# Save me from obsidian please **URL:** \ **Category:** Lettera\ **Created:** [August 10, 2026, 3:15pm UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/save-me-from-obsidian-please/19720 "2026-08-10T15:15:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![heuav](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.bear.app/heuav/32/8321_2.png) [@heuav](https://community.bear.app/u/heuav)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 3:15pm UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/save-me-from-obsidian-please/19720/1 "2026-08-10T15:15:49Z")
Long-time (and current) bear+panda user, product designer, and adhd’er. What do i need to do to get a beta invite? Similar to many here, agentic work has significantly changed what i need from my tools. As such - i’ve had to start using obsidian where I previously used bear. I’ve been using the MCP but .md file system access is a pretty direct requirement for anything I do. As much as i appreciate obsidians infinite customizability its horrible for my adhd, i just need something that works out of the box. Lettera appears to tick those boxes even in its beta state. Happy to provide feedback. ---
**Author:** ![trix180](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.bear.app/trix180/32/588_2.png) [@trix180](https://community.bear.app/u/trix180)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2026, 1:46pm UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/save-me-from-obsidian-please/19720/2 "2026-08-11T13:46:28Z")
We’ll open more beta seats by the end of August or the beginning of September. I suggest keeping in touch by subscribing to Lettera’s mailing list > **[Lettera Newsletter Subscription](https://mailchi.mp/shinyfrog.net/lettera-newsletter-subscription)** > > Sign up for updates and be the first to hear about new features and releases. ---
**Author:** ![ThurstonCounty](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.bear.app/thurstoncounty/32/4471_2.png) [@ThurstonCounty](https://community.bear.app/u/ThurstonCounty)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2026, 1:49pm UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/save-me-from-obsidian-please/19720/3 "2026-08-21T13:49:42Z")
I also **cannot wait** to free myself of Obsidian for my PKM local file management. ---
**Author:** ![krssno](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.bear.app/krssno/32/1338_2.png) [@krssno](https://community.bear.app/u/krssno)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2026, 9:05pm UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/save-me-from-obsidian-please/19720/5 "2026-08-23T21:05:43Z")
> [@kirkmc](#): > > But Lettera is not, from what the devs have said, meant to replicate a PKM; that’s what Bear is. PKM is little more than a marketing buzzword in a highly competitive software market segment. What exactly is Bear? A note-taking app, a writing app, a journal app or perhaps more of a PKM app? Ultimately it’s all of those things, simply because it is so minimalist that it allows for all kinds of uses without imposing any specific one. PKM is an ideology designed to appeal to people who are looking for a “second brain” so they can turn off their first one. The big promise is that knowledge will magically emerge without the first brain having to do any work. In that context I always like to recall Antonio Gramsci, who put his writings down on paper while in prison under the most adverse circumstances. However, if PKM is understood simply as a tool that the “first brain” uses for collecting and managing information or knowledge, then Lettera is also a suitable instrument for this purpose. To repeat myself: But only as long as it does not become specialized and impose a specific way of using it on anyone. By the way, there are reportedly people who still organize their knowledge entirely without digital tools, just using only paper and pen. ---
**Author:** ![krssno](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.bear.app/krssno/32/1338_2.png) [@krssno](https://community.bear.app/u/krssno)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 4:21pm UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/save-me-from-obsidian-please/19720/7 "2026-08-24T16:21:10Z")
> [@kirkmc](#): > > Lettera is a native, refined Markdown editor for macOS. So what? I can’t think of a more general term than that. It’s not about what Lettera is, but rather what each of us wants to use it for. Whether I use it to collect recipes in Markdown or write blog posts isn’t determined by the tool itself and certainly not by how you want use it. Whether a tool can serve as a PKM or whatever else isn’t something that is settled by definition, but by looking at what it actually allows you to do and whether its features fit your needs. > [@kirkmc](#): > > While I disagree that PKM is a marketing term, the fact that Lettera can’t be that is because, at least for now, you cannot search across files in your workspace. I am not sure what you want to say with that. Shouldn’t Lettera implement a global search because it isn’t a PKM app? Does a search functionality transforms a markdown editor inevitably into something it doesn’t want to be? I prefer to look at it functionally. I need a search function because I want to search my files. Therefore I would ask the developers to implement it. ---
