obsidian-vault

name	obsidian-vault
description	Use when working in the Obsidian Vault directory — creating notes, editing vault content, running vault scripts, or answering questions about projects/experiments/infrastructure tracked in the vault

Obsidian Vault

Overview

Personal knowledge base in Obsidian with strict note conventions. Every note needs YAML frontmatter, uses templates, and maintains [[wikilink]] backlinks.

When to Use

• Creating or editing any .md file in the vault
• Running vault maintenance scripts (just commands)
• Looking up project/experiment/infrastructure context
• NOT for: editing code in external repos (even if documented here)

Folder Map

Folder	What goes here
00_Inbox	Unsorted captures
01_Daily	Daily journal notes
02_Projects	One subfolder per project — files named PROJECT.<name>.md, STRUCTURE.<name>.md, etc.
03_Area-Systems	Ongoing non-project areas
04_Research	Papers, analysis, extraction notes
05_Knowledge	Concepts, backlink maps, relationship reports
06_Experiments	Experiment logs
07_Infrastructure	Machine configs, toolchain, Programs/ catalog
08_Templates	Templater templates (use these for new notes)
09_Archive	Inactive content

Quick Reference: Frontmatter by Note Type

Type	Required fields
project	type: project, status, language_stack, domain, repo (url+path), primary_machine, related_experiments, tags
experiment	type: experiment, id: EXP-{date}-##, project, status, machine, code_branch, dataset, model, metrics, tags
daily	type: daily, date, focus (project+theme), tags
research	type: research, source_type, citation, topic, status, tags
concept	type: concept, domain, level, related_concepts, tags

Rules

1. Always use templates from 08_Templates/ when creating new notes
2. Always include YAML frontmatter — update type, status, project, machine, tags
3. Use [[Note Name]] wikilinks when referencing other notes
4. Maintain backlinks: projects<->experiments, experiments<->research, knowledge<->projects
5. Specify target machine when suggesting scripts/configs: $INFRA_DEV_HOST (dev workstation) or $INFRA_LAB_HOST (M3 homelab/devserver — not yet on Tailscale network, being set up)
6. Use Tailscale 100.x addresses for internal service endpoints
7. Read existing notes first — prefer vault context over assumptions about environment/conventions

Commands

just                          # List tasks
just build-project-graph      # Build backlink graph -> 05_Knowledge/
just check-project-graph      # Dry-run check
just project-graph            # Check + build
just project-graph-candidates # Relationship candidate report
just project-structure-notes  # Generate structure notes

Scripts in scripts/python/, run with python3.

Common Mistakes

• Creating notes without frontmatter or with incomplete fields
• Using bare text references instead of [[wikilinks]]
• Forgetting to specify which machine a script/config targets
• Putting project notes in wrong folder (use 02_Projects/<name>/)
• Not using the template when one exists for that note type