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Originally written by Matt Pocock

obsidian-vault

What it does

obsidian-vault finds, creates, and organises notes in an Obsidian vault, following the conventions that vault already uses: [[wikilinks]] for connecting notes, index notes that are little more than a list of links to a topic's members, and a flat folder layout where structure comes from links rather than directories.

It does not invent a new note-taking system. It reads the vault's existing rules (title-case filenames, no folders for organisation, index notes named things like "Skills Index") and works inside them, so a note it creates looks like one you wrote by hand.

When to reach for it

Ask to find, create, or organise notes in Obsidian, or point at a topic you want captured or connected.

Your situationWhat happens
You want to find a note by name or by contentFilename search or content grep across the vault
You have something worth writing down as a new noteTitle-case filename, one unit of learning, wikilinks to related notes at the bottom
You want to know what links to a given noteBacklink search for [[Note Title]] across the vault
You want the index notes for a topicSearch for files with "Index" in the name

Conventions it follows

Naming. Every note filename is Title Case. Index notes aggregate a topic ("Skills Index", "RAG Index") and are themselves just a list of [[wikilinks]], nothing more.

Linking, not folders. The vault stays mostly flat. Instead of a folder per topic, notes link to what they depend on or relate to, usually at the bottom of the note, and an index note collects the links for a topic in one place. Finding what connects to a note is a backlink search, not a directory listing.

One note, one idea. A new note is written as a single unit of learning rather than a catch-all page that accumulates unrelated points over time. Where a sequence of notes builds on each other, a hierarchical numbering scheme keeps the order visible in the filenames themselves.

Common questions

Why no folders? Folders force a single hierarchy on ideas that usually belong to more than one topic at once. A note on caching can sit under "performance" and "databases" simultaneously if it's linked from both index notes; it could only live in one folder.

How does it decide a new note is warranted instead of appending to an existing one? By the one-note-one-idea rule. If what you want to capture doesn't fit as a coherent unit alongside what's already in a note, it's a new note with a link back, not an addition that dilutes the original.

What if I don't know whether a note already exists? That's what the search step is for, by filename or by content, before anything new gets created. Reusing or linking to an existing note beats creating a near-duplicate under a slightly different title.

It's working if

  • A new note's filename is Title Case and it links to at least the notes it clearly depends on.
  • An index note stays a plain list of links, not a place where actual content accumulates.
  • A backlink search for a note's title turns up everything that references it.
  • The vault stays flat: no new folder appeared to solve an organisation problem links could have solved.

Where it fits

obsidian-vault is a standalone note-management skill scoped to one vault and its conventions. It has no dependency on any other skill here and nothing hands off to it or from it; it's reached for directly whenever the task is finding, writing, or connecting notes.