Writing Note

Obsidian Notes

If $ARGUMENTS is provided, treat it as the user's note request and proceed directly without asking for clarification.

Overview

Standard operations for reading, writing, and organizing notes in the Obsidian vault (Obsidian Flavored Markdown with YAML frontmatter and wikilinks). All vault operations access the filesystem directly using the Read, Write, Edit, Glob, and Grep tools.

Vault Location

All paths in this skill are vault-relative. Prepend ~/Documents/obsidian/My Note/ to get the full filesystem path.

Companion Skills

Obsidian supports more than plain markdown notes. Before proceeding, consider whether the user's request is better served by one of these formats:

Invoke the relevant skill(s) before writing content so you follow the correct syntax.

Note Placement

Structured Types (fixed paths)

Three root directories have fixed, reserved path patterns — always use these exact locations:

Always create project and meeting notes at these paths. Read the corresponding reference file for the full workflow:

• Projects → references/project-workflow.md
• Meetings → references/meeting-workflow.md

General Notes (dynamic discovery)

For all other notes, always explore the vault's current structure before deciding on a location. Never assume where a note should go without checking first.

1. Discover: Use Glob (~/Documents/obsidian/My Note/**/*.md) to survey the vault. Build a picture of the existing top-level directories, sub-folders, and naming conventions.
2. Analyze: Identify the note's topic, type, and how it relates to existing content.
3. Decide on a path:
   • Existing location fits → place the note there; follow local naming conventions exactly.
   • No existing location fits → create a new path consistent with the vault's overall style; briefly explain the choice to the user.
   • Restructuring needed → explain why and get user confirmation before moving any files.

Depth constraint: Outside of Projects/, Meetings/, and DailyNote/, directory nesting must not exceed 3 levels (e.g., Area/Topic/SubTopic/note.md is the maximum depth). Do not create deeper hierarchies.

Principles: Prefer existing structure over creating new folders. Observe local conventions — different vault areas may use different patterns. When content doesn't fit any existing category, create a new folder but justify the choice.

Templates

Note Creation Checklist

1. Determine note type (project / meeting / daily / general)
2. Determine placement:
   • Project or meeting → use the fixed path (see Structured Types)
   • General → follow the dynamic discovery workflow
3. Select template if applicable
4. Create with Write at the full filesystem path
5. Verify frontmatter fields: title, created, updated, tags
6. Verify creation: Read the file to confirm it was created and YAML is valid

Note Update Workflow

When the user asks to update, add to, or modify an existing note, do NOT blindly append new content to the end. Instead, follow this workflow:

1. Read: Read the file at its full filesystem path to get the full current content
2. Analyze: Identify the note's headings, sections, and organizational structure
3. Integrate: Compose the updated note by merging new content into the existing structure:
   • Place new content under the most relevant existing heading
   • Merge overlapping or duplicate information — keep the more complete or up-to-date version
   • Add a new section only when no existing heading fits; position it logically, not at the end by default
4. Write: Overwrite the note with Write (or use Edit for targeted changes)
5. Verify: Read the file again to confirm the result is well-structured

When append IS appropriate

Use append only when the note is inherently chronological and the new content is a discrete new entry:

• Daily notes: adding log entries or timestamps
• Meeting notes: adding follow-up items after the meeting
• The user explicitly says "append", "add to the end", or "加在後面"

Use Edit to insert content at the correct position, or Bash (echo >> file) for a simple append to end of file.

If unsure, default to the integrate workflow above.

Reference Files