Connect your vault
Set up the Markdown vault where Dori stores everything it captures — plain files on your device, optionally synced to a remote provider.
Everything Dori captures — notes, meeting summaries, tasks, decisions, people — is stored as plain Markdown files in a vault that you own, not a proprietary database.
Local by default
By default, your vault lives on your device — nothing leaves it. On your phone or another computer, you reach that same local vault through Tailscale: a private, end-to-end encrypted connection straight to your machine, not a separate cloud copy of your files. A remote sync provider (below) is optional, for backup or for editing your vault outside Dori.
Add a remote sync provider (optional)
During setup, Dori asks whether you’d also like your vault synced to a remote — useful for off-device backup, or for editing your vault from outside Dori:
The most tested remote option — pick this if you’re unsure.
Dori installs the Dori GitHub App on the repository you choose (or a new one it creates for you), syncs your vault as a Git-backed Markdown tree, and keeps it in sync in the background.
Sign in with your Google account, then pick (or create) a folder in Drive. Dori syncs your vault to that folder instead of a Git repo — no GitHub account required.
Sign in with your Microsoft account, then pick (or create) a folder in OneDrive. Works the same way as Google Drive, for accounts already on Microsoft 365.
Whichever you choose — or none at all, staying local-only — the result is the same shape: a folder tree of .md files you can open with any text editor, outside of Dori, at any time.
Version history, on every provider
Every document you edit in Dori keeps a version history you can browse and restore from, Google-Docs-style — open Version history from the document toolbar. This works the same way regardless of which provider you chose: GitHub, Google Drive, and OneDrive each surface their own native revision history, and local-only vaults get an equivalent history captured automatically by Dori. Restoring an old version never deletes anything newer — it just makes that version current again.
What setup looks like
- Pick a remote provider, or skip this and stay local-only.
- For GitHub: authorise the Dori GitHub App and choose (or create) the repository that will hold your vault. For Drive/OneDrive: sign in and choose a folder.
- Dori runs an initial sync, then keeps your local copy and the remote in sync automatically from then on.
Why a vault, not a database
Because your vault is plain Markdown, you can open, search, back up, or migrate it independently of Dori at any time — nothing about your data is locked to the app.
If a sync conflict happens
If you (or another device) edit the same file both locally and remotely before a sync catches up, Dori can’t always fast-forward merge automatically. When that happens, it keeps both versions instead of guessing — you’ll see them under Sync Conflicts, where you pick which one to keep for each file. Nothing is silently overwritten or lost.
Next step
Continue to Choose your AI provider.