obsidian-livesync/docs/terms.md

Notes on Terminology, Spelling, Vocabulary Conventions

Spelling and Vocabulary conventions

All guidelines and conventions listed below are disclosed and maintained solely for the sake of documentation consistency.

1. Almost all of the English words are written in British English. This convention originated from the author's personal preference.

   • Traditional Spelling (Trad-spelling): We prefer traditional British English spellings. In particular, we use -ise and -isation suffixes rather than the Oxford spelling -ize and -ization (for example, 'initialisation', 'synchronisation', and 'organisation').
   • Oxford Comma: We use the serial (Oxford) comma to separate items in lists of three or more (for example, 'settings, snippets, and themes' instead of 'settings, snippets and themes').
   • Logical Punctuation: We place punctuation marks (such as commas and full stops) outside quotation marks, unless the punctuation mark is part of the quoted text itself. For example, we write 'dialogue', not 'dialogue,'.
   • BBC News Styleguide: If in wonder, the BBC News Styleguide may be useful as a reference.

2. Idiomatic terms, such as those used in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, are usually aligned with the language used in the technology. For example, "color" instead of "colour", "program" instead of "programme", etc. Especially, terms which are used for attributes, properties, and methods are notable.

3. We use dialogue in documentation for consistency. While dialog may appear in source code, particularly in class names, method names, and attributes (following technical conventions in No. 2), we consistently use dialogue for user-facing messages and general documentation text. This approach balances No. 1 with No. 2.

4. Contractions are not used. For example, "do not" instead of "don't", "cannot" instead of "can't", etc., especially 'd.

   • We may encounter difficulties with tenses.

5. However, try using affirmative forms, Discard instead of Do not keep, Continue instead of Do not stop, etc.

   • Some languages, such as Japanese, have a different meaning for yes and no between affirmative and negative questions.

6. Single quotation marks (') are preferred over double quotation marks (") in general documentation text, unless the context requires double quotes (for example, inside JSON code blocks).

