Obsidian File Manager

Vault file management via the official Obsidian CLI with direct-file fallback.

Vault

Path: /Users/arlenagreer/Library/Mobile Documents/iCloud~md~obsidian/Documents/Obsidian Vault
Name: Obsidian Vault

Quick Reference: CLI Commands

For vault operations, prefer the obsidian CLI directly when no script workflow is needed:

# Search
obsidian search query="my topic"
obsidian search query="my topic" format=json

# Read/write
obsidian read path="folder/note.md"
obsidian create path="folder/note.md" content="# Title"
obsidian append path="folder/note.md" content="New content"
obsidian prepend path="folder/note.md" content="Top content"

# Move (link-safe — preserves all internal links)
obsidian move path="old/note.md" to="new/folder"

# Properties
obsidian property:set name="lifecycle" value="processed" path="folder/note.md"
obsidian property:read name="lifecycle" path="folder/note.md"

# Tags and structure
obsidian tags counts
obsidian files folder="sessions" ext=md
obsidian backlinks file="My Note"
obsidian orphans

# Daily notes
obsidian daily:read
obsidian daily:append content="- Meeting notes here"

Script Operations

Use scripts for workflows requiring naming conventions, frontmatter generation, and lifecycle management.

create — Create new document with proper naming and tags

ruby ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/create_in_vault.rb \
  --type session --project myproject \
  --subject "feature work" \
  --content "# Session Notes\n\n..."

move — Move external file into vault (link-safe via CLI)

ruby ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/move_to_vault.rb \
  --source /path/to/doc.md --type plan --project myproject

update-lifecycle — Transition document lifecycle state

ruby ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/update_lifecycle.rb \
  --path sessions/myproject/session_myproject_20260310.md \
  --lifecycle processed

search — Search vault with structured filters

ruby ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/search_vault.rb \
  --query "project:myproject lifecycle:active type:session"

archive — Auto-archive old documents by retention policy

ruby ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/auto_archive.rb --dry-run

File Organization

Files follow {type}/{project}/filename.md partitioning:

Type	Directory	Purpose
session	sessions/{project}/	Development session artifacts
plan	planning/{project}/	Implementation plans
prd	projects/{project}/	Product requirements
adr, decision	decisions/{project}/	Architecture decisions
investigation	investigations/{project}/	Research and analysis
resource	resources/{project}/	Reference materials

Filenames use snake_case: {type}_{subject}_{project}[_{date}][_{counter}].md

Lifecycle States

State	Auto-Archive	Description
master	Never	Reference docs
active	Never	Currently in use
processed	After 30 days	Work complete
trash	After 7 days	Abandoned
archived	N/A	Long-term storage

Fallback Behavior

All scripts try the CLI first. When Obsidian is not running, they fall back to direct file operations against the vault path. The CLI is preferred because obsidian move preserves internal links, and obsidian search uses the full index.

Additional References

• For full parameter docs for each script, see references/operations.md
• For vault config and tag system details, see references/configuration.md
• For workflow integration patterns, see references/integration.md