Obsidian Vault
Use this skill for filesystem-first Obsidian vault work: reading notes, listing notes, searching note files, creating notes, appending content, and adding wikilinks.
Vault path
Use a known or resolved vault path before calling file tools.
The documented vault-path convention is the
OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH
environment variable, for example from
~/.hermes/.env
. If it is unset, use
~/Documents/Obsidian Vault
.
File tools do not expand shell variables. Do not pass paths containing
$OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH
to
read_file
,
write_file
,
patch
, or
search_files
; resolve the vault path first and pass a concrete absolute path. Vault paths may contain spaces, which is another reason to prefer file tools over shell commands.
If the vault path is unknown,
terminal
is acceptable for resolving
OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH
or checking whether the fallback path exists. Once the path is known, switch back to file tools.
Read a note
Use
read_file
with the resolved absolute path to the note. Prefer this over
cat
because it provides line numbers and pagination.
List notes
Use
search_files
with
target: "files"
and the resolved vault path. Prefer this over
find
or
ls
.
- To list all markdown notes, use
pattern: "*.md"
under the vault path.
- To list a subfolder, search under that subfolder's absolute path.
Search
Use
search_files
for both filename and content searches. Prefer this over
grep
,
find
, or
ls
.
- For filenames, use
search_files
with target: "files"
and a filename pattern
.
- For note contents, use
search_files
with target: "content"
, the content regex as pattern
, and file_glob: "*.md"
when you want to restrict matches to markdown notes.
Create a note
Use
write_file
with the resolved absolute path and the full markdown content. Prefer this over shell heredocs or
echo
because it avoids shell quoting issues and returns structured results.
Append to a note
Prefer a native file-tool workflow when it is not awkward:
- Read the target note with
read_file
.
- Use
patch
for an anchored append when there is stable context, such as adding a section after an existing heading or appending before a known trailing block.
- Use
write_file
when rewriting the whole note is clearer than constructing a fragile patch.
For an anchored append with
patch
, replace the anchor with the anchor plus the new content.
For a simple append with no stable context,
terminal
is acceptable if it is the clearest safe option.
Targeted edits
Use
patch
for focused note changes when the current content gives you stable context. Prefer this over shell text rewriting.
Wikilinks
Obsidian links notes with
[[Note Name]]
syntax. When creating notes, use these to link related content.