**Author:** ![heuav](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.bear.app/heuav/32/8321_2.png) [@heuav](https://community.bear.app/u/heuav)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 4:39pm UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/save-me-from-obsidian-please/19720/8 "2026-08-24T16:39:32Z")
Didn’t intend for this to become a discussion about the semantics of a pkm. But i guess thats where the conversation is now. @kirkmc So Lettera is not supposed to be a PKM, its not supposed to replace bear, its not supposed to replace obsidian. then what is the point? What is the primary use case for _a " **native, refined Markdown editor for macOS"** _ that isnt a PKM, a bear-style note taking app, or a direct competitor to obsidian? I like using bear simply because the markdown writing experience is better, I don’t like using obsidian, the writing experience feels less polished and i end up tweaking things constantly - But i need file system access. Do I have permission to use Lettera for that or do i need to find some other highly specific (not-pkm, not bear) use-case to help justify why I asked to join the Lettera beta? Saying Lettera by definition cannot be a PKM because it isn’t searchable is a bit silly - and it discredits the 100’s of different ways that people query a local file system workspace without a search bar entirely. ---
**Author:** ![heuav](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.bear.app/heuav/32/8321_2.png) [@heuav](https://community.bear.app/u/heuav)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 5:50pm UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/save-me-from-obsidian-please/19720/10 "2026-08-24T17:50:49Z")
> [@kirkmc](#): > > It is for people who write. > [@kirkmc](#): > > I can understand that you don’t know what a text editor is if you don’t use one I was unaware I was speaking to the designated person-who-writes gatekeeper of wysiwyg markdown text editors. You are describing all of the reasons I’ve already explained that I’m looking to use Lettera, except you cant seem to recognize that all of those reasons also apply to people who use it differently than you do. I don’t know what your beef is and why you are so clearly attempting to alienate others for wanting to use a **personal** tool for their own **personal** work. Im not our here begging the devs to turn the tool into some PKM zombie do-it-all app. I asked for access because the features directly address MY **personal** needs as they are. If it baffles you that a tool like this can have multiple uses then I don’t really know what else you want me to say? ---
**Author:** ![heuav](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.bear.app/heuav/32/8321_2.png) [@heuav](https://community.bear.app/u/heuav)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 6:28pm UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/save-me-from-obsidian-please/19720/12 "2026-08-24T18:28:09Z")
My guy. None of this post was ever about me using the app. I did not ask for you opinions on PKM’s, but you felt the need to impose them. ---
**Author:** ![krssno](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.bear.app/krssno/32/1338_2.png) [@krssno](https://community.bear.app/u/krssno)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 7:40pm UTC](https://community.bear.app/t/save-me-from-obsidian-please/19720/13 "2026-08-24T19:40:54Z")
@kirkmc The problem with you is that you’re taking a stance that has nothing to do with the status of an ordinary user. You don’t say what you plan to do with the app, what you feel is missing or what you’d like to see. Instead you take a position that’s only seemingly objective _(based on an abstract definition of the app)_ and believe you have the right to determine what the app is and isn’t allowed to offer. The role as gatekeeper you’re trying to play in a domineering and arrogant manner, that rubs some users the wrong way. I have to wonder whether you’re actually concerned with using the app at all or not. Or whether you’re just trying to come across as an expert, which you clearly cannot be, simply because you couldn’t even correctly describe the basic functions of your supposed main tool iA Writer when you joined the discussion shortly after Lettera was released. You have such a narrow-minded view of software categories that you’re no longer familiar with how ordinary people use ordinary software. Love, peace, unity and having fun! ❤ ☮ 🤝 🥳