Obsidian Brain

A thinking partner skill that integrates Claude Code with your Obsidian vault.

Setup

If the vault doesn't exist yet, initialize it:

scripts/init-vault.sh ~/second-brain

The vault path defaults to ~/second-brain. Set VAULT_ROOT environment variable to override.

Core Principle: Dual-Zone Architecture

The vault has two zones. You MUST respect these boundaries:

Human Zone (read-only for AI)

Directories: notes/, projects/, tasks/, resources/, contexts/, daily/, people/

NEVER create, modify, or delete files in these directories. These contain the user's own thoughts and judgments. Output your analysis to the terminal only — the user decides what to record.

AI Zone (read-write for AI)

Directory: ops/ (and all subdirectories)

All AI writes MUST go through scripts/safe-write.sh which validates paths via realpath. Direct file writes to the vault are forbidden.

Commands

/context

Load project context from the vault. Read references/command-guide.md for details.

Zone: Reads both zones. Never writes.

/capture

Capture user's words as a draft. Run scripts/capture.sh.

Zone: Writes to ops/drafts/ only.

/today

Morning planning. Read tasks, recent daily notes, and calendar.

Zone: Reads both zones. Output to terminal only — never writes.

Wikilink Queries

Use scripts/query-links.sh to find connected notes:

# Find what a note links to
scripts/query-links.sh $VAULT_ROOT outgoing "notes/idea-a.md"

# Find what links to a topic
scripts/query-links.sh $VAULT_ROOT backlinks "idea-a"

# Backlinks from human zone only (for reflection commands)
scripts/query-links.sh $VAULT_ROOT backlinks "idea-a" --human-only

Schema Reference

See references/vault-schema.md for frontmatter conventions, zone rules, and wikilink strategy.

See references/command-guide.md for detailed command documentation.