In “Letters from Silicon Valley,” I write about the convergence of technology, life, and creativity, sharing insights from my extensive experience in the tech industry along with my personal adventures in woodworking, music, and beyond.
Gemini Scribe
It’s one thing to use AI as a tool, but it’s another thing entirely to have it as a creative partner. For a long time, my process for writing with AI involved a clunky dance between my notes in Obsidian and a separate chat window. The flow was constantly broken. That friction, and a surprisingly enthusiastic response from an audience when I showed them my AI-assisted writing process, was the spark for Gemini Scribe. I wanted to build a tool that brought that seamless, collaborative experience directly into the place I do my best thinking: my Obsidian vault.
Gemini Scribe is an open-source plugin for Obsidian that integrates Google’s Gemini models directly into your note-taking and writing workflow. It’s more than just a chatbot in a sidebar; it’s designed to be a context-aware partner that can help you brainstorm, summarize, rewrite, and collaborate on your text without ever leaving your document.
Getting Started with Gemini Scribe
Getting up and running is straightforward. The entire project is open-source, and you can always find the latest code and contribute to the discussion on the Official Gemini Scribe GitHub Repository.
To install it, simply follow these steps:
Install the Plugin: In Obsidian, navigate to Settings → Community Plugins, search for “Gemini Scribe,” and click Install, then Enable.
Add Your API Key: You’ll need a Gemini API key from Google AI Studio. Once you have your key, open the Gemini Scribe plugin settings in Obsidian and paste it in.
Start Collaborating: You can open the chat interface from the command palette (Cmd/Ctrl + P) by typing “Gemini Scribe: Open Chat.” This will allow you to interact with the AI, which will use your active note for context.
Key Features
Over the last nine months, Gemini Scribe has evolved from a simple chat interface into a more powerful and integrated assistant. Here are some of the core features:
Context-Aware Chat: The chat view automatically uses the content of your active note as context for the conversation. This allows you to ask detailed questions about your text, brainstorm follow-up ideas, or get suggestions that are relevant to what you’re currently working on.
Selection-Based Rewriting: This is the feature I’m most excited about recently. Instead of rewriting an entire document, you can now select a specific portion of your text—a sentence, a paragraph, or a few bullet points—and ask the AI to rewrite just that selection. It gives you surgical precision, allowing you to refine your work iteratively without risking unintended changes to the rest of your document.
The Future is Agent-ic: More and more of Gemini Scribe’s power is moving to the new Agent Mode. This mode offers a more robust and reliable way to perform complex tasks, like rewriting an entire file. By adding a file to your Agent session, you can provide detailed instructions for changes, giving you a controlled and predictable outcome that the old full-file rewrite couldn’t match.
Every AI project I built last year ended up becoming an agent. What starts as a simple script inevitably grows into a loop with tools, memory, and autonomy. I've learned to recognize the signs—and when to skip the intermediate steps and embrace the agent from the start.
My summer trip to Australia and Fiji had a memorable detour: a two-week creative journey into code. From a lounge chair by the beach, I built Agent Mode for Gemini Scribe—a new, persistent AI partner for writing. It turns out the best souvenirs are the ones you build yourself.
I've been remiss in posting updates, but I wanted to highlight a significant enhancement to Gemini Scribe: the selection-based rewrite feature. This powerful tool replaced the previous full-file rewrite functionality, offering a more precise, intuitive, and safer way to collaborate with AI on your documents.
Gemini Scribe just got a serious upgrade. From real-time streaming to a fully redesigned prompt system and smarter model controls, the plugin is now faster, more powerful, and more adaptable than ever. I’ve been rebuilding the foundation to make it feel less like a tool and more like a creative partner.
If you're using the Gemini Scribe plugin for Obsidian, you're already experiencing the power of having Google's Gemini AI right inside your notes. I've just rolled out a major update that makes things even better! The biggest change in this update is how Gemini Scribe handles your chat history. I've moved away from storing it in a database and switched to using Markdown files instead.
Prompts aren't just instructions—they're code. In my latest blog, I dive into why treating AI prompts like software is essential and share examples from Gemini Scribe and Podcast RAG. Learn how structured prompts can improve your AI apps. 🚀
Gemini Scribe, an AI-powered Obsidian plugin, supercharges your writing workflow through collaboration with Gemini. It offers context-aware chat, automated summarization, and collaborative writing assistance. Install it from the Obsidian community plugin library to transform your writing process.
The software development landscape is evolving due to AI tools that enhance collaboration with developers. An "AI-first" mindset is crucial for efficient coding, necessitating skills in natural language processing and machine learning. Organizations must foster experimentation cultures to leverage AI effectively, paving the way for innovative solutions in the AI-driven future.