Obsidian Vault Context
Key Concept
Obsidian vaults are just folders of markdown files. Use direct file operations (read_file, write, search_replace) first. Only use obsidian-cli for UI operations or link updates.
Steve's Vault
- •Path:
/Users/steve/Documents/Main - •Detection: Try
obsidian-cli print-defaultfirst, then check/Users/steve/Documents/Main
Folder Structure
code
/Users/steve/Documents/Main/ ├── Daily/ # Daily notes (YYYY-MM-DD.md) ├── AI/ # AI/LLM research ├── Software Development/ ├── Technologies/ ├── Work/ ├── assets/ # Images and attachments └── .obsidian/ # Internal config - don't modify
Daily Notes
- •Format:
YYYY-MM-DD.md(e.g.,2025-10-18.md) - •Location:
/Daily/folder - •No frontmatter - clean markdown
- •Path:
/Users/steve/Documents/Main/Daily/{YYYY-MM-DD}.md
Research Format
Steve captures research in daily notes using this template:
markdown
### [Tool/Topic Name] **Link:** [URL] **What it is:** [Brief description] **Key Features:** - Feature 1 - Feature 2 **Why it's interesting:** [Relevance] **Use case:** [When to use it]
Links & Formatting
- •Internal links:
[[Note Name]](wikilinks) - •External links:
[Text](URL)(markdown) - •Images:
![[image.png]](stored in /assets/)
Common Operations
Read daily note:
python
read_file("/Users/steve/Documents/Main/Daily/2025-10-18.md")
Append to daily note:
python
existing = read_file(daily_path) updated = existing + "\n\n### New Entry\n**Link:** ...\n" write(daily_path, updated)
Create new note:
python
write("/Users/steve/Documents/Main/Topic/Note.md", "# Note\n\nContent")
obsidian-cli (Use Sparingly)
- •
obsidian-cli print-default- Get vault path - •
obsidian-cli open "Note"- Open in Obsidian UI - •
obsidian-cli move "Old" "New"- Rename with link updates
Prefer direct file operations over obsidian-cli for reading/writing.
Best Practices
- •Check if file exists before appending
- •Add
\n\nspacing between sections - •Use YYYY-MM-DD format for daily notes
- •Don't modify
.obsidian/folder - •Preserve existing frontmatter if present