Obsidian Vault Context

Key Concept

Obsidian vaults are just folders of markdown files. Use direct file operations (read_file, write, search_replace) first. Only use obsidian-cli for UI operations or link updates.

Steve's Vault

Path: /Users/steve/Documents/Main
Detection: Try obsidian-cli print-default first, then check /Users/steve/Documents/Main

Folder Structure

/Users/steve/Documents/Main/
├── Daily/              # Daily notes (YYYY-MM-DD.md)
├── AI/                 # AI/LLM research
├── Software Development/
├── Technologies/
├── Work/
├── assets/             # Images and attachments
└── .obsidian/          # Internal config - don't modify

Daily Notes

Format: YYYY-MM-DD.md (e.g., 2025-10-18.md)
Location: /Daily/ folder
No frontmatter - clean markdown
Path: /Users/steve/Documents/Main/Daily/{YYYY-MM-DD}.md

Research Format

Steve captures research in daily notes using this template:

### [Tool/Topic Name]
**Link:** [URL]

**What it is:** [Brief description]

**Key Features:**
- Feature 1
- Feature 2

**Why it's interesting:** [Relevance]

**Use case:** [When to use it]

Links & Formatting

Internal links: [[Note Name]] (wikilinks)
External links: [Text](URL) (markdown)
Images: ![[image.png]] (stored in /assets/)

Common Operations

Read daily note:

read_file("/Users/steve/Documents/Main/Daily/2025-10-18.md")

Append to daily note:

existing = read_file(daily_path)
updated = existing + "\n\n### New Entry\n**Link:** ...\n"
write(daily_path, updated)

Create new note:

write("/Users/steve/Documents/Main/Topic/Note.md", "# Note\n\nContent")

obsidian-cli (Use Sparingly)

obsidian-cli print-default - Get vault path
obsidian-cli open "Note" - Open in Obsidian UI
obsidian-cli move "Old" "New" - Rename with link updates

Prefer direct file operations over obsidian-cli for reading/writing.

Best Practices

Check if file exists before appending
Add \n\n spacing between sections
Use YYYY-MM-DD format for daily notes
Don't modify .obsidian/ folder
Preserve existing frontmatter if present

obsidian-vault-context