/auto-tag

Batch auto-tag notes that have empty or missing tags by analysing their content and type. Addresses the 61% empty tag rate in the vault.

Usage

/auto-tag                    # Process all untagged notes
/auto-tag <path>             # Process specific file or folder
/auto-tag --dry-run          # Preview changes without applying
/auto-tag --type Meeting     # Only process untagged notes of a specific type
/auto-tag --limit 50         # Process at most 50 notes

Instructions

Phase 1: Find Untagged Notes

Use Grep and Glob to find notes with empty tags:

# Find files with empty tags arrays
Grep for "tags: \[\]" in *.md files (exclude Templates/, .obsidian/, .claude/, Archive/)

# Also find files with no tags field at all
# Notes with tags containing only template variables

Filter results:

• Exclude Templates/, .obsidian/, .claude/, Archive/, Attachments/
• If --type specified, filter by frontmatter type field
• If <path> specified, scope to that path
• Sort by type for batch efficiency

Phase 2: Analyse and Tag (Parallel)

Launch parallel Haiku sub-agents, batching 20 notes per agent:

For each note, the agent should:

1. Read frontmatter — extract type, title, project, status
2. Read body content — first 500 words
3. Determine tags using these rules:

Tag Selection Rules

By note type (always apply):

Type	Auto-tags
ADR	type/adr, activity/architecture
Meeting	(infer from title/content)
Task	(infer project from project: field)
Project	activity/delivery + self-referencing project/ tag
System	type/system
Incubator	activity/research
Research	activity/research
Concept	(infer from content)
Pattern	(infer from content)
Email	(infer from content)
Reference	(infer from referenceType and content)
Trip	(no tags needed — skip)
Daily	daily

By content analysis (keyword matching):

Content Keywords	Suggested Tag
AWS, Lambda, S3, EC2, Bedrock	technology/aws
SAP, BTP, S/4HANA, UI5	technology/sap
ERPSystem, MRO Vendor	technology/erp
Kafka, streaming, event	technology/kafka
Snowflake, data warehouse	technology/snowflake
security, IAM, encryption	domain/security
data, analytics, pipeline	domain/data
engineering, maintenance, MRO	domain/engineering
integration, API, middleware	domain/integration
cloud, infrastructure	domain/cloud
architecture, design, pattern	activity/architecture
research, investigation, POC	activity/research
governance, compliance, policy	activity/governance

By project: field (if present):

Project Link	Tag
[[Project - Alpha]]	project/alpha
[[Project - Beta]] or [[Project - Beta]]	project/beta
[[Project - AlertHub]]	project/alerthub
[[Project - Gamma]]	project/gamma
[[Project - Delta]]	project/delta
[[Project - Epsilon]]	project/epsilon
[[Project - Cyber Uplift]]	project/cyber-uplift

Tag count target: 2-5 tags per note. Prefer fewer, more accurate tags over many vague ones.

4. Format tags — all lowercase, hierarchical, no # prefix
5. Return — list of (filepath, suggested_tags) tuples

Phase 3: Apply Tags

For each note with suggested tags:

1. Read current frontmatter
2. If tags: [] — replace with suggested tags
3. If no tags field — add tags: with suggested tags
4. Write updated file using Edit tool

Format:

# Inline for 1-3 tags:
tags: [activity/research, domain/data]

# Multi-line for 4+ tags:
tags:
  - activity/architecture
  - technology/aws
  - domain/cloud
  - project/alerthub

Phase 4: Report

## Auto-Tag Results

**Notes processed:** {{count}}
**Notes tagged:** {{tagged_count}}
**Notes skipped:** {{skipped_count}} (already tagged or no suggestions)

### By Type
| Type | Tagged | Example Tags |
|------|--------|-------------|
| Meeting | 45 | project/*, domain/* |
| Concept | 30 | activity/*, domain/* |
| ADR | 20 | type/adr, technology/* |

### Sample Changes
| Note | Tags Added |
|------|-----------|
| {{note}} | {{tags}} |
| {{note}} | {{tags}} |

Safety

• Always use --dry-run first for vault-wide operations
• Never overwrite existing non-empty tags
• Commit to git before running
• Tags are additive only — never removes existing tags
• Use the .claude/context/tag-taxonomy.md reference for valid hierarchies

Related Skills

• /tag-management — Manual tag analysis and refactoring
• /quality-report — Includes tag coverage metrics
• /vault-maintenance — Includes tag health checks