Obsidian Skill

How This Works

The vault is a directory of .md files synced between machines (typically via Syncthing, but any file sync works). Anything written to the vault appears on all synced devices.

Primary use case: Sharing code snippets, notes, and structured content through Obsidian — persists across sessions, renders nicely in Obsidian, and is searchable.

Vault Location

Set SNIPPETS_VAULT_PATH to your vault directory. Defaults to ~/snippets-vault if unset. Point this at a dedicated directory — not your home dir or any folder containing secrets.

Reading & Writing Notes

Direct File I/O (preferred)

Just read/write .md files in the vault directory. Obsidian picks up changes automatically via file sync.

Markdown Format

Notes are plain Markdown with optional YAML frontmatter:

---
created: 2026-04-05
tags: [snippet, python]
---

# Note Title

Content here. Use standard Markdown formatting.

Sharing Code Snippets

Naming Convention

code_snippets/
├── python/
│   └── http-server.md
├── bash/
│   └── find-large-files.md
├── typescript/
│   └── debounce.md
├── docker/
│   └── healthcheck.md
└── _uncategorized/
    └── random-thing.md

Rules:

• Folder = language/tech (python/, bash/, typescript/, docker/, sql/, lua/, gdscript/, etc.)
• Filename = what it does (kebab-case): json-parser.md, not snippet-001.md
• No date prefixes — sort by modified time in Obsidian
• One snippet per file — keeps things searchable and linkable
• _uncategorized/ for anything that doesn't fit a clear bucket

Snippet Template

---
created: YYYY-MM-DD
language: <lang>
tags: [snippet, <lang>, <topic>]
---

# Descriptive Title

Description or context here.

\```<lang>
# code here
\```

Usage: `command to run if applicable`

When to Share via Obsidian vs Chat

Use Obsidian vault when:

• Code snippets the user might reference later
• Anything with syntax highlighting that benefits from persistence
• Reference material or reusable code

Use chat directly when:

• Quick one-off code blocks in active discussion
• Transient stuff that doesn't need to persist

Notification Convention

When dropping a snippet, send a brief heads-up in chat:

> "Dropped snippet: code_snippets/python/http-server.md"

Markdown Rules

These files render in Obsidian, not Discord/chat. Write standard CommonMark Markdown:

• Headers: Use # / ## / ### — never bold text as a fake header
• Code blocks: Always use fenced code blocks with language tag ( `python ) — never inline backticks for multi-line code
• No chat-isms: No > blockquotes for emphasis, no ~~strikethrough~~ abuse, no platform-specific formatting
• Links: Wikilinks ([[other-note]]) for internal references, standard text for external
• Lists: Use - or 1. with proper indentation
• Emphasis: italic and bold are fine — use sparingly, for actual emphasis
• Tables: Standard Markdown tables

The goal: clean, readable notes that render well in Obsidian's reading view.

obsidian-cli (optional)

If obsidian-cli is installed and the vault is registered with Obsidian desktop:

obsidian-cli search "query"              # search note names
obsidian-cli search-content "query"      # search inside notes
obsidian-cli list                         # list files

Direct file I/O is the reliable path on headless Linux.

Safety

• Only read/write .md files in the vault directory
• Never touch .obsidian/ or other app config directories
• Only point SNIPPETS_VAULT_PATH at a dedicated snippet/note directory — never at home, ~/.ssh, password stores, or credential-containing repos
• Files written to the vault propagate to all synced machines

Tips

• Don't touch .obsidian/ — that's Obsidian's config
• File sync picks up changes automatically (typically within seconds)
• Wikilinks work: [[other-note]] links between notes
• Frontmatter is searchable in Obsidian
• Use folders for organization — Obsidian handles them natively
• Create language subfolders as needed — the vault grows with usage