obsidian-vault

Use this skill when the user wants to find, create, update, or organize notes in an Obsidian vault.

Safety First

• Do not assume a universal vault location. The upstream private path is not a default and must not be reused unless the user explicitly provides it for their own environment.
• Resolve the vault root before reading or writing notes. Accept one of:
  • A vault path provided directly by the user.
  • A documented repo setting or project config that clearly names the vault root.
  • An environment variable such as OBSIDIAN_VAULT_ROOT, after confirming it points to the intended vault.
• Before creating or editing notes outside the current repository, state the resolved vault root and ask the user for explicit confirmation.
• Do not modify an actual vault while porting or testing this skill unless the user has requested a vault operation and confirmed the root.

Vault Conventions

• Prefer a mostly flat note layout at the vault root unless the existing vault has a clear folder convention.
• Use Title Case filenames, for example Retrieval Augmented Generation.md.
• Name index notes as <Topic> Index.md, for example Skills Index.md or RAG Index.md.
• Use Obsidian wikilinks: [[Note Title]].
• Put related-note wikilinks near the bottom of a note under a short heading such as ## Related.
• Keep index notes as concise lists of wikilinks.

Search Workflow

1. Resolve and confirm the vault root if it is outside the repository.
2. Use Glob to list markdown notes under the vault root, for example **/*.md.
3. Use rg for content searches scoped to the vault root.
4. Use ReadFile to inspect candidate notes before proposing edits.
5. Avoid shell find and grep; use Cursor-native Glob, rg, and ReadFile unless the user explicitly asks for shell commands.

Common searches:

• Filename search: use Glob for **/*Keyword*.md, and adjust for title-case variants.
• Content search: use rg for the keyword or phrase scoped to the vault root.
• Wikilink search: use rg for \[\[Note Title\]\] scoped to the vault root.
• Index discovery: use Glob for **/*Index*.md and rg for links from likely index notes.

Create A Note

1. Confirm the vault root and whether writes outside the repository are allowed for this operation.
2. Convert the note title to a Title Case filename ending in .md.
3. Check for existing notes with the same or similar filename using Glob.
4. Search for related notes and indexes using rg and Glob.
5. Draft the note as a focused unit of learning.
6. Add relevant [[wikilinks]] near the bottom.
7. Add the new note to the best matching <Topic> Index.md when an index exists.
8. If no suitable index exists, ask before creating a new index note.

Manage Existing Notes

• Read the target note and nearby index notes before editing.
• Preserve existing frontmatter, headings, and wikilink style.
• When renaming a note, update backlinks by searching for the old wikilink and replacing it only after the user confirms the rename.
• When adding a relationship, update both the note and the relevant index note when that keeps the vault easier to navigate.
• For numbered sequences, follow the vault's existing numbering scheme instead of inventing a new one.

Backlinks And Indexes

• To find backlinks, search for the exact wikilink form: [[Note Title]].
• To discover indexes, search filenames for Index and inspect likely matches.
• Index notes should stay lightweight: a heading plus a list of [[wikilinks]] is usually enough.
• Prefer connecting notes through wikilinks and index notes over creating new folders.