Obsidian File Manager Skill

Obsidian File Manager

Vault file management via the official Obsidian CLI with direct-file fallback.

Vault

Path: /Users/arlenagreer/Library/Mobile Documents/iCloud~md~obsidian/Documents/Obsidian Vault
Name: Obsidian Vault

Quick Reference: CLI Commands

For vault operations, prefer the obsidian CLI directly when no script workflow is needed:

# Search
obsidian search query="my topic"
obsidian search query="my topic" format=json

# Read/write
obsidian read path="folder/note.md"
obsidian create path="folder/note.md" content="# Title"
obsidian append path="folder/note.md" content="New content"
obsidian prepend path="folder/note.md" content="Top content"

# Move (link-safe — preserves all internal links)
obsidian move path="old/note.md" to="new/folder"

# Properties
obsidian property:set name="lifecycle" value="processed" path="folder/note.md"
obsidian property:read name="lifecycle" path="folder/note.md"

# Tags and structure
obsidian tags counts
obsidian files folder="sessions" ext=md
obsidian backlinks file="My Note"
obsidian orphans

# Daily notes
obsidian daily:read
obsidian daily:append content="- Meeting notes here"

Script Operations

Use scripts for workflows requiring naming conventions, frontmatter generation, and lifecycle management.

create — Create new document with proper naming and tags

ruby ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/create_in_vault.rb \
  --type session --project myproject \
  --subject "feature work" \
  --content "# Session Notes\n\n..."

move — Move external file into vault (link-safe via CLI)

ruby ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/move_to_vault.rb \
  --source /path/to/doc.md --type plan --project myproject

update-lifecycle — Transition document lifecycle state

ruby ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/update_lifecycle.rb \
  --path sessions/myproject/session_myproject_20260310.md \
  --lifecycle processed

search — Search vault with structured filters

ruby ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/search_vault.rb \
  --query "project:myproject lifecycle:active type:session"

archive — Auto-archive old documents by retention policy

ruby ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/auto_archive.rb --dry-run

File Organization

Files follow {type}/{project}/filename.md partitioning:

| Type | Directory | Purpose | |------|-----------|---------| | session | sessions/{project}/ | Development session artifacts | | plan | planning/{project}/ | Implementation plans | | prd | projects/{project}/ | Product requirements | | adr, decision | decisions/{project}/ | Architecture decisions | | investigation | investigations/{project}/ | Research and analysis | | resource | resources/{project}/ | Reference materials |

Filenames use snake_case: {type}_{subject}_{project}[_{date}][_{counter}].md

Lifecycle States

| State | Auto-Archive | Description | |-------|-------------|-------------| | master | Never | Reference docs | | active | Never | Currently in use | | processed | After 30 days | Work complete | | trash | After 7 days | Abandoned | | archived | N/A | Long-term storage |

Fallback Behavior

All scripts try the CLI first. When Obsidian is not running, they fall back to direct file operations against the vault path. The CLI is preferred because obsidian move preserves internal links, and obsidian search uses the full index.

Additional References

For full parameter docs for each script, see references/operations.md
For vault config and tag system details, see references/configuration.md
For workflow integration patterns, see references/integration.md

Agent Skills: Obsidian File Manager

Install this agent skill to your local

Skill Files