# Elliotjlt Claude Skill Potions Obsidian Vault Search > Obsidian Vault Search - Skill: `tomevault-io/elliotjlt-claude-skill-potions-obsidian-vault-search` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add tomevault-io/elliotjlt-claude-skill-potions-obsidian-vault-search` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/tomevault-io/elliotjlt-claude-skill-potions-obsidian-vault-search/raw - Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector CAUTION) - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: tomevault-io (https://skillmd.com/u/tomevault-io) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/tomevault-io/elliotjlt-claude-skill-potions-obsidian-vault-search --- # Obsidian Vault Search Raw grep on a vault is noisy. You search "API" and get 200 hits across daily notes, templates, meeting notes, and the actual design doc you wanted. Obsidian vaults are structured — frontmatter, wikilinks, folders, tags — and search should use that structure. This skill searches smart: by property, by link graph, by folder scope, not just by keyword. ## When To Activate - User says "find in vault", "search vault", "search obsidian" - User says "which note has...", "where did I write about..." - User says "find all meetings about...", "show notes tagged..." - User needs to locate a specific note or set of notes - Before creating a note (to check if it exists) - Any vault-level search that isn't just opening a known file Do NOT trigger for: - Searching code repositories (use zero-in) - Web search (different skill entirely) - Single file content search (just read the file) ## Instructions ### Step 1: Classify the Search Determine what kind of search before running anything: | Request | Search Type | Method | |---------|------------|--------| | "Find note about X" | Content search | grep + frontmatter | | "All meetings with Sarah" | Property search | frontmatter scan | | "Notes tagged #project" | Tag search | frontmatter scan | | "What links to [[Note]]" | Backlink search | wikilink grep | | "Notes in Projects/ folder" | Folder search | find | | "Recent notes about X" | Combined | content + date sort | | "Everything related to X" | Graph search | links + content | Match the search method to the request. Don't grep the whole vault for a property-based question. ### Step 2: Run the Appropriate Search **Content search** — find notes mentioning a term: ```bash # Basic content search grep -rl "search term" "$VAULT_PATH" --include="*.md" | head -20 # With context (shows surrounding lines) grep -rn "search term" "$VAULT_PATH" --include="*.md" -C 2 | head -50 # Case insensitive grep -ril "search term" "$VAULT_PATH" --include="*.md" ``` **Property search** — find notes with specific frontmatter: ```bash # Find by type grep -rl "^type: meeting" "$VAULT_PATH" --include="*.md" # Find by status grep -rl "^status: active" "$VAULT_PATH" --include="*.md" # Find by tag in frontmatter grep -rl "tags:" "$VAULT_PATH" --include="*.md" | \ xargs grep -l "project-name" # Find by attendee grep -rl "attendees:" "$VAULT_PATH" --include="*.md" | \ xargs grep -l "Sarah" # Combined: active meetings grep -rl "^type: meeting" "$VAULT_PATH" --include="*.md" | \ xargs grep -l "^status: active" ``` **Tag search** — find notes with specific tags: ```bash # Inline tags grep -rl "#tag-name" "$VAULT_PATH" --include="*.md" # Frontmatter tags grep -rl " - tag-name" "$VAULT_PATH" --include="*.md" # Both grep -rl "#tag-name\| - tag-name" "$VAULT_PATH" --include="*.md" ``` **Backlink search** — find notes that link to a specific note: ```bash # Find all notes linking to [[Note Name]] grep -rl "\[\[Note Name" "$VAULT_PATH" --include="*.md" # Find links with aliases grep -rl "\[\[Note Name|" "$VAULT_PATH" --include="*.md" ``` **Folder search** — find notes in a specific location: ```bash find "$VAULT_PATH/Projects/project-name" -name "*.md" | sort ``` **Date-range search** — find notes by date: ```bash # Notes modified in last 7 days find "$VAULT_PATH" -name "*.md" -mtime -7 | sort # Notes with date property in range grep -rl "^date: 2026-02" "$VAULT_PATH" --include="*.md" ``` **CLI search** (if available): ```bash # Official CLI obsidian search query="search term" limit=20 # Yakitrak CLI obsidian-cli search-content "search term" ``` ### Step 3: Rank and Present Results Don't dump raw grep output. Process the results: 1. **Deduplicate** — same note from multiple matches 2. **Sort by relevance:** - Title match > heading match > body match - Recent notes > older notes - Exact match > partial match 3. **Extract context** — show WHY each result matched 4. **Show frontmatter** — type, status, date for each result ```bash # For each result, extract useful metadata for file in $RESULTS; do echo "---" echo "File: $file" # Get frontmatter type and status head -10 "$file" | grep "^type:\|^status:\|^date:" # Get the match context grep -n "search term" "$file" | head -3 done ``` ### Step 4: Offer Follow-Up Actions After presenting results, offer relevant next steps: - "Open [[Note Name]] to read it?" - "Want to see notes that link to this one?" - "Should I create a base view for this query?" - "Want to add this to today's daily note?" ## Output Format ```markdown ## Vault Search: "query" **Found:** X notes ### Results 1. **[[Note Title]]** — Notes/note-title.md Type: note | Status: active | Date: 2026-02-10 > ...matching context... 2. **[[Another Note]]** — Projects/project/another-note.md Type: meeting | Status: active | Date: 2026-02-08 > ...matching context... ### Related - [[Linked Note 1]] (linked from result #1) - [[Linked Note 2]] (linked from result #2) Want to open any of these, or refine the search? ``` ## NEVER - Dump raw grep output without processing - Search the entire vault without narrowing scope first - Return more than 20 results without asking to narrow - Search without indicating what was searched and how - Open or modify notes during a search (search is read-only) ## ALWAYS - Classify the search type before running commands - Use the most targeted search method for the request - Show frontmatter metadata alongside results - Deduplicate results - Offer follow-up actions - Suggest narrowing if too many results (>20) ## Example **User:** "Find all my meeting notes about the API project" ``` Vault Search: "meeting notes about API project" Search: type == meeting AND (content contains "API" OR project == "api") Found: 4 notes 1. [[2026-02-10 API Design Review]] — Projects/api/meetings/2026-02-10-api-design-review.md Type: meeting | Status: active | Date: 2026-02-10 > Discussed rate limiting approach and endpoint contracts 2. [[2026-02-05 API Sprint Planning]] — Projects/api/meetings/2026-02-05-api-sprint-planning.md Type: meeting | Status: active | Date: 2026-02-05 > Sprint goals: auth middleware, rate limiting, documentation 3. [[2026-01-28 API Kickoff]] — Projects/api/meetings/2026-01-28-api-kickoff.md Type: meeting | Status: completed | Date: 2026-01-28 > Initial scope: REST API for mobile app 4. [[2026-01-20 API Requirements]] — Projects/api/meetings/2026-01-20-api-requirements.md Type: meeting | Status: completed | Date: 2026-01-20 > Requirements gathering with product team Related notes: - [[api-design]] (linked from 3 meetings) - [[api-rate-limiting]] (linked from #1, #2) Want to open any of these? ``` What DOESN'T work: - Grepping "meeting" across the whole vault — matches templates, daily notes, random mentions - Searching by filename only — misses notes where the content matches but the filename doesn't - Not checking frontmatter — you find notes that MENTION meetings but aren't meeting notes - Returning 50+ results — user can't process that, narrow the search --- > Converted and distributed by [TomeVault](https://tomevault.io/claim/elliotjlt) — claim your Tome and manage your conversions.