Obsidian

When to Use

USE Obsidian when:

• Building a personal knowledge base or second brain
• Implementing Zettelkasten or evergreen note systems
• Need local-first, privacy-focused note-taking
• Want full control over your data (plain markdown files)
• Creating interlinked notes with graph visualization
• Writing with markdown and want powerful editing
• Need offline access to all your notes
• Journaling with daily notes and templates

DON'T USE Obsidian when:

• Need real-time collaboration (use Notion, Google Docs)
• Require database-style structured data (use Notion)
• Need web-based access without sync setup
• Team-wide knowledge base with permissions (use Confluence)
• Simple note-taking without linking (use Apple Notes, Bear)

Prerequisites

# macOS via Homebrew
brew install --cask obsidian

# Linux (AppImage)
wget https://github.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-releases/releases/download/v1.5.3/Obsidian-1.5.3.AppImage
chmod +x Obsidian-1.5.3.AppImage

Create Your First Vault

mkdir -p ~/Documents/ObsidianVault
cd ~/Documents/ObsidianVault
mkdir -p "Daily Notes" "Templates" "Inbox" "Projects" "Areas" "Resources" "Archive"
mkdir -p .obsidian

See sub-skills for full details.

Overview

Obsidian is a markdown-based knowledge management tool with bidirectional linking, graph visualization, and an extensible plugin ecosystem. Key plugins: Dataview (queries), Templater (automation), and Git (sync).

Resources

• Obsidian Official
• Obsidian Help
• Obsidian Forum
• Dataview Documentation
• Templater Documentation

Version History

Sub-Skills

• 1. Vault Structure and Organization (+1)
• Integration with Git Repositories
• 1. Note Naming and Organization (+3)
• Common Issues (+1)
• Summary
• Related Concepts
• Sources
• Applications
• 3. Tags and Properties (Frontmatter) (+1)
• Morning Review
• Today's Focus
• Must Do (+2)
• Notes & Ideas
• Meetings
• Journal
• Evening Review
• Attendees
• Agenda
• Discussion Notes
• Decisions Made
• Action Items
• Follow-up
• Status
• Key Resources
• Milestones
• In Progress (+1)
• Notes
• Related
• Book Info
• Why I Read This
• Summary (3 sentences)
• Key Ideas
• Favorite Quotes
• Chapter 1:
• How This Applies to My Life
• Related Books
• 5. Dataview Plugin
• 6. Templater Plugin
• 7. Sync Strategies (+1)
• Repository
• Documentation
• Integration with Todoist
• Integration with Notion Export
• 5. Maintenance Routines
• Essential Plugins
• Productivity
• Writing
• Organization