Create or open a vault

A vault is where your notes live. In Fable, a vault is nothing more exotic than a folder on your computer, so getting started is a matter of pointing Fable at a folder, new or existing.

What a vault is

A vault is an ordinary local folder, including everything inside it. It holds your notes, your attachments, and a small configuration folder for Fable's per-vault settings. There is no separate database and no import step. A folder becomes a vault the first time you open it in Fable.

• The file tree you see in Fable mirrors the folder on disk exactly. Create a folder in Fable and a real directory appears; nesting is unlimited.
• Notes and attachments can be mixed freely in any folder.
• You can keep as many vaults as you like, but each Fable window shows one vault at a time.

Create a new vault

To start fresh, create a vault from the vault switcher (the vault name in the bottom-left) or on first launch:

• Choose Create new vault, give it a name, and pick where on disk it should live.
• Fable creates the folder, adds its .obsidian configuration folder, and seeds a short starter note to welcome you.
• Start writing. Fable only ever creates the files it needs; the folder stays clean.

Open an existing folder as a vault

Already have notes, whether an Obsidian vault or just a folder of Markdown files? Open it directly.

• Choose Open folder as vault and select the folder.
• Your wikilinks, backlinks, tags, properties, callouts and .canvas files all work immediately, and an existing .obsidian configuration is respected.
• Opening an existing folder does not add a starter note. Fable only ensures a .obsidian folder exists.

Switch between vaults

The vault switcher lives at the bottom-left of the window, showing the current vault's name. Open it to:

• Switch to another known vault, which opens it in the current window.
• Create a new vault or open another folder as a vault.
• Manage your list of vaults: rename, or remove a vault from the list.

Removing a vault from the list only unlists it in Fable. The folder and all of its files stay exactly where they are on disk.

The .obsidian configuration folder

Each vault keeps its own settings in a hidden .obsidian folder at the vault root. Two vaults therefore have completely independent settings: their own theme, hotkeys, enabled plugins, and window layout.

• The folder is plain, human-readable JSON. Nothing about your notes is hidden inside it.
• Because settings live with the vault, copying the .obsidian folder into another vault copies its configuration too.
• You rarely need to open this folder yourself. Fable manages it for you as you change settings.

For a full breakdown of what Fable stores there, see the file format reference.