Create Obsidian Vault

Create Obsidian Vault

Scaffold a fresh Obsidian vault at a target path, cloning the user's shared .obsidian config and initializing a git repo. Also supports resetting an existing vault's config to these same defaults, without touching or deleting any existing content.

Inputs

• Target vault path (required): where the vault root goes, e.g. /Users/zhaoliang/Projects/foo. If the user gives only a name, default the parent to /Users/zhaoliang/LocalDocuments/vaults/.
• Source .obsidian (optional): defaults to /Users/zhaoliang/LocalDocuments/vaults/vault/.obsidian (the user's template config). Confirm it exists before copying.

If the target path is ambiguous, ask the user before creating anything.

Steps: creating a new vault

Run the bundled script with the target path:

bash ~/.claude/skills/create-obsidian-vault/create_vault.sh "<TARGET_VAULT_PATH>" ["<SOURCE_DOTOBSIDIAN>"]

Or do it manually:

1. mkdir -p "$VAULT"
2. Copy config preserving symlinks — use cp -R, NOT cp -RL: cp -R "$SRC/.obsidian" "$VAULT/.obsidian" (the template's plugins/snippets/themes/hotkeys.json are symlinks into a shared obsidian-config dir; -R keeps them as links so config stays shared).
3. Scaffold folders: mkdir -p "$VAULT"/{pages,journals,attachments} and touch a .gitkeep in each (git won't track empty dirs).
4. Symlink the vault-root template/ folder (shared across vaults, needed by periodic-notes' template/temp/... daily/weekly/monthly templates): ln -s /Users/zhaoliang/LocalDocuments/vaults/obsidian-config/TC-559_obsidian_template "$VAULT/template" (absolute target, so it resolves no matter where the new vault lives).
5. Normalize the plugin/appearance config — same shared step as the restore flow below, see Config normalization for what it does: bash ~/.claude/skills/create-obsidian-vault/normalize_vault_config.sh "$VAULT"
6. Write .gitignore ignoring per-machine UI state and macOS cruft:

   .obsidian/workspace.json
   .obsidian/workspace
   .obsidian/workspace-mobile.json
   .obsidian/cache
   .DS_Store
   

7. git init, git add -A, initial commit.

Steps: restoring defaults on an existing vault

For a vault that already exists (e.g. /Users/zhaoliang/LocalDocuments/vaults/projects/cnsm-travel) and just needs its config reset to these same defaults — without deleting or modifying any existing notes/files:

bash ~/.claude/skills/create-obsidian-vault/restore_vault_defaults.sh "<EXISTING_VAULT_PATH>"

This is non-destructive:

• pages/journals/attachments: created only if missing; existing folders and their contents are left completely alone.
• vault-root template/ symlink: created only if missing.
• zk-prefixer.json, appearance.json's cssTheme, and the left-ribbon hiddenItems in workspace.json/workspaces.json: these are config, not content, so they're always reset to defaults (see below) — this is the whole point of "restoring defaults".

It refuses to run if $VAULT/.obsidian doesn't exist (i.e. it's not an Obsidian vault at all) — it never creates a .obsidian from scratch; use the create flow above for that.

Config normalization (shared step)

Both flows call normalize_vault_config.sh "$VAULT", which:

1. Pins the "Unique Note Creator" (zk-prefixer) plugin's per-vault settings — this file is a plain copy, not a shared symlink — to $VAULT/.obsidian/zk-prefixer.json:

   {
     "template": "",
     "folder": "pages",
     "format": "YYYYMMDDHHmmss"
   }
   

2. Forces the built-in Default community theme (cssTheme: "") in $VAULT/.obsidian/appearance.json, regardless of whatever theme the vault currently has active.
3. Trims the left ribbon to only: Thino, Git source control, Notebook Navigator, Open today (daily note), Open calendar — hides every other ribbon icon, in both workspace.json (live layout) and workspaces.json's "default" saved layout.

Why these choices

• cp -R (not -L): preserves the shared-config symlinks. Dereferencing would copy the whole plugin/theme dirs and break the "install once, share everywhere" setup.
• vault-root template/ symlink: not part of .obsidian, so cp -R doesn't create it — but periodic-notes' daily/weekly/monthly template paths (template/temp/...) need it at the vault root, same as MainVault. Absolute target like the .obsidian symlinks (see Caveat).
• zk-prefixer.json overwrite: unlike plugins/snippets/themes, this file is copied literally (not a symlink) — each vault has its own. The template vault's copy is tuned for its own layout (e.g. thoughts folder), so new vaults need it reset to pages + no template.
• Left ribbon trim: MainVault's ribbon accumulated icons from plugins that don't matter for a fresh project vault; a new vault only needs quick access to Thino, git sync, the notebook navigator, and today's daily note/calendar.
• gitignore workspace.json/workspace: these are single-machine UI layout state that change on every Obsidian open/close — committing them creates noisy diffs and multi-device conflicts. Keep app.json/appearance.json/community-plugins.json (real config) tracked.
• .gitkeep: preserves the empty pages/journals/attachments skeleton in git.

Caveat

Git stores symlinks as their literal target path (an absolute path into obsidian-config). The repo works on the same machine; pushing/cloning to a different machine will leave those symlinks dangling. Mention this if the user plans to sync the repo across machines.

Verify

After running, confirm: vault has .obsidian + pages/journals/attachments, a top-level template symlink (ls -la "$VAULT/template"), .obsidian symlinks are still links (ls -la "$VAULT/.obsidian" | grep -E "plugins|themes|snippets|hotkeys"), $VAULT/.obsidian/zk-prefixer.json has folder: "pages", empty template, format: "YYYYMMDDHHmmss", $VAULT/.obsidian/appearance.json has cssTheme: "". For the create flow, also confirm git has an initial commit. For the restore flow, run git status in the vault afterward and review the diff before committing — restore_vault_defaults.sh never commits on its own.