vault-query

What I do

Before working on any technical topic, I search the Obsidian vault to find existing notes that may cover the topic. This ensures I'm using existing knowledge and avoiding duplicates.

When to use me

Use this skill whenever:

• •You need to find documentation about a tool, concept, or process
• •You want to verify how something is already documented
• •You're researching a technical topic
• •You're about to explain or use something that might already have notes
• •You need to understand what's already known before answering a question

Vault structure

The vault at ~/brain is organised by note type:

brain/
├── concepts/     # "What is X?" - theory, mental models, how things work
├── tools/        # "How do I use X?" - specific tools and technologies
├── patterns/     # Reusable techniques, workflows, design patterns
├── guides/       # Step-by-step procedural notes, runbooks, how-tos
├── exercises/    # Hands-on practice and exercises
├── journal/      # Daily notes, learning logs, reflections
└── _meta/templates/  # Note and journal templates

Frontmatter taxonomy

• •type: concept | tool | pattern | guide | exercise | reference
• •domain: networking | systems | dev | security | cloud | devops | data | misc
• •level: beginner | intermediate | advanced

Workflow

1. •

   Search by folder first: If you know the note type, search the matching folder directly:

   • •Looking for a tool reference? Search tools/
   • •Looking for a concept explanation? Search concepts/
   • •Looking for exercises? Search exercises/
   • •Looking for a pattern or technique? Search patterns/
   • •Looking for a how-to or runbook? Search guides/
2. •

   Search broadly: Use glob to find notes by filename patterns (e.g., **/*tcpdump*, **/*networking*) and grep to search within note contents

3. •

   Review existing notes:

   • •Read relevant notes to understand what's already documented
   • •Note the confidence level in frontmatter to gauge reliability
   • •Check the last_reviewed date for currency
4. •

   Decide next step:

   • •If good notes exist: Use the information and cite sources
   • •If partial notes exist: Read them and update/expand as needed
   • •If no notes exist: Load the vault-document skill to create one

Important notes

• •Always check the vault first before creating new documentation
• •Pay attention to confidence levels -- low confidence notes may need verification
• •Cross-reference multiple notes when available
• •If you find relevant notes, mention them in your response
• •Wiki-links always use kebab-case matching filenames: [[linux-kernel]] not [[Linux Kernel]]