How to use the Obsidian Bases Builder agent skill

What the obsidian-bases skill makes the agent do

An agent skill is a folder with a SKILL.md file that tells an AI agent how to handle a certain kind of task. This one covers Obsidian Bases. Bases are saved views of your notes: they can filter notes, show their properties and formulas, and display them as tables, cards, lists or, on newer Obsidian versions, kanban boards.

With the skill installed, the agent knows the Bases file format and the common top-level keys (filters, formulas, properties, summaries and views). It can explain filter and formula syntax, draft a .base file, and check the YAML, quoting, property names and formula references before you use it.

The skill is designed to answer syntax and design questions read-only. If you ask it to change a .base file, it is meant to follow a reviewed transaction process inside your vault under wiki/, rather than writing the file directly.

• Explains and drafts .base files with filters, formulas, properties and summaries
• Supports table, cards and list views, and kanban views where your Obsidian version allows them
• Validates expressions and null handling before you preview a file
• Routes any requested .base edit through an inspected, approved transaction

What you need before you install

The skill belongs to the claude-obsidian product. Its file refers to a core script at scripts/claude-obsidian.py and to reference documents outside the skill folder, so the wider claude-obsidian product must be installed locally. The skill folder alone is not enough for edits.

You also need Obsidian with Bases support. Table and cards need a recent Obsidian release, list needs a later one, and native kanban needs the newest of the three. The skill's own version boundary section lists the exact minimums. Python 3 is needed for the transaction inspect and apply commands. Map views require the Maps plugin.

• Obsidian with Bases support (check the minimum version for the view type you want)
• claude-obsidian installed locally, including scripts/claude-obsidian.py
• Python 3 for transaction commands
• Optional: the separate kepano/obsidian-skills obsidian-bases skill, which the file prefers for detailed syntax

How to install the obsidian-bases skill

Download the ZIP for the skill from this page and unzip it. To make it available across your projects, place the unzipped skill folder in ~/.claude/skills/. To limit it to one project, place it in that project's .claude/skills/ folder.

If you use the Claude apps instead of a local folder, open Settings, go to Capabilities, then Skills, and upload the skill there.

• Personal install: unzip into ~/.claude/skills/
• Project install: unzip into the project's .claude/skills/ folder
• Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload

How to trigger the skill with natural requests

You do not need special syntax. Describe what you want in plain language and mention Bases or a .base file. The skill's description covers requests about Obsidian Bases, database-like vault views, dynamic tables, reading lists, task trackers, filters, formulas, summaries and .base file edits.

Be specific about the notes you want to select, the properties to show and the view type. The agent starts by inspecting representative note properties and any existing .base file, so it helps to name a folder or tag.

• Design only: Make a Bases table of wiki pages with status and updated date, filtered to the wiki folder.
• Syntax help: Why does my formula need quotes around the string in this filter?
• Edit request: Add a cards view called Reading list to my Dashboard base, showing author and status.

Examples of Bases the skill helps you write

A common pattern is a global filter that limits a Base to one folder, then one or more views that choose columns. Global filters apply to every view, and a view can add its own filters. Notes can be embedded in a Markdown page, either as a whole Base or as one named view.

Use note properties by name, file metadata such as file.name or file.mtime, and computed properties written as formula.<name>. Define every formula before you reference it in a view.

• Reading list: a cards view of notes tagged or grouped as books you are reading
• Wiki page table: a table of wiki notes with status and updated columns
• Status board: a kanban grouped by an existing editable status property, on newer Obsidian versions
• Dashboard: one .base file embedded in a note, showing a named view

Safety notes: scripts, network and edits

The skill runs scripts, because the transaction commands call Python 3 and the core claude-obsidian script. It does not use the network. Before any edit, the agent is meant to resolve the vault, build one transaction bundle with operation type base, and inspect it. You review the approval hash it returns, then apply the change once.

Be careful with date arithmetic. The skill states that current documentation about date subtraction conflicts, so date formulas are unverified until you test them in your own Obsidian version. Also note that a native kanban card move can change a note property, and grouping by file.folder can move files.

• Scripts: yes, transaction inspect and apply run through Python 3
• Network: no
• Edits go through an inspected, approved transaction, not a direct write
• Test date formulas in your own Obsidian version before relying on them

Tips for better results

Give the agent a real example note so it can check property names rather than guessing them. If a column will be empty because no notes have that property, the skill says so; ask for that to be stated plainly.

After an applied edit, ask the agent for the operation ID, the exact changed path and the validation it performed. Rendering still has to be checked in Obsidian itself, because the skill keeps static checks separate from native display.

• Name the folder or tag that defines the notes you want
• Ask for the smallest filter that selects the right notes first
• Keep .base files under wiki/ when you want edits
• Open the result in Obsidian and confirm it renders before you rely on it