Obsidian Markdown

Obsidian Flavored Markdown Skill

This skill enables skills-compatible agents to create and edit valid Obsidian Flavored Markdown, including all Obsidian-specific syntax extensions and project documentation conventions.

Overview

Obsidian uses a combination of Markdown flavors:

• CommonMark
• GitHub Flavored Markdown
• LaTeX for math
• Obsidian-specific extensions (wikilinks, callouts, embeds, etc.)

Project Documentation Frontmatter Standard

All project notes should use a consistent YAML frontmatter structure. The header comment block identifies the template and stage.

Complete Frontmatter Template

---
# ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
# TEMPLATE: [Template Name]
# STAGE: [00-08] - [Stage Name]
# PURPOSE: [One-line description]
# ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
tags:
  - type/[note-type]           # What kind of note
  - project/[project-name]     # Which project
  - stage/[00-status]          # Which lifecycle stage
aliases:
  - "[Alternative names]"
cssclass: [styling-class]
# ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
# NOTE METADATA
# ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
lead: "One-line summary displayed in callouts"
banner: "![[banner-image.jpg]]"
icon: "🚀"
created: "YYYY-MM-DD"
modified: "YYYY-MM-DD"
template:
  name: "Template Name"
  version: "2.0"
  stage: "00"
# ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
# PROJECT METADATA
# ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
project: "[Project Name]"
status: active              # active | paused | completed | archived
phase: discovery            # discovery | validation | build | growth | scale
priority: 3                 # 1=critical → 5=someday
owner: ""
stakeholders: []
deadline: ""
repo: ""
---

Frontmatter Field Reference

Displaying Frontmatter in Notes

Use inline Dataview to display frontmatter values:

> [!note] `= this.icon` Note Title
> `= this.lead`

**Status**: `= this.status` | **Phase**: `= this.phase`

Tag Taxonomy

Use hierarchical tags for filtering and organization.

Type Tags (What kind of note)

type/moc              # Map of Content
type/dashboard        # Status dashboard
type/roadmap          # Timeline/roadmap
type/decision         # Decision record
type/adr              # Architecture Decision Record
type/analysis         # Market/competitive analysis
type/market           # Market-specific analysis
type/competitive      # Competitor analysis
type/swot             # SWOT analysis
type/persona          # User persona
type/empathy-map      # Empathy mapping
type/interview        # Interview notes
type/research         # General research
type/prd              # Product Requirements Document
type/product          # Product documentation
type/canvas           # Business canvases
type/lean-canvas      # Lean Canvas
type/business-model   # Business Model Canvas
type/value-proposition # Value Proposition Canvas
type/design           # Design documentation
type/ux               # UX/UI design
type/technical        # Technical documentation
type/architecture     # Architecture docs
type/backlog          # Task backlog
type/sprint           # Sprint notes
type/engineering      # Engineering docs
type/experiment       # Validation experiment
type/validation       # Validation-related
type/metrics          # Metrics tracking
type/kpi              # KPI tracking
type/meeting          # Meeting notes

Stage Tags (Project lifecycle stage)

stage/00-status       # Status & Roadmap
stage/01-market       # Market Analysis
stage/02-research     # User Research
stage/03-product      # Product Definition
stage/04-design       # Design
stage/05-technical    # Technical
stage/06-engineering  # Engineering
stage/07-analytics    # Analytics & Growth
stage/08-legal        # Legal & Privacy

Project Tags

project/[project-name]   # One tag per project (lowercase, hyphenated)

Back Matter Standard

Every project note should end with a Back Matter section for traceability. Uses Dataview inline fields with :: syntax.

---
## Back Matter

**Source**:: [[Origin Note]]       # Where this came from
**References**:: [[Related Note]]  # Related reading
**Used By**:: [[Consumer Note]]    # Notes that depend on this

---
**Open Questions**
- ❓ Question to investigate

**Action Items**
- [ ] Task to complete

Inline Field Syntax

The :: syntax creates queryable Dataview fields:

**Source**:: [[Note A]], [[Note B]]
**References**:: [[Related Topic]]
**Used By**:: [[Downstream Note]]

Query these with Dataview:

TABLE Source, References
FROM "Projects"
WHERE contains(Used-By, this.file.link)

Basic Formatting

Paragraphs and Line Breaks

This is a paragraph.

This is another paragraph (blank line between creates separate paragraphs).

For a line break within a paragraph, add two spaces at the end  
or use Shift+Enter.

