obsidian

# Obsidian Teach agents **when** and **how** to work with the State and Church vaults through the Obsidian CLI — not the filesystem. ## Bootstrap On every session involving vault work: 1. Read [CONFIG.md](CONFIG.md). 2. Use MCP `user-obsidian` → `obsidian_cli` for all vault reads/writes. 3. If CLI calls fail, tell the user Obsidian or the requested vault may be unavailable — do not silently fall back to raw filesystem access. Vault locations are indexed in `~/.agentic/index.json` under `external_resources.obsidian_state` and `external_resources.obsidian_church`. CLI syntax and navigation patterns: [REFERENCE.md](REFERENCE.md). MCP `obsidian_cli` takes the command string **without** the `obsidian` prefix. Shell form is `obsidian <command>`. Parameters use `=`; flags (`silent`, `overwrite`) take no value. Always pass `vault=State` or `vault=Church` — do not rely on last-focused vault. Plugin/theme reload and debug: [REFERENCE.md](REFERENCE.md). ## Vault and folder routing - Always pass `vault=State` or `vault=Church`; preserve any vault boundary in the user's request or calling workflow. - Some agent-managed notes live under `Agentic/` in both vaults. For every named-note lookup, search the relevant vault's `Agentic/` folder before treating the note as missing. If no vault is specified, search `Agentic/` in both vaults. - Read or update an existing match in place. Never recreate a moved note at its former path or create a duplicate. If the same named note exists in both vaults and the requested write is not explicitly for both, ask which vault to update. - Create new agent-authored zettels under `Agentic/` in the selected vault unless the workflow explicitly requires another folder. <HARD-GATE> **Out of scope — use other skills instead:** - Blog publishing / Quartz sync - Periodic/daily/weekly/monthly notes (`#periodic`, `Periodic/`) - Literature / Zotero notes (`#literature`, `Literature/`) - Excalidraw embeds (`![[...excalidraw]]`) - Running Templater scripts (`<%* ... %>`) or QuickAdd macros - Editing MOC bodies to list zettels — Dataview handles that in Obsidian UI **Never** use raw filesystem tools on vault paths when Obsidian CLI is available. </HARD-GATE> ## When to use Obsidian | Use Obsidian | Use something else | |--------------|-------------------| | Capture an idea, insight, or link as a zettel | Todoist task → `focus` / `ramble` | | Read existing notes for context on a topic | Meeting analysis → Granola / `meeting-feedback` | | Find what's already written before building | Prior-art search → `literature-review` | | Persist knowledge that should live in the graph | Session diagnostics → `experience` | Trigger when the user mentions Obsidian, the State or Church vault, zettels, MOCs, or asks to save/find notes. ## Note-type judgment No folder-level rules — decide by note type: | Type | Tag | Agent behavior | |------|-----|----------------| | Atomic zettel | `idea` | Create/edit in `Agentic/` with full frontmatter | | Map of Content | `MOC` | Read and navigate; link **to** it from new zettels; don't edit MOC for listing | | Literature | `literature` | Out of scope | | Periodic | `periodic` | Out of scope | | Draft / clipping / file | varies | Read for context if useful; don't apply zettel rules unless asked | ## Workflows ### 1. Read for context Before answering or building on a topic: 1. `search query="<topic>" vault=<State-or-Church> path=Agentic limit=20`; then search `path=Notes` when needed 2. Read promising hits with `read file=<name>` 3. If a MOC exists, `read file=<MOC>` then `backlinks file=<MOC> counts` to find linked zettels 4. Summarize what the vault already says; cite note titles Ignore Dataview code blocks when reading — they won't execute via CLI. ### 2. Navigate a MOC graph Dataview on MOC pages is UI-only. Approximate with: 1. Find MOC: search by topic keyword or `#MOC` 2. `backlinks file="<MOC Name>" counts` — zettels linking to this MOC 3. `links file=<zettel>` — outgoing connections 4. `property:read name=related file=<zettel>` — explicit graph edges See [REFERENCE.md](REFERENCE.md) for full command cheat sheet. ### 3. Create a zettel Strict template match ([CONFIG.md](CONFIG.md), [REFERENCE.md](REFERENCE.md)): 1. Confirm topic and target MOC (search if unclear; ask one question if ambiguous) 2. `create name="<Title>" vault=<State-or-Church> path=Agentic/ content=<full note with frontmatter>` 3. Set `tags: [idea]`, today's date, `related:` with wikilink to MOC 4. Body content, then `---` and `## References` section 5. **Do not edit the MOC** — linking from the zettel's `related:` is enough; Dataview lists it in Obsidian Title = filename. One atomic idea per note. ### 4. Edit a zettel 1. `read file=<name>` first — never blind-write 2. Prefer surgical edits: `append`, `prepend`, or `property:set` 3. Preserve existing frontmatter schema and References section 4. When adding a new MOC link, update `related:` on the zettel only ### 5. Capture from conversation When the user shares an insight worth keeping: 1. Propose a zettel title and MOC placement 2. Show draft frontmatter + body for approval if the edit is substantial 3. Create via CLI after approval (or immediately if user said "save this to Obsidian") ## Rules - One question at a time when MOC placement or title is ambiguous. - Search before create — avoid duplicate zettels on the same idea. - Wikilinks in `related:` use `[[Note Name]]` syntax matching existing vault names. - Status emoji (🟥🟨🟩) is optional; leave blank if unknown. - Do not set `publish:` unless the user asks.