Obsidian Markdown

Obsidian Flavored Markdown Skill

Obsidian extends CommonMark / GitHub Flavored Markdown with wikilinks, embeds, callouts, comments, and specialized properties. This skill covers only the Obsidian-specific extensions — standard Markdown syntax (headings, lists, bold/italic, code blocks, tables, footnotes, blockquotes, horizontal rules, HTML) is assumed knowledge.

Internal Links (Wikilinks)

Basic Links

[[Note Name]]
[[Note Name|Display Text]]

Link to Headings

[[Note Name#Heading]]
[[Note Name#Heading|Custom Text]]
[[#Heading in same note]]
[[##Search all headings in vault]]

Link to Blocks

[[Note Name#^block-id]]
[[Note Name#^block-id|Custom Text]]

Define a block ID by adding ^block-id at the end of a paragraph:

This is a paragraph that can be linked to. ^my-block-id

For lists and quotes, add the block ID on a separate line:

> This is a quote
> With multiple lines

^quote-id

Search Links

[[##heading]]     Search for headings containing "heading"
[[^^block]]       Search for blocks containing "block"

Embeds

Embed Notes

![[Note Name]]
![[Note Name#Heading]]
![[Note Name#^block-id]]

Embed Images

![[image.png]]
![[image.png|640x480]]    Width x Height
![[image.png|300]]        Width only (maintains aspect ratio)

External Images

![Alt text](https://example.com/image.png)
![Alt text|300](https://example.com/image.png)

Embed Audio / PDF

![[audio.mp3]]
![[document.pdf]]
![[document.pdf#page=3]]
![[document.pdf#height=400]]

Embed Search Results

```query
tag:#project status:done
```

Callouts

Basic Callout

> [!note]
> This is a note callout.

> [!info] Custom Title
> This callout has a custom title.

> [!tip] Title Only

Foldable Callouts

> [!faq]- Collapsed by default
> This content is hidden until expanded.

> [!faq]+ Expanded by default
> This content is visible but can be collapsed.

Nested Callouts

> [!question] Outer callout
> > [!note] Inner callout
> > Nested content

Supported Callout Types

Custom Callouts (CSS)

.callout[data-callout="custom-type"] {
  --callout-color: 255, 0, 0;
  --callout-icon: lucide-alert-circle;
}

Highlight Syntax

==Highlighted text==

Comments

This is visible %%but this is hidden%% text.

%%
This entire block is hidden.
It won't appear in reading view.
%%

Properties (Frontmatter)

Properties use YAML frontmatter at the start of a note:

---
title: My Note Title
date: 2024-01-15
tags:
  - project
  - important
aliases:
  - My Note
  - Alternative Name
cssclasses:
  - custom-class
status: in-progress
rating: 4.5
completed: false
due: 2024-02-01T14:30:00
---

Property Types

Default Properties

• tags - Note tags
• aliases - Alternative names for the note
• cssclasses - CSS classes applied to the note

Tags

#tag
#nested/tag
#tag-with-dashes
#tag_with_underscores

Tags can contain: letters (any language), numbers (not as first character), underscores, hyphens, forward slashes (for nesting).

In frontmatter:

tags:
  - tag1
  - nested/tag2

Escaping Pipes in Tables

Escape pipes with backslash in wikilinks inside tables:

| Column 1 | Column 2 |
|----------|----------|
| [[Link\|Display]] | ![[Image\|100]] |

Usage

1. Use wikilinks ([[...]]) for internal note references instead of Markdown links
2. Use embeds (![[...]]) to inline content from other notes, images, or PDFs
3. Use callouts (> [!type]) for structured admonitions
4. Use YAML frontmatter for structured metadata (tags, aliases, dates)
5. Use %%comments%% for content hidden from reading view

When To Use

• Creating or editing .md files intended for an Obsidian vault
• User mentions wikilinks, callouts, embeds, frontmatter properties, or Obsidian-specific syntax
• Building notes with block references or embedded search queries
• Adding or updating YAML frontmatter properties on Obsidian notes

Boundaries

• Not for Obsidian Bases / .base files (use obsidian-bases skill instead)
• Not for plain/GitHub Flavored Markdown that will never live in Obsidian
• Skip when the task is purely about Obsidian plugin configuration (e.g., community plugin settings JSON)
• Do not generate Dataview or Templater syntax unless the user explicitly requests it

Output

• Valid Obsidian Flavored Markdown ready to save as a .md file in a vault
• Frontmatter uses correct YAML types (text, number, list, date, checkbox)
• Wikilinks, embeds, callouts, and block IDs follow documented syntax

Verification

• Frontmatter parses as valid YAML between --- fences
• Internal links use [[...]] syntax with proper heading/block anchors
• Callout types are from the supported set (note, tip, warning, etc.) or clearly marked as custom
• No raw HTML is used where an Obsidian Markdown equivalent exists

References

• Basic formatting syntax
• Advanced formatting syntax
• Obsidian Flavored Markdown
• Internal links
• Embed files
• Callouts
• Properties

Sibling skills

Three Obsidian-format references, distinguished by file type.

• obsidian-bases — .base files: database-style views, filters, formulas. Use when the file extension is .base or the user mentions Bases.
• obsidian-canvas — .canvas files: visual node/edge canvases. Use for .canvas files or whiteboard-style diagrams.
• This skill covers .md notes with Obsidian-Flavored extensions (wikilinks, callouts, embeds, properties).