Dendron Skill

This skill helps you read, search, and create Dendron notes using the filesystem or the local notes.db sqlite database. Notes are plaintext markdown with dot-delimited filenames. Vaults are folders containing a dendron.yml and notes/ directory.

When to Use

• Navigating or querying existing notes (filesystem or sqlite)
• Creating new notes in the current vault
• Creating report notes when user asks for a report
• Running cross-vault queries only when explicitly requested

Vault Selection

• Default to the vault of the current working directory (the active vault).
• Only run across all workspace vaults if the user explicitly asks.
• Inspect dendron.yml to see workspace vault list (workspace.vaults).

File Conventions

• Notes live under <vault>/notes/ and are named with dot-delimited ids plus .md.
• Common hierarchies: daily.journal.YYYY.MM.DD, task.YYYY.MM.DD, books.*, scratch.*.
• Wikilinks use [[...]].

Access Methods

• Filesystem: use ls, rg, etc., scoped to the target vault’s notes/ dir.
• SQLite (notes.db): schema in /Users/kevinlin/code/dendron-lite/prisma/schema.prisma (tables: Note, Vault, Heading, Link, SyncStatus).

SQLite Pointers

• Note.fname stores the dot-delimited id, raw stores markdown (no frontmatter), title/desc/tags optional, vaultId links to Vault.
• Vault table has name and fsPath; join to limit queries to the active vault unless cross-vault is requested.
• Use parameterized queries to avoid injection; when using the CLI, properly quote inputs.

Common Workflows

• Find notes by pattern: filesystem rg "pattern" <vault>/notes -g "*.md" or sqlite LIKE queries on fname/raw.
• List children under a hierarchy: filter filenames starting with hierarchy. and extract the next segment.
• Create a new note: write a markdown file under <vault>/notes/<fname>.md; include frontmatter if needed.

Examples to Support

• “look at daily.* notes created in last week and look for terms matching scout”
  • Identify last 7 days daily files in the active vault (daily.journal.YYYY.MM.DD), then search contents for scout.
• "extract all the 1st level children of pkg.* (should only get the name of the next dot delimited name)"
  • From filenames starting pkg., return the segment immediately after pkg (unique, non-empty).
• "create a report on weekly scout activities"
  • Create a new note at <vault>/notes/report.2025.11-weekly-scout-activities.md with frontmatter and write the report content analyzing scout activities from recent daily notes.

Safety & Scope

• Do not modify files unless asked to create/update notes.
• Keep searches scoped to active vault unless cross-vault is requested.
• Prefer rg for content search; avoid expensive full-tree scans when a vault path is known.

Quick Command Patterns

• Active vault path: read dendron.yml and resolve workspace.vaults entry whose fsPath matches CWD (default .).
• Search text: rg "term" <vault>/notes -g "*.md".
• SQLite daily search (active vault only):
  • sqlite3 notes.db "SELECT fname FROM Note n JOIN Vault v ON n.vaultId=v.id WHERE v.fsPath='.' AND fname LIKE 'daily.journal.%' AND date(n.updated/1000,'unixepoch')>=date('now','-7 day') AND raw LIKE '%scout%';"
• Children of hierarchy via fs: find <vault>/notes -name 'pkg.*.md' -maxdepth 1 then parse next segment.
• Create report note: Generate filename report.$(date +%Y).$(date +%m)-{kebab-case-name}.md and write to <vault>/notes/ with frontmatter.

Follow these steps when responding:

1. Assume target vault is the default active vault unless user mentions otherwise
2. Choose access method (filesystem/sqlite) appropriate to the query.
3. Execute search or creation.
4. Return concise results; if creating, show path and key fields.