Overview
Foam is a VS Code extension that turns your local Markdown files into a personal knowledge graph with backlinks, graph visualizations, and daily note templates. All data lives as plain .md files in your filesystem; there is no server to run. It integrates seamlessly with Git for version-controlled knowledge bases.
Where it falls short of Notion
- Entirely dependent on VS Code; not usable on mobile or without the editor
- No real-time multi-user collaboration features
- Plugin ecosystem is much smaller than Obsidian; fewer community extensions
We list the gaps honestly so you can decide if the trade-off is worth owning your data.
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Embed the Foam difficulty badge in your README — it links back here.
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