obsidian-vault-tooling

name	obsidian-vault-tooling
description	Generic Obsidian vault operations through this repo's MCP tooling; use when you need to access, read, update, and navigate vault content safely.
metadata	{"short-description":"Generic vault access and safe Obsidian MCP workflows"}
title	Obsidian Vault Tooling
updated	"2026-02-15T00:00:00.000Z"
project	vault
note_type	skill
status	active
tags	["vault","skills","obsidian","mcp"]

Obsidian Vault Tooling

Use this skill for general-purpose vault work when a task does not require a specialized workflow.

Examples:

• inspect vault structure and find notes
• read/update notes safely through MCP tools
• move/rename notes while preserving links
• edit frontmatter, tags, and metadata
• run vault UI/workspace actions when explicitly requested

Quick start

1. Run obsidian_list_vaults and pick a target vault.
2. Confirm access with obsidian_vault_info.
3. Gather context with obsidian_list_notes, obsidian_search_notes, and obsidian_read_note.
4. Apply requested changes with the narrowest mutation tool.
5. Re-read modified paths and report exactly what changed.

Workflow

1) Discover and scope

• Always vault-scope calls (every tool except obsidian_list_vaults needs vault).
• Use obsidian_list_folders / obsidian_list_notes to understand allowed paths.
• If PATH_FORBIDDEN appears, switch to an allowed prefix and continue there.

2) Read first

• Read note content: obsidian_read_note
• Inspect metadata/frontmatter/links: obsidian_get_note_metadata
• Search by topic/path: obsidian_search_notes
• Use graph context when needed: obsidian_get_backlinks, obsidian_get_tag_index, obsidian_get_unresolved_links
• Prefer updating existing notes and indexes rather than creating duplicate notes.

3) Mutate safely (only if requested)

• Create/update notes: obsidian_create_note, obsidian_update_note
• Frontmatter-only edits: obsidian_upsert_frontmatter
• Move/rename: obsidian_move_note (preferred) or obsidian_move_path
• Delete: obsidian_delete_note / obsidian_delete_path
• Use expectedMtime when available to avoid clobbering concurrent edits.

4) Verify and report

• Re-read every changed note.
• Re-check metadata if frontmatter/links/tags changed.
• Report path-level diffs in plain language.

5) UI and workspace tools (optional)

Use workspace/command tools only when explicitly requested:

• obsidian_open_note, obsidian_open_search
• obsidian_list_commands, obsidian_run_command
• respect command/workspace policy gates; do not bypass blocked actions.

Error handling

• WRITE_DISABLED: switch to read-only output and explain limitation.
• PATH_FORBIDDEN: request allowed path or use an allowed folder.
• CONFLICT_MTIME: re-read and retry once with fresh mtime.
• NOT_FOUND: search/list to re-resolve the path before retrying.