Cloud Hyperlinks & Streaming

Cloud Hyperlinks: The Bridge to Infinite Storage

The Cloud Hyperlink feature in Sync Vault transforms your Obsidian from a local note-taking app into a powerful “Cloud Knowledge Engine.” It allows you to reference massive cloud files directly within your notes without downloading them.

Why Cloud Hyperlinks?

Zero Local Footprint: Reference a 50GB 4K video or a 10,000-page PDF library. It takes 100+ bytes on your hard drive.
Native Streaming: Watch 4K videos or listen to lossless audio directly inside Obsidian.
Deep Integration: Just like a local ![[image.jpg]], you can embed ![[cloud-video.osvc.mp4]].

How It Works

Sync Vault uses VFS (Virtual File System) Stubbing technology. When you “link” a cloud file:

A small stub file (metadata, marked with .osvc) is created in your vault.
When you open the file, Sync Vault “streams” the data directly from Aliyun, Baidu, or Quark.
The file remains on the cloud; only the parts you are viewing are cached in memory.

Use Cases

1. 4K Media Library

Keep your movie collection or tutorial videos on your Aliyun Drive. Link them to your study notes and watch them anytime, anywhere.

2. Research Archive

Store massive PDF datasets on Aliyun, Baidu, or Quark. Use Obsidian’s PDF++ to annotate them without filling up your SSD.

3. AI Knowledge Base

Combined with our MCP (Model Context Protocol) support, AI can “read” these cloud hyperlinks directly to summarize cloud-stored documents for you.

Usage

Cloud hyperlinks use two formats, both recognized by the plugin:

obsidian://cloud-link?type=CLOUD_TYPE&id=FILE_ID&cloudpath=URL_ENCODED_PATH (markdown links)

cloud-link:// (internal protocol used when embedding)

Method 1: Copy from the Cloud Drive Browser

Open the cloud drive (file) browser and right-click a file.
Choose Copy File Link (复制文件链接); the plugin copies an obsidian://cloud-link?... URL to your clipboard.
Paste it into a markdown file as [File Name](Link).

TIP

Other useful items in the right-click menu

Copy Cloud Media Block (video/audio): copies a ready-made cloudvideo code block for an inline player.

Copy File Path: copies the URL-encoded cloud path.

Extract Text (PDF): extracts the full text of a cloud PDF to the clipboard without downloading.

Download: downloads the file to your local attachments folder.

Method 2: Automatic via VFS Stubs

In Settings → Sync, expand 📂 Space Optimization (VFS) and turn on Enable On-Demand Hydration. After syncing, stub files in the xxx.osvc.xx format (e.g. cover.osvc.jpg) are generated locally.
Embed a stub in markdown as ![[cover.osvc.jpg]]; Sync Vault automatically resolves it into a cloud link and loads the content.

NOTE

When you turn off Space Optimization, you’ll be asked whether to clear the local stubs. After clearing, files will be fully downloaded to your device during the next sync.

Method 3: AI-Powered via Skills

Add the cloud file skill to your AI Agent (e.g., Claude or Cursor).
Ask the AI to create links via dialogue, for example: Find the Pirates of the Caribbean movie on Baidu Netdisk and create a hyperlink in hello.md.

Preview & Playback After Embedding

Images: loaded quickly via the cloud thumbnail; click to open the original in the player.
Text / Markdown: rendered inline as rich content in the note.
Video / Audio: an embedded player via the cloudvideo code block, with streaming playback and interactive timestamp jumps.

Unlock the full potential of your cloud storage with Sync Vault Pro.