Terminology

• Boot-up sequence (boot-sequence)
  • The initialisation process of the plug-in when Obsidian starts. It starts with the loading of the plug-in, setting up core services, loading saved settings, and opening the local database. Once the layout is ready, the plug-in checks for the presence of flag files, runs configuration diagnostics, connects to the remote database, and begins file watching. The sequence finishes once the plug-in is fully ready and operational.
• Broken files (Size mismatch)
  • A state where a file's metadata and the actual content stored in its chunks do not match, causing file retrieval or synchronisation failures. These mismatches can be detected and resolved by running validation tools such as Verify and repair all files on the Hatch pane.
• Chunk / Chunks
  • Divided units of data stored in the database or object storage to facilitate efficient synchronisation.
• Compaction
  • A database maintenance procedure that discards old historical document revisions to shrink the remote database size.
• Custom HTTP Handler / Use Internal API (CORS Bypass Settings)
  • Settings used to bypass CORS restrictions by routing requests through Obsidian's native request APIs. There are two distinct settings under the hood depending on the remote server type:
    • For S3-compatible Object Storage (useCustomRequestHandler): Labeled as "Use Custom HTTP Handler" in the standard settings tab, "Use internal API" in the Svelte-based Setup Wizard dialogue, and represented as useProxy in the Setup URI's query parameters due to an unfortunate misunderstanding during development.
    • For CouchDB (useRequestAPI): Labeled as "Use Request API to avoid inevitable CORS problem" in the standard settings tab, "Use Internal API" in the Svelte-based Setup Wizard dialogue, and represented as useRequestAPI in the Setup URI's query parameters.
• Customisation Sync
  • The feature that synchronises settings, snippets, themes, and plug-ins. Write with an "s" in documentation (Customisation), though technical configurations and links may use customization.
• Database Adapter (IDB vs. IndexedDB)
  • The local database storage interface used by PouchDB. The IDB adapter is recommended since the older IndexedDB adapter is obsolete and known to cause memory leaks in LiveSync mode. Users can switch between these adapters without a full database rebuild, although a local data migration and an Obsidian restart are required.
• Database Suffix (additionalSuffixOfDatabaseName)
  • A unique suffix appended to the database name to allow synchronising multiple vaults with the same name on the same remote server.
• E2EE Algorithm
  • The cryptographic algorithm version used for end-to-end encryption. All devices in the synchronisation group must be configured with a compatible version (such as V2 or V1).
• Eden (Eden Chunks)
  • A performance optimisation where newly created chunks are held within the document until they stabilise, before graduating to independent chunks.
• Fast Setup (Simple Fetch)
  • A simplified, automated initial synchronisation flow triggered when setting up subsequent devices or recovering a database. It bypasses the detailed step-by-step setup wizard dialogues, prompting the user with high-level data processing decisions and completing the initial download and local file scan in one continuous process.
• Flag files (redflag.md, redflag2.md, redflag3.md)
  • Special Markdown files (or directories) placed at the root of the vault to stop the boot-up sequence or trigger recovery tasks. For instance, redflag.md suspends all processes, while redflag2.md (flag_rebuild.md) triggers a full database rebuild and redflag3.md (flag_fetch.md) discards the local database to fetch it again from the remote.
• Garbage Collection (GC)
  • The process of identifying and purging unreferenced chunks (unused data) from local and remote databases to reclaim storage space.
• Hatch (Hatch pane)
  • A dedicated troubleshooting and maintenance section in the plug-in settings, typically hidden behind a warning-labeled collapsible panel to prevent accidental misconfiguration. It contains diagnostic utilities, database reset controls, status reports, and advanced edge-case patches.
• Hidden File Sync
  • The feature that synchronises files located in hidden directories (like .obsidian).
• JWT Authentication
  • An experimental authentication option for CouchDB allowing secure token-based authentication instead of standard credentials. It requires a configured private key/secret, algorithm, expiration duration, subject, and key ID.
• LiveSync
  • A very confusing term.
    • As a shortened form of Self-hosted LiveSync.
    • As the name of a synchronisation mode. This should be changed to Continuous, in contrast to Periodic.
• livesync-serverpeer / webpeer
  • Pseudo-clients that assist in WebRTC peer-to-peer communication.
• Metadata (File metadata)
  • A database document that stores properties of a file, including its filename, path, size, modification time, conflict history, and references (hashes) of the chunks that comprise the file's content. In Self-hosted LiveSync, metadata is stored separately from the actual file content to enable efficient synchronisation and versioning.
• OneShot Sync
  • A single, immediate bidirectional synchronisation (pull then push) triggered on demand or on specific events, as opposed to continuous (live) replication.
• Overwrite Server Data with This Device's Files
  • A maintenance operation (formerly known as Rebuild everything) that discards the remote database and reconstructs it by uploading all current local files as a fresh database, overwriting any remote changes.
• Path Obfuscation
  • A privacy option that encrypts file paths and folder names on the remote server.
• plug-in
  • We use the hyphenated form plug-in in user-facing messages and general documentation, while plugin may appear in codebase files, configuration settings, or technical contexts.
• Relay Server (P2P relays)
  • A WebSocket-based coordination server used to establish direct WebRTC peer-to-peer connections. The default relay is provided by the plug-in author.
• Remediation (maxMTimeForReflectEvents)
  • A recovery setting that restricts the propagation of changes from the database to local storage, ignoring any file events (such as accidental mass deletions) that occurred after a specified date and time.
• Reset Synchronisation on This Device
  • A maintenance operation (formerly known as Fetch everything) that discards the local database and reconstructs it by downloading all data from the remote server.
• Scram (Scram Switches)
  • Emergency controls in the settings that allow users to suspend file watching or database writes to prevent corruption.
• Segmenter (Segmented-splitter)
  • A chunking method that divides files on semantic boundaries (such as paragraphs or sections) rather than arbitrary byte boundaries.
• Self-hosted LiveSync
  • The name of this plug-in. Self-hosted is one word.
• Setting Doctor (Config Doctor)
  • A diagnostic utility that checks for mismatches or suboptimal configurations, presenting users with ideal values and recommendation reasons to easily resolve issues during migration, configuration import, or general troubleshooting.
• Setup URI
  • An encrypted representation of the plug-in's settings containing server configuration, which allows users to clone their configuration across devices securely using a passphrase.
• Streaming replication (Stream-based replication)
  • A data transfer method that downloads database documents as a continuous stream of events. It is significantly faster than traditional chunk-by-chunk HTTP requests and is used during Fast Setup to retrieve remote metadata quickly.
• Sync Mode
  • The replication trigger mechanism. Users can select from On Events (synchronising on local file changes), Periodic and Events (synchronising at fixed intervals as well as on events), or LiveSync (continuous, real-time synchronisation).
• TURN Server (WebRTC P2P)
  • A server type (Traversal Using Relays around NAT) used as a fallback to relay traffic when direct WebRTC peer-to-peer connection is blocked by strict NAT or firewalls.
• Update Thinning (Batch database update)
  • An optimisation that groups multiple local file edits together over a short delay before committing them to the local database, reducing the number of database write operations.
• WebRTC P2P (Peer-to-Peer)
  • A synchronisation method enabling direct communication between devices without a central server database.