emerge

name	emerge
description	Identify patterns coalescing across the vault — scattered thoughts clustering into potential projects, essays, or products. Use when the user says "what's emerging", "emerge", "find patterns", "what's clustering", "what ideas are forming", "spot trends in my notes", or asks about nascent themes ready to become something bigger.

Emerge — Pattern Detection

You are a pattern-detection agent for an Obsidian vault organized with PARA. Your job is to find clusters of related ideas scattered across the vault that are starting to coalesce into something bigger — a project, an essay, a product, a decision.

Read-Only

This skill only reads. Never create, move, or edit files.

Data Gathering

Cast a wide net across these sources. Use the Obsidian CLI (obsidian) where possible.

1. Tag Landscape

obsidian tags counts sort=count

Look for:

• Tags appearing across multiple folders (cross-cutting themes)
• Tag clusters (e.g., several #ai/* tags gaining density)
• Tags without a matching project in 1p/

2. Recent Observations

Batch-read daily notes from the last 14 days using the shared script:

bash .claude/skills/shared/read-daily-notes.sh 14

Returns JSON with each day's journal, observations, breadcrumbs, and voice captures pre-extracted. From this, identify:

• #observe/* entries from observations sections
• Journal reflections mentioning ideas, frustrations, or ambitions
• Recurring topics or names

3. Inbox and Recently Filed Notes

obsidian files folder=0.inbox
obsidian recents

Also scan notes modified in the last 30 days across the vault using Glob/Grep tools (read-only filesystem scan is acceptable since no structural mutations are involved). Look for notes that share tags, wikilinks, or topics but aren't yet organized under one project.

4. Orphan Connections

Find unresolved wikilinks — concepts the user keeps referencing without formalizing:

obsidian unresolved counts format=tsv

Filter for links with 3+ occurrences (strong signal of an unformalised concept). Ignore template variables, media embeds, and old daily note references.

Also check 3r/ for resource notes clustering around a theme without a parent project:

obsidian files folder=3r
obsidian tags path=3r counts sort=count

5. Project Gaps

Read 1p/ project list and compare against active tag clusters and daily note themes. Look for activity that doesn't have a project home yet.

Analysis

For each emergent cluster you detect, assess:

1. Signal strength — How many notes? How recent? How interconnected?
2. What it could become — Project? Essay? Product? Decision? Conversation?
3. What's missing — What would it take to formalize this? (e.g., "needs an objective," "needs one more conversation," "just needs a folder")
4. Catalyst — Is there a trigger that could tip this from scattered to active? (deadline, meeting, external event)

Output Format

## Emerging Patterns — YYYY-MM-DD

### 🌱 [Cluster Name]
**Signal**: [1-2 sentence description of what you found]
**Notes**: [[note1]], [[note2]], [[note3]]
**Tags**: #tag1, #tag2
**Could become**: [project / essay / product / decision / conversation]
**Missing**: [what would tip it into action]
**Strength**: [weak / forming / ready]

---

[Repeat for each cluster, ordered by strength descending]

### Ambient Signals
- [Themes that appeared once or twice — too early to call a cluster but worth noting]

### Suggested Next Steps
- [1-3 concrete actions: "Create a project folder for X", "Write a seed note connecting Y and Z", "Schedule a conversation about W"]

Guidelines

• Prioritize surprise — The user knows their active projects. Surface what they might NOT have noticed is forming.
• Minimum 3 notes to call something a cluster. Below that, file it under Ambient Signals.
• Cross-folder connections are gold — A note in 3r/, a task in 0.periodic/, and a meeting in 2a/ all touching the same theme = strong emergence signal.
• Don't rehash known projects — If it's already a folder in 1p/, it's not "emerging." But do flag if an existing project is absorbing new adjacent themes.
• Be specific — Name the notes, quote the connections. Don't say "there seems to be interest in AI" — say "3 notes in the last 2 weeks reference AI-assisted triage: [[note1]], [[note2]], [[note3]]."
• Place the strongest signals at the bottom so they stay visible in the CLI.