vault · diff
git:20260929.34c5287 to git:20261007.e522be7
47 added, 79 removed. Audit A to A.
---
name: vault
description: >-
- Foundational Obsidian vault context skill. Make sure to use this skill whenever the user mentions
- Obsidian, notes, vault, PARA, "in my notes", "check my vault", "second brain", or any interaction
- that touches the personal knowledge system. Provides vault structure, CLI reference, and PARA
- rules that all other obsidian skills build on.
+ Foundational Obsidian vault context. Use whenever work touches the user's vault, notes, PARA,
+ second brain, or personal knowledge system. Loads the live schema, ownership boundaries, and safe
+ operating rules that every other Obsidian skill depends on.
---
# Vault Context
- Core knowledge layer for the Obsidian vault. Always load before any vault operation — this provides
- the map that makes every other skill accurate.
-
- ## Ask, Don't Assume
-
- These skills act on the user's personal knowledge — the interpretation is theirs, not yours. This
- principle is shared by every ritual skill (daily, close-day, weekly-review, goals, spot-drift).
-
- - If you don't know something — a path, a date range, what counts as a "win", which goals are active
- — **ask**. Don't infer it from context or pick a default silently.
- - Before writing any synthesis or judgment into a note, **present your draft with its source and get
- explicit confirmation.** Let the user correct, add, or cut before anything is written.
- - Missing or ambiguous data is not permission to invent. Surface the gap and ask — a sparse or
- missing note does not mean nothing happened.
- - One question at a time for judgment calls; batch only purely factual unknowns.
-
- ## Vault Path
-
- `/Users/kriscard/obsidian-vault-kriscard`
-
- ## PARA Structure
+ Load this before any vault operation. The live vault defines its own structure; this skill defines
+ how to discover and respect it.
- | Layer | Path | What belongs here |
- | --------- | ---------------- | ------------------------------------------- |
- | Inbox | `0 - Inbox/` | Unprocessed captures, raw ideas |
- | Projects | `1 - Projects/` | Active deliverables with outcome + deadline |
- | Areas | `2 - Areas/` | Ongoing responsibilities (no end date) |
- | Resources | `3 - Resources/` | Reference material, TIL, wiki pages |
- | Archives | `4 - Archives/` | Inactive projects, old resources |
+ ## Establish the contract
- **PARA rule of thumb:**
+ 1. Locate the intended vault. The current default is `/Users/kriscard/obsidian-vault-kriscard`, but
+ confirm when the request or environment indicates another vault.
+ 2. Read vault-root `AGENTS.md` before interpreting paths, ownership, templates, or workflows.
+ 3. If `AGENTS.md` is missing, report that the vault schema is unavailable. Inspecting files is still
+ safe, but do not infer write permissions or substitute another schema silently.
+ 4. Inspect current folders and templates when an operation depends on them.
+ 5. Run `obsidian help` or `obsidian help <command>` when exact CLI syntax matters.
- - Project = outcome + deadline. No deadline → Area.
- - Area = standard to maintain, not a finish line to cross.
- - Resource = potentially useful reference, not actionable.
- - Archive = anything from the other three that's no longer active.
+ Completion: the target vault, live schema, and permissions relevant to the request are known.
- ## Key Paths
+ ## Operating boundaries
- ```
- 2 - Areas/Daily Ops/YYYY/YYYY-MM-DD.md # Daily notes
- 2 - Areas/Daily Ops/YYYY/YYYY-Www.md # Weekly notes (flat beside dailies)
- 2 - Areas/Goals/Quaterly/Quaterly Goals - QN YYYY.md # Quarterly goals (typo preserved)
- 2 - Areas/Goals/Monthly/M - Month YYYY.md # Monthly goals
- 2 - Areas/Goals/OKR Dashboard.base # OKR base query
- 3 - Resources/TIL/til-YYYY-MM-DD.md # TIL notes
- 0 - Inbox/ # Processing queue
- ```
+ - Treat raw-source directories declared immutable by `AGENTS.md` as read-only.
+ - Derive LLM-managed and human-managed boundaries from `AGENTS.md`; do not infer ownership from a
+ hardcoded frontmatter marker.
