Guide · Agent skill
How to use the Obsidian Vault Manager agent skill
Updated · written with AI from the project's own documentation and checked against our catalogue data
The Obsidian Vault Manager skill teaches an AI agent how to work with an Obsidian vault on your computer. An Obsidian vault is simply a folder of Markdown notes plus a hidden .obsidian/ config folder. This guide shows you what the skill lets the agent do, how to install it, how to ask for things in plain language, and what to check before you let it edit your notes.
Obsidian Vault Managersteipete/agent-scripts · MIT Download the skill Quick start
- 1Download and unzip. Download the skill ZIP from this page and unzip it so the obsidian folder containing SKILL.md is in ~/.claude/skills/ or your project's .claude/skills/.
- 2Enable the Obsidian CLI. In Obsidian, open Settings → General → Advanced → Command line interface, enable it, and restart Obsidian.
- 3Check the command. Run command -v obsidian and obsidian vaults in a terminal to confirm the CLI is on your PATH and your vault is listed.
- 4Confirm your vault location. Make sure your vault is at ~/obsidian or tell the agent its path before asking for work.
- 5Ask in plain language. Describe the task, such as finding notes about a topic or appending to today's daily note, and name the note when you can.
- 6Review the changes. Check what the agent wrote or moved, especially on important notes, before relying on it.
What is an agent skill, and what does this one do?
An agent skill is a folder with a SKILL.md file that gives an AI agent instructions for a specific kind of task. Once this skill is installed, the agent knows the commands and rules for working with your local Obsidian vault.
With the skill, the agent can search notes, read notes, backlinks and properties, create notes, append to notes, and move notes so links can update. It can also inspect Bases, Canvas files and plugins. Where possible it prefers the official Obsidian command line tool (obsidian) over editing files blindly.
Install the obsidian skill
Download the ZIP for the skill from this page and unzip it. The skill is a single file, SKILL.md, inside the obsidian folder. Put that folder in one of these places:
For a personal skill available in every project, unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/. For a skill tied to one project, unzip it into that project's .claude/skills/ folder.
Alternatively, upload the skill in the Claude apps under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.
- Personal: ~/.claude/skills/
- Single project: <your-project>/.claude/skills/
- Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills (upload)
Set up Obsidian and the command line tool
The skill needs the Obsidian desktop app with the official command line interface enabled, and the obsidian command available on your PATH. The skill expects your vault at ~/obsidian. If your vault lives elsewhere, you must tell the agent the correct path.
To enable the CLI, go to Settings → General → Advanced → Command line interface, then restart Obsidian. You can check the setup from a terminal with the commands below. Global commands like version and vaults work anywhere; vault commands need you to be inside the vault folder.
- Obsidian desktop app with the command line interface enabled
- obsidian available on the PATH
- Vault at ~/obsidian, or the correct path given to the agent
- Shell access for commands such as rg and sed
command -v obsidian
obsidian version
obsidian vaults
cd ~/obsidian
obsidian commands filter=search:How to ask the agent for things
You do not need special syntax. Describe what you want in plain language and mention your vault or note when it matters, for example the note's path or the project name. The agent should pick the matching commands from the skill.
If you want the agent to avoid opening the Obsidian window after a change, say so. The skill only adds the open option when it is useful or you request it.
- Find notes that mention a term, such as a project name, and summarise what they say.
- Show the backlinks and properties for a specific note.
- Create a new note in a folder you name, with a short body.
- Append a follow-up item to today's daily note.
- Move a note to an archive folder so links can update.
- Check which Bases views exist in a .base file, or list enabled plugins.
Examples of common requests
Searches and reads use the official CLI for Obsidian-aware results, such as obsidian search query="OpenClaw" format=json. When you already know the exact path and need the raw file contents, the agent can read it directly with sed or search with rg.
For writes, the skill chooses the narrowest path. Creating a note uses obsidian create. Adding a line to the daily note uses obsidian daily:append. Simple edits to a Markdown file use apply_patch. Renames and moves use obsidian move, which is preferred because it can update links.
cd ~/obsidian
obsidian search query="OpenClaw" format=json
obsidian backlinks path="Folder/Note.md" format=json
obsidian create path="Notes/New.md" content="# New\n\nBody"
obsidian daily:append content="- Follow-up item"
obsidian move path="Notes/New.md" to="Archive/New.md"Safety: scripts, network and what the agent won't do
The skill runs scripts and shell commands on your machine. It does not use the network. Its instructions tell the agent to avoid bulk rewrites, review diffs on targeted paths, leave the .obsidian/ settings folder alone unless you ask, and not delete notes unless you explicitly ask. When deleting is needed it prefers trash over permanent delete.
The skill also says to preserve frontmatter and wikilinks unless the task is to refactor them, and not to guess when several vaults exist. Review any change the agent makes, especially on important notes, and keep a backup or version history of your vault.
- Runs scripts: yes. Uses network: no.
- No bulk rewrites; targeted paths and diff review.
- .obsidian/ settings are not changed unless requested.
- Notes are not deleted unless explicitly requested; trash is preferred.
- Frontmatter and wikilinks are kept unless refactoring is the task.
Tips for better results
Give the agent the vault path if yours is not ~/obsidian, and name the note path when you can. Narrow requests produce more reliable edits than broad ones like 'tidy up everything'.
For Bases, Canvas and plugin questions, ask the agent to inspect the file or list the plugins first. Structured files such as .canvas, .base and .json are read and edited as data, and JSON is validated after edits.
- Name the vault and note path in the request.
- Ask for one note or folder at a time rather than the whole vault.
- For long multi-line text, ask the agent to edit the Markdown file directly instead of passing it through the shell.
What people use it for
- Searching past meeting notes for a project name and summarising the decisions.
- Checking which notes link to a given note before reorganising a folder.
- Adding follow-up items to today's daily note during a work session.
- Moving finished project notes into an archive folder so their links update.
- Reviewing the views in a Bases file or the plugins enabled in a vault.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Obsidian agent skill free, and what licence does it use?
The skill is published under the MIT licence, as listed on this page. Obsidian itself is a separate app, and the skill needs the Obsidian desktop app with its command line interface enabled.
How do I install the obsidian skill?
Download the ZIP from this page and unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use, or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder. You can also upload it in the Claude apps under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.
What do I need before the skill works?
You need the Obsidian desktop app with the official command line interface enabled, the obsidian command on your PATH, a vault at ~/obsidian or a path you give the agent, and shell access for commands such as rg and sed.
Why does the agent say Vault not found?
Vault commands resolve the vault from the current folder, so they only work from inside ~/obsidian. Run cd ~/obsidian first, or tell the agent the correct vault path if yours is somewhere else.
Does the skill work with cloud-only or mobile-only vaults?
No. The skill depends on local Markdown files and a local CLI, and its paths are set to ~/obsidian, so cloud-only or mobile-only setups are not a good fit.
Can the skill delete or bulk-edit my notes?
Its instructions tell the agent not to bulk rewrite the vault or delete notes unless you explicitly ask, and to prefer trash over permanent delete. Still, review changes on important notes, since a wrong edit could damage content.
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Our verdict
Use this skill if you keep your notes in Obsidian on your own computer and want an agent to search, file, append to daily notes or reorganise notes while keeping links intact. Pick something else if you work only in the cloud or on mobile, have your vault somewhere other than ~/obsidian without wanting to configure it, or need unattended bulk edits to important notes.
Download the skill