Obsidian Best Practices

Quick start — new vault setup

1. Create a vault folder (e.g., ~/vaults/brain).
2. Create the folder structure:

   vault/
   ├── _templates/
   ├── daily/
   ├── meetings/
   ├── projects/
   ├── references/
   ├── archive/
   └── attachments/
   

3. Enable core plugins: Daily Notes, Templates, Backlinks, Outgoing Links, Tags, Graph View, Command Palette, Page Preview, Bookmarks, Canvas, Properties View.
4. Install Tier 1 community plugins: Dataview, Templater, Obsidian Git, Tasks, Calendar.
5. Create _templates/daily.md, _templates/meeting.md, _templates/project.md, _templates/reference.md using the templates in references/templates-and-daily-notes.md.
6. Configure Daily Notes: date format YYYY-MM-DD, location daily/, template _templates/daily.md, open on startup.
7. Configure Templater: template folder _templates, enable folder templates (daily/ → _templates/daily.md, meetings/ → _templates/meeting.md), trigger on new file creation.
8. Initialize Git: git init, create private remote, configure Obsidian Git plugin (auto backup every 10-30 min, auto pull on open, auto push after commit).

Vault organization principles

• Flat by default. Most notes live at the vault root. Folders are for note types (meetings, projects), not topics. Topics are tags.
• Prefix system folders with _ (e.g., _templates/).
• Never nest deeper than one level.
• Archive, don't delete. Move stale notes to archive/.
• For alternative approaches (PARA, Zettelkasten, LYT), see references/vault-organization-and-style.md.

Frontmatter schema

Every note gets this minimum frontmatter:

---
tags:
  - type/meeting
  - project/auth-redesign
created: 2026-02-26
---

Rules:

• Flat YAML only — Obsidian doesn't support nested properties.
• Namespaced tags: type/, project/, lang/, topic/. Pluralize leaf values.
• created and updated in YYYY-MM-DD format.
• status on actionable notes: active, paused, completed, archived.
• Quote wikilinks in YAML: related: "[[Other Note]]".

Creating Obsidian-compatible Markdown

When creating or editing .md files for an Obsidian vault:

• Use wikilinks: [[Note Title]], not [Note Title](Note%20Title.md).
• Use aliases for readability: [[Authentication Middleware|auth middleware]].
• Use block references for precision: [[Architecture Doc#^decision-rationale]].
• Use ## for top-level sections (reserve # for the note title).
• Use callouts for emphasis:

  > [!warning] This API is deprecated in v3
  > Use the new endpoint instead.
  

• Use Templater syntax (<% tp.date.now("YYYY-MM-DD") %>) in template files only.
• Use inline fields for Dataview: Status:: In Progress.

Writing Dataview queries

Use dataview code blocks. Common patterns:

Table from tagged notes:

```dataview
TABLE status, priority, deadline
FROM #type/project
WHERE status = "active"
SORT priority ASC
```

Task aggregation:

```dataview
TASK
WHERE due >= date(today) AND due <= date(today) + dur(7 days)
WHERE !completed
SORT due ASC
```

Recent notes list:

```dataview
LIST
WHERE updated >= date(today) - dur(30 days)
SORT updated DESC
LIMIT 20
```

For DataviewJS, inline fields, and advanced patterns, see references/dataview-git-and-workflows.md.

Canvas files

Canvas files (.canvas) use the JSON Canvas spec:

• Nodes: text, file, link, or group.
• Edges connect nodes with optional labels and colors.
• Coordinates can be negative — the canvas extends infinitely.
• Color-code by category: blue for people, yellow for events, green for decisions, red for blockers.

Reference material

Consult these for detailed guidance:

• Vault structure, style guide, MOCs, linking strategies: references/vault-organization-and-style.md
• Core and community plugins, keyboard shortcuts: references/plugins-and-configuration.md
• Templates, frontmatter conventions, daily/weekly notes: references/templates-and-daily-notes.md
• Dataview queries, Git backup, knowledge capture pipeline: references/dataview-git-and-workflows.md
• AI plugins, MCP servers, agent skills, Canvas: references/ai-integrations-and-canvas.md
• Curated external links and resources: references/resources-and-links.md