Claudian vs Happy
Which should you use? A side-by-side look at what each one does, who it suits, what it costs, how hard it is to set up, and where each falls short.
Open source · MIT
An Obsidian plugin that puts an AI coding agent inside your notes vault as a chat sidebar.
Open source · MIT
A multi-model coding agent app that runs Claude, Codex and Grok, with a phone companion, using your existing s
The short answer
Choose Claudian if you need…
- Obsidian users who already use Claude Code or Codex and want that agent inside their notes
- People who want an AI to edit or reorganize many notes in a folder at once
- Users who want word-level inline edits with a diff preview directly in a note
- Developers who want to try several agent backends (Claude Code, Codex, Grok Build, OpenCode, Pi, DeepSeek Harness) from one interface
Choose Happy if you need…
- Developers who already pay for Claude, Codex or Grok subscriptions and want one interface for them
- People who want to check on a running coding agent from their phone
- Small teams who want to watch and steer the same agent session together
- Users who want an MIT-licensed codebase they can read or fork
Side-by-side
| Claudian | Happy | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | App | App |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 15.9k | 24.4k |
| Setup difficulty | Intermediate | Intermediate |
| How you get it | Download the app | Install with a package manager |
| Main language | TypeScript | Swift |
| Last code update | 4 days ago | 4 days ago |
What each one is
Claudian
Claudian is a community plugin for Obsidian, the note-taking app. It adds a chat panel where an AI coding agent (such as Claude Code or Codex) works directly on your vault: it can read, write, edit, and search your notes and run commands. Your vault folder becomes the agent's working directory, so you can ask it to draft, reorganize, or edit notes. It requires you to already have at least one supported agent harness and a compatible subscription or API provider.
Happy
Happy is an open-source (MIT) app that lets you run AI coding agents such as Claude Code, Codex and Grok from one place, and watch or steer them from a phone. According to its README, you sign in with the subscriptions you already pay for rather than buying new access. The README also describes a simple terminal CLI (npm install -g happy) that wraps Claude Code and Codex and can continue sessions on your phone.
Best for
Claudian
- Obsidian users who already use Claude Code or Codex and want that agent inside their notes
- People who want an AI to edit or reorganize many notes in a folder at once
- Users who want word-level inline edits with a diff preview directly in a note
- Developers who want to try several agent backends (Claude Code, Codex, Grok Build, OpenCode, Pi, DeepSeek Harness) from one interface
Happy
- Developers who already pay for Claude, Codex or Grok subscriptions and want one interface for them
- People who want to check on a running coding agent from their phone
- Small teams who want to watch and steer the same agent session together
- Users who want an MIT-licensed codebase they can read or fork
Strengths
Claudian
- Works with several agent backends listed in the README, not only one provider
- Inline edit shows word-level diffs before changes are applied
- Free and open source under the MIT license
Happy
- Free and MIT-licensed, with the source code available on GitHub
- Reuses existing Claude, Codex and Grok subscriptions rather than adding a separate bill, per the README
- Projects remain ordinary folders on your own machine, as the README describes
Not ideal for
Claudian
- Mobile-only Obsidian users, since the README says it is desktop only (macOS, Linux, Windows)
- People without a Claude Code, Codex, or other supported harness or a provider account, since at least one is required
- Anyone who does not want note contents sent to third-party AI providers, since the privacy section says input, files, and tool outputs go to the chosen provider
Happy
- People who need a fully audited, production-grade security tool: the README does not describe a security review and says little about threat models beyond end-to-end encryption of device sync
- Users who only want a single model and a simple terminal command: the original CLI covers that more directly, and the multi-model features point to the desktop app and Happy Harness
- People without any existing agent subscription or API access, since the README centers on reusing those logins
Trade-offs
Claudian
- Requires a separate harness install and a paid or API-based provider account, which the README does not detail
- Some features are marked experimental, such as the Plugin API
- Collaboration features have moved to a separate plugin, Claudian Collab
Happy
- The README is truncated and the multi-model features are described mainly at a high level, so exact behavior is unclear
- The repository covers only the mobile app, original CLI and relay server; the desktop app and agent runtime live in separate repositories
- The latest release tag listed here (cli-1.2.5) has no binaries attached, so installation relies on npm or building from source
Getting started
Claudian
Clone into your vault plugins folder
cd /path/to/vault/.obsidian/plugins && git clone https://github.com/YishenTu/claudian.git realclaudianInstall dependencies and build (source install)
cd realclaudian && npm install && npm run buildFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between Claudian and Happy?
Claudian: An Obsidian plugin that puts an AI coding agent inside your notes vault as a chat sidebar. Happy: A multi-model coding agent app that runs Claude, Codex and Grok, with a phone companion, using your existing s. Claudian suits obsidian users who already use claude code or codex and want that agent inside their notes, while Happy suits developers who already pay for claude, codex or grok subscriptions and want one interface for them.
Are Claudian and Happy free?
Claudian: Free and open source. Happy: Free and open source.
Is Claudian or Happy more popular?
Happy has more GitHub stars (24.4k) than Claudian (15.9k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to Claudian and Happy?
Other options people compare them with include Orca, CC Switch, Git Plugin for Obsidian, Paperclip, OmniRoute.
Keep comparing
Built from our catalogue entries for both products: open-source details come from each project's README (AI-assisted, refreshed weekly) and GitHub data; AI-tool details are editorial. Spotted something wrong? Let us know from either product's page.