+ - Ask when a destination, interpretation, active period, or ownership boundary is ambiguous.
+ - Missing or sparse notes are evidence gaps, not evidence that nothing happened.
+ - Present synthesized judgments and proposed mutations with their sources before writing.
+ - Require explicit confirmation before deleting, moving, publishing, or overwriting a note.
+ - Keep root `index.md` and root `log.md` in the LLM Wiki workflow when the schema requires them.
- Note: the quarterly folder is spelled "Quaterly" — preserve this to match the existing vault
- structure.
+ ## Safe writes
- ## Obsidian CLI Quick Map
+ Generated Markdown is data, not shell code. Never place user- or model-generated content inside an
+ executable shell command string.
- Use the native `obsidian` CLI for concrete operations. Common verbs: `read`, `create`, `append`,
- `prepend`, `move`, `files`, `search`, `search:context`, `tasks`, `task`, `orphans`, `deadends`,
- `unresolved`, `backlinks`, `links`, `vault info=files`, `tags`, `property:read`, `property:set`,
- `template:read`, and `base:query`. Load `references/cli-reference.md` when exact syntax matters.
+ For a new page, use a file-write capability whose content is passed separately from its path. For a
+ named-section update, prefer a heading-targeted edit capability. If none is available:
- **No `patch` command.** The CLI cannot edit a specific section in place. To write to a note:
- `append`/`prepend` when landing the content anywhere in the note is fine. When it must update or
- replace a _named section_, ask the user: use the MCP `obsidian_patch_content` tool (supports
- heading/block/frontmatter targeting), or recreate the note via `read` + `create ... overwrite`.
+ 1. read the complete note;
+ 2. prepare the exact replacement;
+ 3. show the proposed change;
+ 4. obtain approval;
+ 5. overwrite through a file-write capability;
+ 6. reread and verify the result.
- **No `daily:*` commands.** `daily` is only a flag on `task`/`tasks`, and that flag needs the Daily
- Notes core plugin enabled (currently disabled). Work the daily note by its path:
- `TODAY="2 - Areas/Daily Ops/$(date +%Y)/$(date +%Y-%m-%d).md"`, then `obsidian read path="$TODAY"` /
- `append` / `prepend`. Today's open tasks: `obsidian tasks todo path="$TODAY"` (note `tasks path=`
- takes a file, not a folder).
+ Use the Obsidian CLI for discovery, navigation, metadata, moves, and other commands after checking
+ its current help. Do not cache command flags or plugin state in this skill.
- If any `obsidian` command fails: tell the user "Obsidian CLI isn't working — update Obsidian with
- CLI enabled."
+ ## PARA interpretation
- ## Templates Location
+ Use `AGENTS.md` for local conventions. When explaining canonical PARA, classify by actionability:
- `Templates/` folder in vault root. Key templates:
+ - **Project:** active, finite effort with a defined outcome.
+ - **Area:** ongoing responsibility or standard.
+ - **Resource:** potentially useful information without a current finite outcome.
+ - **Archive:** inactive material from the other categories.
+ - **Inbox:** undecided capture awaiting classification.
- - `Templates/Daily Notes.md`
- - `Templates/Weekly Planning.md`
- - `Templates/Project.md`
- - `Templates/TIL.md`
+ Label stricter local requirements as vault-schema rules rather than universal PARA rules.
- ## References
+ ## Completion
- | Priority | Load when | Reference |
- | --- | --- | --- |
- | 1 — High | Full CLI command needed beyond the inline reference | `references/cli-reference.md` |
- | 2 — High | obsidian-utils script commands or invocation syntax | `references/obsidian-utils.md` |
- | 3 — Medium | Complete folder tree, metadata patterns, or naming conventions | `references/detailed-structure.md` |
- | 4 — Medium | Tag taxonomy or tagging best practices | `references/tagging-system.md` |
- | 5 — Medium | Which template to use for a note type | `references/templates-guide.md` |
+ Before finishing any write operation, verify the destination exists, reread the affected content,
+ and report exactly what changed. Report failures without claiming success.