TheBrain Import helps you move TheBrain thoughts into linked notes

Name: TheBrain Import
Author: theluckystrike

Preview a local TheBrain export and import notes with links.

Install in Obsidian

Directory page Source on GitHub

MIT · no telemetry · core features free

Preview counts for a sample export with a duplicate Plan name and a broken endpoint. — Open larger

version: 1.1.1
released: 2026-10-22
downloads: 40
review: Passed
health: Excellent
license: MIT
listed for: Desktop, Mobile
obsidian: 1.13.4 or later

The README reports desktop app tests. Physical phones and tablets were not tested.

Directory facts fetched 2026-10-23 07:28 UTC from community.obsidian.md/users/theluckystrike.

About TheBrain Import

You want to move TheBrain thoughts into linked notes in your vault.

Select a local archive or the two JSON files that describe your thoughts and links. TheBrain Import previews name conflicts and broken endpoints before creating a new folder. The free import needs no account.

A local export preview followed by imported notes and the count report.

Free features

Select a local export

Choose a .brz ZIP archive or select thoughts.json and links.json together. JSON accepts arrays or one object per line.

The import dialog above a sample migration note. — Open larger

Check the preview

Review counts, duplicate names, broken endpoints and the new folder path. Missing thought IDs cause the affected link to be skipped.

Keep thought properties

Notes retain source IDs, labels, tags and date text in frontmatter. Kind 4 thoughts supply tag names, with optional notes of their own.

An imported thought with its source ID label tags and dates. — Open larger

Follow parent child and jump links

Relation 1 creates parent and child links under fixed headings. Relation 3 creates jumps in both notes, using the final output paths.

Parent child and jump wikilinks in an imported knowledge map. — Open larger

Get a new folder and count report

Each run creates a new numbered folder when the default path exists. A completed import writes its counts to Import report.txt.

The completed import report with the folder and file counts. — Open larger

Pro features

Pro costs $5 a month or $15 one time through GitHub Sponsors. One sponsorship turns on Pro in every plugin that has it.

Import note bodies Pro

Pro copies available archive Markdown from the thought Notes folder. Relative image and attachment paths in that body are not rewritten.

A source Markdown body under the Notes heading of an imported thought. — Open larger

Copy attachment files Pro

Pro copies matching local archive attachments into the new Attachments folder and links them from thought notes. Missing or remote attachments are skipped.

An attachment copied into the import folder and linked from its thought note. — Open larger

Create a Canvas file Pro

Pro creates a Canvas with note nodes and child or jump edges. Its five-column grid follows source order rather than TheBrain positions.

Imported thoughts as Canvas file nodes with child and jump edges. — Open larger

See how Pro works

Set up TheBrain Import

needs

Obsidian 1.13.4 or later

steps

Keep a copy of your TheBrain export.
Run Import thoughts and links from the command palette.
Select a .brz archive, or select the two JSON files together.
Check names and counts, then choose whether tag thoughts should get notes.
Select Import to new folder and read the completed report.

If the app can't find a new plugin yet, try again later. Obsidian says a plugin that passes the review shows in the app within 24 hours.

How to import TheBrain into Obsidian

Known limits of TheBrain Import

Current TheBrain exports with bodies and attachments were not tested; those paths use local sample archives.
Each selected file is limited to 50 MiB; archives may expand to 250 MiB with at most 10,000 entries.
Each JSON file accepts at most 10,000 records, and unsafe archive paths or duplicate thought IDs stop preview.
Relative resource paths in imported note bodies are not rewritten.
Other relation codes, rich text, icons and custom relation names are outside the import scope.
A write failure can leave partial files without a completed report.

Questions about TheBrain Import

Does another export update my imported notes?

Another run creates another folder. The importer doesn't merge your later vault edits.

Do my attachments need Pro?

Attachment copying and note bodies need Pro. They also need matching files inside the supported archive layout.

Will the Canvas match my brain layout?

The Canvas uses a five-column grid in source order. It doesn't reproduce TheBrain positions.

Which relations are supported?

The importer handles relation codes 1 and 3. Other codes are counted and skipped.

Network use

After you select Sign in with GitHub, the plugin sends its client ID, read:user scope and device-flow requests to github.com. Due checks and Refresh send your token to api.github.com to read your sponsorship tier and total payment. No note text, filenames or other vault data goes to either host.

Read the full network disclosure