Headings

# Heading 1
## Heading 2
### Heading 3
#### Heading 4
##### Heading 5
###### Heading 6

Text Formatting

Escaping Formatting

Use backslash to escape special characters:

\*This won't be italic\*
\#This won't be a heading
1\. This won't be a list item

Common characters to escape: \*, \_, \#, \`, \|, \~

Internal Links (Wikilinks)

Basic Links

[[Note Name]]
[[Note Name.md]]
[[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

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)

Embed Canvases

![[Canvas Name.canvas]]

Embed PDF

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

Callouts

Basic Callout

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

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

> [!tip] Title Only

Callout with Dynamic Content

Display frontmatter values in callouts:

> [!abstract] `= this.icon` Project Summary
> `= this.lead`

Foldable Callouts

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

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

Supported Callout Types

Lists

Task Lists

- [ ] Incomplete task
- [x] Completed task
- [ ] Task with sub-tasks
  - [ ] Subtask 1
  - [x] Subtask 2

Priority Tasks

Use priority markers in task lists:

- [ ] 🔴 P0 — Critical blocker
- [ ] 🟠 P1 — Important
- [ ] 🟡 P2 — Should have
- [ ] 🟢 P3 — Nice to have

Tables

| Header 1 | Header 2 | Header 3 |
|----------|----------|----------|
| Cell 1   | Cell 2   | Cell 3   |
| Cell 4   | Cell 5   | Cell 6   |

Alignment

| Left     | Center   | Right    |
|:---------|:--------:|---------:|
| Left     | Center   | Right    |

Tables with Links

Escape pipes in wikilinks:

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

Diagrams (Mermaid)

Flowchart

```mermaid
graph TD
    A[Start] --> B{Decision}
    B -->|Yes| C[Do this]
    B -->|No| D[Do that]
    C --> E[End]
    D --> E
```

Sequence Diagram

```mermaid
sequenceDiagram
    Alice->>Bob: Hello Bob
    Bob-->>Alice: Hi Alice
```

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

Tags

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

In frontmatter:
---
tags:
  - tag1
  - nested/tag2
---

Tags can contain:

• Letters (any language)
• Numbers (not as first character)
• Underscores _
• Hyphens -
• Forward slashes / (for nesting)

Comments

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

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

Dataview Queries

Table Query

```dataview
TABLE type AS "Type", modified AS "Updated"
FROM "Projects/{{Project}}"
WHERE file.name != this.file.name
SORT modified DESC
LIMIT 10
```

Task Query

```dataview
TASK FROM "Projects/{{Project}}"
WHERE !completed
SORT priority ASC
LIMIT 10
```

List Query

```dataview
LIST FROM #type/experiment
WHERE status = "running"
```

Complete Project Note Example

---
# ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
# TEMPLATE: PRD
# STAGE: 03 - Product
# PURPOSE: Product requirements with MVP scope and success metrics
# ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
tags:
  - type/prd
  - type/product
  - project/my-project
  - stage/03-product
aliases:
  - "My Project PRD"
cssclass: prd
lead: "Product requirements defining MVP scope and success metrics"
banner: "![[banner-product.jpg]]"
icon: "📋"
created: "2026-02-02"
modified: "2026-02-02"
template:
  name: "PRD"
  version: "2.0"
  stage: "03"
project: "My Project"
status: active
phase: discovery
priority: 2
---

# PRD — My Project

> [!info] `= this.icon` Phase: `= this.phase`
> `= this.lead`

## Problem Statement

What pain point are we solving?

## User Stories

| ID | Story | Acceptance Criteria | Priority |
|----|-------|---------------------|----------|
| US-001 | As a [user], I want [goal] so that [benefit] | | P0 |

## MVP Features

### Feature: [Name]
**Priority**: P0
**Description**: 

**Acceptance Criteria**:
- [ ] Criterion 1
- [ ] Criterion 2

## Success Metrics

| Metric | Target | Measurement |
|--------|--------|-------------|
| Signups | 200 | Analytics |

---
## Back Matter

**Source**:: [[Market Overview]], [[Persona - Primary]]
**References**:: [[Lean Canvas]], [[Tech Stack]]
**Used By**:: [[Backlog]], [[Current Sprint]]

---
**Open Questions**
- ❓ What's the minimum viable feature set?

**Action Items**
- [ ] Validate with user interviews
- [ ] Review with stakeholders

References

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