AI Synchronization: Challenges and Solutions for Multiple Devices

The Challenges of Context Sharing in AI

In recent months, a leader of Claude Code sessions has often been confronted with a recurring question: how can context and skills in artificial intelligence be shared effectively across different devices? This problem is particularly pressing for those leading AI integration in their companies. They have set up sophisticated workflows based on rich context, but struggle to share them with their colleagues.

One executive has faced this challenge personally. Although they work mainly solo, they have a full-time assistant, so they have to pass context and workflows on to her. In addition, they use several devices: a Mac Mini for daily work, a MacBook Air for travel, and an iPhone. They want their setups to be accessible on all these devices.

Today, the executive presents their setup. They explain where they store their data, how they share the various elements with their devices and their team, and the advantages and drawbacks of each solution. They cover four synchronization services: git/GitHub, Obsidian Sync, Dropbox and iCloud. They explain what worked for them, including their exact setup, so that others can share their context files and skills seamlessly.

A Skill Missing at the Wrong Time

As part of this series, it has been shown that the more context and skills an AI model is given, the better it performs. However, sharing these resources across various devices and with colleagues can be a challenge. One manager ran into this problem during an interview with Claire Vo for How I AI. Staying in an Airbnb, the manager had only a laptop. They had to demonstrate their /today command and the setup of their context files, but the latest version was not on the device.

Fortunately, they were able to remotely access their Mac Mini to retrieve the necessary file, thus avoiding a crisis. The experience made them realize the importance of better synchronizing their contexts and skills across all their devices. They also wanted to share these elements with their assistant, which pushed them to develop an effective strategy for both of them.

Exploring Synchronization Tools: Successes and Failures

This manager already had several solutions for sharing files, using Dropbox, iCloud and GitHub. They tried each of them to synchronize their files, but ran into problems.

• Problems with absolute file paths: With Dropbox, they found that full file paths were a problem. Context files contain many cross-links, and Claude often uses the full path, such as /Users/ttorres/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox. This worked for them because they had the same username on their devices, but not for their phone or their assistant.

• Default skills in a user directory: Skills are stored by default in ~/.claude/skills, which is problematic because most synchronization services do not share the ~/ folder. iCloud is an exception, but it only works between Apple devices, excluding Windows and Android.

One solution is to create a claude folder in Dropbox and set up a symbolic link to ~/.claude. This makes it possible to save skills and settings in Dropbox, but requires setting up a symbolic link on each device so that Claude can access the files. However, Dropbox had other limitations.

• Obsidian synchronization on iOS: They used Obsidian’s file browser with their notes and did not want to give up that feature. They tried storing their Obsidian vaults in Dropbox, which worked on their Mac Mini and MacBook Air, but not in Obsidian’s iOS app.

Faced with these frustrations, they considered using GitHub, as some product teams do to share context files.

The Git/GitHub Option

GitHub is a cloud storage platform for git repositories, which are shared folders of files. Engineers use it to collaborate on the same source code. Each engineer clones a local copy of the repository, works on it, then pushes the changes to the GitHub repository. Others can then pull those changes to update their local copy.

Git is a powerful tool for file synchronization and version control. It handles context and skills files well, and Claude works better with relative links in a git repository. This solved the manager’s personal problems, but not the assistant’s.

Git is complex to learn and requires keeping one’s local copy up to date. There is no automatic synchronization, and the manager did not want to force the assistant to learn an IDE. This solution was therefore too complicated.

Obsidian Sync: A Suitable Solution

After sharing their difficulties with their husband, he suggested Obsidian Sync, which he was already using to synchronize his notes.

Obsidian is a markdown reader where files are stored locally in a folder accessible through the Finder or File Explorer. There is no proprietary format, and the files can be read with any text editor. Claude can read them with bash commands.

Obsidian Sync is less complex than git, with limited conflict handling, but it is simple to use. There are no commands to learn. You open Obsidian, edit a note, and it syncs automatically to the cloud.

The manager can access their Obsidian vaults on all three devices and share a vault with the assistant, so that each can create and access notes. Living in Oregon, with the assistant in the Philippines, they have little overlap in working hours, so few conflicts. Obsidian Sync is therefore enough for them, avoiding the complexity of git.

Obsidian uses its own notation to link notes, which works on all devices and lets Claude follow those links, without the file path problems encountered with Dropbox.

The Setup: A Tailored Solution

After many trials, the manager found a solution that works for their devices and for the assistant, who uses a Windows desktop and a MacBook.

The manager details how their files are stored, how they make changes, and how each device is configured. They also cover questions to help choose the right tool.

Obsidian Sync turned out to be the ideal compromise for their needs. Here is how the manager set it up.