How do I install the Obsidian Vault Crud skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add richfrem/obsidian-vault-crud in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Obsidian Vault Crud safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Capability flags: executes scripts. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Obsidian Vault Crud?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Obsidian Vault Crud free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Obsidian Vault Crud?

richfrem (@richfrem) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Obsidian Vault Crud by richfrem — Agent Skill

Name: Obsidian Vault Crud
Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Author: richfrem

Obsidian Vault Crud

Safe Create/Read/Update/Delete operations for Obsidian Vault notes. Implements atomic writes, advisory locking, concurrent edit detection, and lossless YAML frontmatter handling. Use when reading, writing, updating, or appending to any vault note.

richfrem Updated Sep 10, 2026

File contents

Dependencies

This skill requires Python 3.8+ and standard library only. No external packages needed.

To install this skill's dependencies:

pip-compile ./requirements.in
pip install -r ./requirements.txt

See ./requirements.txt for the dependency lockfile (currently empty — standard library only).

Obsidian Vault CRUD

Status: Active Author: Richard Fremmerlid Domain: Obsidian Integration Depends On: obsidian-markdown-mastery (WP05)

Core Mandate

This skill provides the disk I/O layer for all agent interactions with the Obsidian Vault. It does NOT handle syntax parsing (that belongs to obsidian-markdown-mastery). Instead, it ensures that every file write is:

Atomic — via POSIX os.rename() from a .tmp staging file
Locked — via an advisory .agent-lock file at the vault root
Conflict-aware — via mtime comparison before/after read
Lossless — via ruamel.yaml for frontmatter (never PyYAML)

Available Commands

Read a Note

python ./vault_ops.py read --file <path>

Create a Note

python ./vault_ops.py create --file <path> --content <text> [--frontmatter key=value ...]

Update a Note

python ./vault_ops.py update --file <path> --content <text>

Append to a Note

python ./vault_ops.py append --file <path> --content <text>

Safety Guarantees

Atomic Write Protocol

Write content to <target>.agent-tmp
Verify the .agent-tmp file was written completely
os.rename('<target>.agent-tmp', '<target>') — atomic on POSIX
If any step fails, the .agent-tmp is cleaned up

Advisory Lock Protocol

Before any write batch: create <vault_root>/.agent-lock
After write batch completes: remove .agent-lock
Other agents check for .agent-lock before writing
This is advisory (does not block Obsidian UI)

Concurrent Edit Detection

Capture os.stat(file).st_mtime before reading
Before writing, check st_mtime again
If mtime changed → another process edited the file → ABORT

Frontmatter Handling

Uses ruamel.yaml (NOT PyYAML) to preserve comments, indentation, and array styles
Ensures Dataview and Obsidian Properties remain intact

---name: obsidian-vault-cruddescription: Safe Create/Read/Update/Delete operations for Obsidian Vault notes. Implements atomic writes, advisory locking, concurrent edit detection, and lossless YAML frontmatter handling. Use when reading, writing, updating, or appending to any vault note.---## DependenciesThis skill requires **Python 3.8+** and standard library only. No external packages needed.**To install this skill's dependencies:**```bashpip-compile ./requirements.inpip install -r ./requirements.txt```See `./requirements.txt` for the dependency lockfile (currently empty — standard library only).---# Obsidian Vault CRUD**Status:** Active**Author:** Richard Fremmerlid**Domain:** Obsidian Integration**Depends On:** `obsidian-markdown-mastery` (WP05)## Core MandateThis skill provides the **disk I/O layer** for all agent interactions with the Obsidian Vault. It does NOT handle syntax parsing (that belongs to `obsidian-markdown-mastery`). Instead, it ensures that every file write is:1. **Atomic** — via POSIX `os.rename()` from a `.tmp` staging file2. **Locked** — via an advisory `.agent-lock` file at the vault root3. **Conflict-aware** — via `mtime` comparison before/after read4. **Lossless** — via `ruamel.yaml` for frontmatter (never PyYAML)## Available Commands### Read a Note```bashpython ./vault_ops.py read --file <path>```### Create a Note```bashpython ./vault_ops.py create --file <path> --content <text> [--frontmatter key=value ...]```### Update a Note```bashpython ./vault_ops.py update --file <path> --content <text>```### Append to a Note```bashpython ./vault_ops.py append --file <path> --content <text>```## Safety Guarantees### Atomic Write Protocol1. Write content to `<target>.agent-tmp`2. Verify the `.agent-tmp` file was written completely3. `os.rename('<target>.agent-tmp', '<target>')` — atomic on POSIX4. If any step fails, the `.agent-tmp` is cleaned up### Advisory Lock Protocol- Before any write batch: create `<vault_root>/.agent-lock`- After write batch completes: remove `.agent-lock`- Other agents check for `.agent-lock` before writing- This is advisory (does not block Obsidian UI)### Concurrent Edit Detection- Capture `os.stat(file).st_mtime` before reading- Before writing, check `st_mtime` again- If mtime changed → another process edited the file → **ABORT**### Frontmatter Handling- Uses `ruamel.yaml` (NOT `PyYAML`) to preserve comments, indentation, and array styles- Ensures Dataview and Obsidian Properties remain intact

Frequently asked questions