save-local-file

name	save-local-file
description	File a local file — PDF, image, or document already on disk — into the current Obsidian vault as a clipping with the file attached. Use when the user gives a file path and wants it saved to their vault, or when notes:clip has fetched a file and needs it filed. For URLs, use notes:clip instead.

Save Local File

Copy a file already on disk into the vault's attachments and write a clipping note that embeds it.

Input

$ARGUMENTS — a path to a local file, optionally followed by extra instructions (a title, a project to tag, a folder). Honour those after filing.

Step 1 — Locate the vault

Walk up from the current working directory looking for a .obsidian/ directory. The first ancestor containing one is the vault root.

d="$PWD"
while [ "$d" != "/" ]; do
  [ -d "$d/.obsidian" ] && { echo "$d"; break; }
  d="$(dirname "$d")"
done

If none is found, stop and say so — never write outside a vault. There is no config file.

Step 2 — Read the vault's conventions

If the vault root has a CLAUDE.md, read it and follow what it says about clippings folder, attachments folder, frontmatter, tags, and daily-note updates. The vault's own conventions win. The defaults below apply only when it is silent.

Defaults: clippings in Clippings/, attachments in Clippings/attachments/.

Step 3 — Validate and copy

Confirm the file exists and is readable. Copy it into the attachments folder, keeping the original filename so the source stays identifiable. If a file of that name already exists, append a timestamp (report-20260824-143022.pdf) rather than overwriting.

Step 4 — Read the file before writing about it

Read the file's contents. For a PDF, check for a text layer first (pdftotext) and fall back to the Read tool's pages: parameter; for an image, look at it. Never write a summary of a file you have not opened — a filed-but-unexamined attachment is worse than no note, because it looks complete.

Step 5 — Write the clipping note

Title from the filename: strip the extension, replace underscores and dashes with spaces, title-case it. quarterly_report_2024.pdf → Quarterly Report 2024.

---
tags:
  - clippings
  - inbox
source: <origin if known, else "local file">
date_captured: YYYY-MM-DD
---

# <Title>

![[<original-filename.ext>]]

---

## Summary

<what the file actually contains, from having read it>

Embed with Obsidian's wikilink syntax ![[filename]] — PDFs and images then render inline.

Step 6 — Update today's daily note

Add a link to the clipping. If today's daily note does not exist, create it from the vault's daily-note template if one exists.

Step 7 — Report

Print the note path as the final line, machine-parseable so callers can chain:

OUTPUT_FILE:/absolute/path/to/vault/Clippings/Title.md

Errors

• No vault found — stop, explain, write nothing.
• File missing or unreadable — stop and say which.
• Name collision — never overwrite; suffix with a timestamp.
• Unreadable PDF (no text layer, Read fails) — still file it, but say plainly in the note that the contents could not be extracted rather than inventing a summary.