Brain Canvas

Step 1: Understand What to Visualize

Ask the user (or infer from context) what to map:

• A process or workflow (e.g., "map my content pipeline")
• Relationships between projects (e.g., "show how my projects connect")
• A specific topic across multiple notes (e.g., "visualize everything about authentication")
• A brainstorm or mind map (e.g., "map out ideas for X")

Step 2: Gather Source Material

If visualizing vault content:

With Obsidian CLI:

obsidian search query=<topic> format=json
obsidian backlinks file=<note-name> format=json

Without Obsidian CLI:

• Search for relevant notes using Glob and Grep
• Read the most relevant ones to extract key concepts

Step 3: Design the Canvas Layout

Plan the layout:

• Left to right: for processes/pipelines (input -> process -> output)
• Hub and spoke: for a central concept with related ideas
• Grid: for parallel items of equal weight
• Hierarchical: for org charts, taxonomy, or nested concepts

Step 4: Build the Canvas JSON

Obsidian canvas format is a .canvas file (JSON):

{
  "nodes": [
    {
      "id": "node1",
      "type": "text",
      "text": "## Title\nContent here",
      "x": 0,
      "y": 0,
      "width": 250,
      "height": 120,
      "color": "1"
    },
    {
      "id": "node2",
      "type": "file",
      "file": "Human/Projects/MyProject.md",
      "x": 350,
      "y": 0,
      "width": 250,
      "height": 120
    },
    {
      "id": "node3",
      "type": "link",
      "url": "https://example.com",
      "x": 700,
      "y": 0,
      "width": 250,
      "height": 120
    }
  ],
  "edges": [
    {
      "id": "edge1",
      "fromNode": "node1",
      "fromSide": "right",
      "toNode": "node2",
      "toSide": "left",
      "label": "leads to"
    }
  ]
}

Node types:

• text -- inline markdown text (use for concepts, labels, summaries)
• file -- link to an existing vault file (renders the note preview)
• link -- external URL card
• group -- container for grouping related nodes (add label field)

Color values (Obsidian theme colors):

• "1" = red, "2" = orange, "3" = yellow, "4" = green, "5" = cyan, "6" = purple

Layout tips:

• Space nodes at least 50px apart
• Standard node size: 250x120 for text, 400x300 for file previews
• Group containers: set x/y to encompass children, add padding of 50px

Step 5: Save the Canvas

Save to Machine/Canvases/{descriptive-name}.canvas

Create the directory if it doesn't exist.

With Obsidian CLI: After saving, run:

obsidian open "Machine/Canvases/{name}.canvas"

to open it immediately in Obsidian.

Step 6: Report

Tell the user:

• Where the canvas was saved
• How many nodes and edges it contains
• How to open it (if Obsidian CLI not used)