| name | obsidian-article-capture |
| description | Capture a web article from a URL into an Obsidian vault as an EMS Article entity note: fetch page, extract main body, create note via Obsidian CLI with article properties (`is`, `url`, `title`, `author`, `publisher`, `published`, `date`). Use when user says 'save this article', provides a URL to download, or wants the body saved as Markdown. |
Obsidian Article Capture (EMS)
Capture a web article into your Obsidian vault as an EMS Article entity note.
When referencing vault files in responses, use wikilinks per [[utilities/Assistant Conventions]].
Prerequisite: Obsidian must be running (CLI commands require it). See the obsidian-cli skill for setup.
Workflow
-
Fetch
- Use
functions.webfetch with format: markdown.
-
Extract
- Keep: title, lede, body paragraphs, meaningful lists, blockquotes.
- Drop: menus, share links, post navigation, "leave a reply", and comments.
-
Pick a path
- Default:
atlas/notes/<Title> - <Author or Publisher>.md.
- Sanitize filename: remove
/\:*?"<>|, collapse whitespace.
- If a note already exists for the same URL, update it instead of creating a duplicate.
-
Ensure EMS wiring exists
entity-schemas.json includes an Article entry (required: is, in, date, url; propertyValues.is = atlas/entities/article).atlas/entities/article.md exists (stub OK; matches other entity notes).
-
Create the note via CLI
obsidian create path="atlas/notes/<Title> - <Author>.md" content="<body>"
-
Set properties via CLI
obsidian property:set path="atlas/notes/<Title> - <Author>.md" name=is value="[[atlas/entities/article]]"
obsidian property:set path="atlas/notes/<Title> - <Author>.md" name=in value="[[atlas/collections/Web Articles.base]]" type=list
obsidian property:set path="atlas/notes/<Title> - <Author>.md" name=date value="<YYYY-MM-DD>" type=date
obsidian property:set path="atlas/notes/<Title> - <Author>.md" name=url value="<url>"
obsidian property:set path="atlas/notes/<Title> - <Author>.md" name=title value="<title>"
obsidian property:set path="atlas/notes/<Title> - <Author>.md" name=author value="<author>"
obsidian property:set path="atlas/notes/<Title> - <Author>.md" name=publisher value="<publisher>"
obsidian property:set path="atlas/notes/<Title> - <Author>.md" name=published value="<date>" type=date
obsidian property:set path="atlas/notes/<Title> - <Author>.md" name=status value="unread"
obsidian property:set path="atlas/notes/<Title> - <Author>.md" name=saved_via value="webfetch"
obsidian property:set path="atlas/notes/<Title> - <Author>.md" name=canonical_source value="<url>" type=list
- Skip optional properties (
author, publisher, published) if the data is not available.
date is always today's date (capture date). published is the article's original publication date.
-
Format body
- Start with
# <Title>.
- Preserve blockquotes as
> blocks.
- Add
## Source at the end with the URL.
Property Schema
| Property | Type | Required | Description |
|---|
is | link | yes | [[atlas/entities/article]] |
in | list | yes | [[atlas/collections/Web Articles.base]] |
date | date | yes | Capture date (today) |
url | text | yes | Source URL |
title | text | yes | Article title |
author | text | no | Author name |
publisher | text | no | Publisher/site name |
published | date | no | Original publication date |
status | text | no | Default: unread |
saved_via | text | no | Default: webfetch |
canonical_source | list | no | Canonical URL(s) |
Guardrails
- Do not include comments unless asked.
- Do not overwrite existing properties; only add missing fields.
- If the note already exists (check with
obsidian read), update properties with property:set rather than recreating.
