Evernote to Obsidian conversion script

To convert an Evernote database to a Obsidian (Markdown-based) vault:

1. Export your Evernote notebook to an .enex file.
2. Create an output directory for conversion results.
3. Execute the conversion script:

evernote-to-obsidian-converter.sh <output-dir> <.enex-file(s)> [tags-hierarchy.txt]

This script:

• Executes Yarle with a generated configuration file.
• Embeds incorrect <<...>> in backticks.
• Unindents accidentally indented Markdown tables.

Installing and executing

To use this script, simply clone this Github repo to your machine, like:

git clone https://github.com/rijnb/evernote-to-obsidian.git

Then:

• Optionally, add the evernote-to-obsidian path to your PATH environment variable to easily start the .sh script.

• Export your Evernote notebook by right-clicking on it and choosing "Export notebook". Select "ENEX format" and leave all options selected.

• Create an output directory for the resulting Markdown files and attachements.

• Execute evernote-to-obsidian.sh <output-dir> <enex-file> [tags-hierarchy.txt], where you specify the output directory and the .enex file on the commandline. You can also convert multiple files at once.

• After the conversion ends, start Obsidian and open the directory called notes as your vault (or the directory with the name of the notebook, depending on whether you want to add more notebooks later, or not).

Usage

For the latest usage info, type:

evernote-to-obsidian.sh

Tweaking the conversion

The conversion configuration can be adapted by changing values in the file evernote-config.json.template. The parameters are all explained in (the Yarle config section)[https://github.com/akosbalasko/yarle].

There are 3 template parameters that will be replaced by the Zsh script:

• @INPUT: this will be replaced by the .enex filename,
• @TEMPLATE: this will be replaced by the note conversion template file evernote_converted_note.template, and
• @OUTPUT: this will be replaced by the output directory.

You can modify this JSON file to your liking. In its current form, tags will be hashless as the note will contain all tags in the metadata section, without tags.

The converted notes will use the template evernote_converted_note.template, which contains 1 template parameter:

• @IMPORT: this will be replaced by the name of the imported notebook.

You can modify the note conversion template. In its current form, tags are placed on top, in the metadata section and the note will have an "Imported from Evernote" callout, with some conversion data.

Recommended Obisidian plugins after conversion

To check the correctness of your Obsidian vault, you may want to use the Obisidian plugins

• Find unlinked file: [https://github.com/Vinzent03/find-unlinked-files] to identify orphaned files (make sure you exclude md files), and
• Vault statistics: [https://github.com/bkyle/obsidian-vault-statistics-plugin] to show you a note count (should match Evernotes note count).