True BYOK and Sovereign Mode: how we keep your code yours

Privacy claims are cheap. Here is the concrete architecture behind ours, so you can verify rather than trust.

Where your keys live

BYOK keys are stored in a local vault on your device. When you send a request with your own key, the editor talks directly to the provider's API. We do not sit in the middle: there is no proxy, no relay, and no log of the request on our side.

What actually crosses the network

• Your prompt and the context you attach — sent straight to the provider you chose.
• License checks — a small, periodic call that contains no source code.
• Nothing else. Your files are never uploaded for indexing or training.

Sovereign Mode

Flip Sovereign Mode on and the editor will only use local models — point it at an Ollama install and chat, edits, and autocomplete all run offline. Pull the network cable and it keeps working.

# point Obsydian Lab at a local model and go offline
ollama pull qwen2.5-coder
# then enable Sovereign Mode in Settings → Privacy

Why it matters

Source code is the most sensitive asset most teams have. Keeping it on-device is not a marketing checkbox — it is the difference between an editor you can use on a regulated codebase and one you cannot.