikilinks ([[Note Name]]), callout blocks (> [!NOTE]), block references (^block-id), highlights (==text==), and LaTeX math ($...$).

Can Oyma open and edit Obsidian vaults directly?

Yes. Oyma reads your existing Obsidian vault natively. It parses all Obsidian Flavored Markdown syntax without altering your file hierarchy, converting extensions, or corrupting links.

Are Obsidian Markdown files locked to the Obsidian application?

No. Obsidian Flavored Markdown files are standard plain text UTF-8 files. All extended syntax remains completely legible in any basic text editor.

What is Obsidian Flavored Markdown?

Obsidian Flavored Markdown is the community-accepted term for the rich set of Markdown syntax extensions popularized by Obsidian, the leading personal knowledge management (PKM) tool.

While CommonMark and GFM targeted web publishing and software repositories, knowledge workers required syntax for interconnected thinking: non-linear associative links, callout warnings, mathematical expressions, metadata properties, and document transclusions. Obsidian synthesized these conventions into a coherent plain-text dialect that has been widely adopted by modern note-taking tools.

The core syntax components of Obsidian Markdown

1. Bidirectional WikiLinks

Instead of writing explicit file paths or web URLs, Obsidian Markdown allows referencing other notes using double square brackets:

[[Project Roadmap]]
[[Meeting Notes#Decisions]] (linking to a specific heading)
[[Architecture Plan|System Design]] (piped alias)

2. Callout admonition boxes

Obsidian standardizes visual callout boxes using blockquote syntax paired with bracketed archetype identifiers:

> [!NOTE]
> This is a standard informative callout.

> [!WARNING]
> Critical architectural caveat: Never store private audio in cloud buckets.

3. KaTeX math notation

Inline math is delimited by single dollar signs ( $E = mc^2$ ), while multiline display equations use double dollar signs ($$\sum_{i=1}^n x_i$$).

4. Text highlighting

Double equal signs (==highlighted phrase==) apply visual highlighter styling without requiring verbose HTML <mark> tags.

Complete vault compatibility in Oyma

Oyma is engineered to be 100% interoperable with Obsidian Flavored Markdown. You can open any existing Obsidian vault directly in Oyma.

All [[WikiLinks]] resolve seamlessly.
Callouts render with native macOS typography and iconography.
YAML frontmatter properties display in an interactive property card.
Meeting recordings captured in Oyma appear immediately in your Obsidian file explorer.

You never have to choose between Obsidian and Oyma; they operate side by side on the exact same folder on your Mac.

Block referencing and transclusion mechanics

In addition to document-level linking, Obsidian Flavored Markdown standardizes block-level referencing using caret identifiers:

This atomic decision was confirmed during executive review. ^decision-q4

<!-- Referencing or transcluding the block in another document: -->
![[2026-10-09 Architecture Plan#^decision-q4]]

When transcluded, the host note renders the referenced block dynamically within a styled preview border. Because the transclusion is resolved at render time from raw text files, editing the source sentence updates all referencing documents instantly without database overhead.

Preserving local vault data integrity

A key benefit of Obsidian Flavored Markdown is its non-destructive nature. Unlike proprietary databases that encapsulate notes in SQLite blobs or binary files:

All extensions are represented as human-readable UTF-8 plain text.
If opened in a simple terminal pager or TextEdit, the raw characters ([[Link]], > [!NOTE], ==text==) remain completely intelligible.
Your vault remains a permanent, durable intellectual asset that survives any individual software application.