# Nexus

> Read, search, and edit the user's Obsidian vault (notes, folders, canvas, bases, tasks, memory/workspaces, saved prompts) from the shell via the `nexus` CLI — no MCP connection needed. Use whenever the user refers to their vault, notes, daily notes, second brain, or Obsidian, or asks you to find/read/change something stored there and the `nexus` command is on PATH. Do not use it to edit files in the current code repository; use normal file tools for those.

- Skill: `profsynapse/nexus` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 6 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add profsynapse/nexus`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/profsynapse/nexus/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: AI & ML
- Author: ProfSynapse (https://skillmd.com/u/profsynapse)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/profsynapse/nexus

---


# Nexus vault CLI

`nexus` drives a running Nexus (Obsidian) vault from the shell over a local
socket — no MCP config. It has two verbs: **discover** what you can do, then
**execute**.

## Start here

**Run `nexus --help` first.** It is the authoritative, always-current manual —
commands, the context contract, CLI syntax, gotchas, and the tool catalog. It's
offline and instant (no socket), so read it before your first real command
instead of guessing.

For a common task, **`nexus playbook <name>`** gives you a ready-to-run recipe
*plus* your workspaces and the exact tools it needs, in one call. Run
`nexus playbook` to see what's available (typically: `vault-work`, `organize`,
`tasks`, `prompt`).

## The mindset (this is what `--help` can't teach you)

- **Explore → inspect → exploit.** Search/list find *locations*; `content read`
  gets *contents*; then you write. A search hit is a `{path, score}`, **not** the
  note — never quote, summarize, or edit from a hit without reading it first.
- **`nexus tools` returns schemas, not data.** It's discovery. Don't loop it
  hoping for vault content — that comes from `nexus use --memory … --goal … -- content read …`.
- **`--memory` and `--goal` are real and enforced.** You're operating a person's
  live vault; pass a genuine running summary and objective, not placeholders.
- **`--workspace` and `--session` are pass-once.** The vault remembers them:
  name a session and choose its workspace on the first call of a task (or run
  `memory load-workspace <name>`), then omit both — every later call continues
  that session and inherits its workspace. Nothing defaults silently: a session
  that never chose a workspace fails with *"This session has no workspace yet"*
  (only `memory list-workspaces` / `load-workspace` / `create-workspace` run
  before the choice). Pass a different value once to switch. `nexus context` shows what
  the vault currently remembers.
- **You can't escape the vault.** Paths are vault-relative; `..`, `~`, and
  absolute paths are rejected. That's a guardrail, not a bug.
- **Nothing is destroyed.** The AI gets archive (reversible), not delete.
- **Windows:** `nexus vaults` discovers local named pipes. If policy blocks
  enumeration, pass `--vault <name>` or set `NEXUS_VAULT`.

## The shape

```
nexus tools [selector]              # discover — tool schemas (never vault data)
nexus use --memory "<what you're doing>" --goal "<objective>" -- \
    <agent command --flags>         # execute — runs one tool, prints the result
nexus context                       # what this vault remembers: session + workspace
```

Add `--session <name> --workspace <name>` to the **first** `use` of a task
only; the vault remembers both for every call after it.

The `--` delimiter is canonical: context belongs before it; the tool command
belongs after it. This avoids nested command-string quoting, especially in
Windows PowerShell. The legacy one-string form remains supported.

Three rules that cover almost every way this goes wrong:

- **`--` splits the two halves, and only that.** Context flags (`--memory`,
  `--goal`, `--session`, `--constraints`, `--vault`) go before it; the agent
  name, tool name, and every tool flag go after it.
- **Pass a tool's required value positionally.** Write
  `memory load-workspace "Silicon Zone"`, not
  `memory load-workspace --workspace "Silicon Zone"`. `--workspace` is also a
  context flag, so the positional form is the one that can't be misread.
- **Keep the agent name with the tool name.** The command after `--` is always
  `<agent> <tool> [flags]` — `storage list`, not `list`.
- **Context flags may sit before or after the verb.** `nexus --vault V use …`
  and `nexus use --vault V …` are equivalent.

Malformed commands fail loudly with the corrected command in the error text —
read it and retry rather than switching syntax forms. Nothing is silently
dropped, so an error never means a partial write happened.

For multiline Markdown or content containing embedded quotes, keep the body
out of shell argv. Any value-taking tool flag has a transport form: pipe with
`--<flag>-stdin` or pass a local path with `--<flag>-file` (e.g.
`--content-stdin`, `--conversation-context-file ctx.md`). Put the transport
after the `--` delimiter and do not also pass the flag directly. Never flatten
multiline content to one line to dodge quoting:

```powershell
Get-Content -Raw .\note.md |
    nexus use --memory "importing note" --goal "write note" -- content write --path Notes/Imported.md --content-stdin
```

Everything else — the flag table, per-tool schemas, syntax rules, the live
per-vault catalog (including any enabled app agents) — comes from `nexus --help`,
`nexus tools <tool>`, and `nexus playbook <name>`. Prefer those over guessing;
they're always current.