obsidian-product-journal

name	obsidian-product-journal
description	Maintain an English Obsidian product journal for technical decisions, what works / what doesn't, monetization, and distribution. Use when the user wants to document product/tech decisions in Obsidian, log learnings, capture pricing/margin notes, map distribution funnels, bootstrap a product folder in their vault, or mentions Obsidian ADRs / product journal notes.

Obsidian product journal

Keep durable product + engineering memory in Obsidian — English only. Works for any product; never hardcode a product name.

Default vault

/Users/macuser/Works/personal/obsidian

Override if the user names another vault. All products live under Products/:

<vault>/Products/<ProductName>/

Also maintain a vault-level index at Products/MOC.md listing every product.

Ask for (or infer from context) <ProductName> before writing. Do not assume a default product. Never create a product journal at the vault root.

Folder layout (required)

Products/
├── MOC.md                 # index of all products
└── <ProductName>/
    ├── 00 - Index/
    │   ├── MOC.md
    │   ├── Technical decisions.md
    │   ├── What works.md
    │   ├── What doesn't work.md
    │   ├── Monetization.md
    │   └── Distribution.md
    ├── Decisions/          # one note per decision
    ├── Learnings/          # what worked / didn't
    ├── Monetization/
    ├── Distribution/
    └── _templates/
        ├── Technical decision.md
        ├── Learning.md
        ├── Monetization note.md
        └── Distribution note.md

If Products/ or the product folder is missing, create this tree + index stubs + templates before writing notes. When adding a new product, also link it from Products/MOC.md.

When to write

Trigger	Destination
Architecture / stack choice locked	Decisions/
Something validated in build/prod	Learnings/ (worked: true)
Trap / dead end / cost surprise	Learnings/ (worked: false) + link from What doesn't work
Price, margin, billing model	Monetization/
Channels, CTAs, funnel, go-to-market	Distribution/

Paths above are relative to Products/<ProductName>/. After creating a note, link it from the matching 00 - Index/*.md list.

Note rules

1. English only — titles, bodies, folder names, templates.
2. One note = one idea. Prefer dated titles for decisions: YYYY-MM Short decision title.
3. No secrets — no API keys, tokens, passwords, .env values. Link GitHub issues instead.
4. Use wikilinks relative to the product folder: [[Decisions/YYYY-MM …]]. From vault root / Welcome, use [[Products/<ProductName>/…]].
5. Link build work to issues when known: https://github.com/<org>/<repo>/issues/N.
6. Tags use a product slug derived from the folder name (lowercase, hyphenated) — never bake one product into the skill.

Templates (use verbatim structure)

Technical decision

---
type: decision
status: accepted
date: YYYY-MM-DD
tags:
  - <product-slug>
  - decision
---

# <Title>

## Context

Why did we need to decide?

## Options

1. …
2. …

## Decision

We choose **…** because …

## Consequences

- Upside:
- Downside / debt:
- Revisit if:

Learning

---
type: learning
worked: true   # or false
date: YYYY-MM-DD
tags:
  - <product-slug>
  - learning
---

# <Title>

## Attempt

What did we try?

## Result

What happened?

## Lesson

What do we keep / never repeat?

Monetization note

---
type: monetization
date: YYYY-MM-DD
tags:
  - <product-slug>
  - monetization
---

# <Title>

## Hypothesis

## Price / structure

| Item | Who pays | Amount / rule |
|---|---|---|
| Product plan | Customer → us | |
| Pass-through / network fees | Customer → third party | when applicable |
| AI / infra COGS | Us | cap / overage |

## Expected margin

## Risks

## Links (issues / docs)

Distribution note

---
type: distribution
date: YYYY-MM-DD
tags:
  - <product-slug>
  - distribution
---

# <Title>

## Channel

## Message

## Funnel

1. …
2. …
3. …

## Metrics to watch

-

## What worked / didn't

Workflow

1. Confirm product folder name (required — ask if unclear).
2. Ensure Products/<ProductName>/ layout exists (bootstrap if needed).
3. Link new products from Products/MOC.md.
4. Classify the user’s ask → Decisions / Learnings / Monetization / Distribution.
5. Write the note with the matching template.
6. Update the relevant 00 - Index/*.md and product MOC.md if status changed.
7. Tell the user the vault-relative path (wikilink under Products/).

Bootstrap MOC stub

When creating a new product folder, seed 00 - Index/MOC.md with links to the five index notes + the four templates. Keep current-state bullets short and factual; fill from conversation context for that product only. Ensure Products/MOC.md lists the product.

Anti-patterns

• Do not create product journals at the vault root — always under Products/.
• Do not hardcode or default to a specific product name.
• Do not write non-English into this journal unless the user explicitly overrides.
• Do not dump raw chat transcripts — distill into Context / Decision / Lesson.
• Do not put deploy secrets or customer PII in notes.
• Do not invent pricing as settled fact; mark hypotheses clearly until a pricing decision is locked.