Maintain an Obsidian vault with clean graph structure, hierarchical indexes, and lifecycle-based classification. Use when: (1) creating or editing Obsidian vault notes, (2) organizing or classifying content into vault categories, (3) maintaining folder indexes and navigation, (4) checking vault graph health or finding orphaned notes, (5) working with any Obsidian MCP tools (mcp__obsidian__*), or (6) the user mentions their vault, notes, or Obsidian.
Before any vault operation, read the live VAULT.md in the vault using mcp__obsidian__view for current organizational rules, categories, folder structure, and privacy boundaries. VAULT.md is the single source of truth for all vault-specific details (current areas, projects, naming, privacy classifications).
Apply in order when creating or filing a note:
Data/Automation/Areas/Projects/YYYY/QN/Knowledge/Archive/If uncertain, ask the user about timeline (ongoing vs. finite) and purpose (tracking vs. reference).
mcp__obsidian__vault action list to avoid duplicatesmcp__obsidian__vault action create
[[ParentFolder|<- Back to Parent]]mcp__obsidian__edit to add entry to the folder note (FolderName/FolderName.md)
Projects use Projects/YYYY/QN/ProjectName/ structure with indexes at each level. Each level adds progressively more detail; upper levels stay concise for scanning. Sub-pages are only linked from the project-level index, never from higher indexes.
Create year/quarter indexes when the first project in that period is created. Never skip index levels.
Folder note convention: Every folder has FolderName/FolderName.md.
When adding content to any folder:
Use mcp__obsidian__graph to check connectivity:
statistics - get link counts and identify orphansneighbors with a sourcePath - check a note's connectionsforwardlinks - verify outgoing linkstraverse from category entry points to verify reachabilityEvery note must be reachable from an index. No orphaned files.
Common fixes:
mcp__obsidian__edit action append on the folder notemcp__obsidian__edit action append on the orphaned notemcp__obsidian__vault action move, then update both old and new indexesHome.md and VAULT.mdRead VAULT.md for current privacy classifications. Categories are marked as always-private, safe to publish, or review-first.
.base files: database-like views, filters, formulas, summaries. Defer to this skill when creating or editing Bases.This skill handles vault-level organization (where files go, index maintenance, graph health). The companion skills handle content-level concerns (how to format notes, how to build views).
After any vault modification, verify: