/archive Skill

Soft archive a note by adding archive metadata and moving to the +Archive folder.

Usage

/archive <note-name>
/archive "Project - Old Initiative"
/archive [[Task - Completed thing]]

Can use note title, filename, or wiki-link format.

Supported Note Types

Type	Archive Location	Trigger
Project	+Archive/Projects/	Completed 6+ months ago
Task	+Archive/Tasks/	Completed 3+ months ago
Page	+Archive/Pages/	Outdated, superseded
Person	+Archive/People/	Left organisation 3+ months ago

Not supported (leave as-is):

• DailyNote — Year folders are the archive
• Meeting — Already temporal records
• ADR — Historical decisions must stay visible
• Organisation — Reference material
• AtomicNote — Update instead of archive
• Zettel — Permanent by design
• Incubator/IncubatorNote — Status field handles lifecycle

Instructions

1. Find the note

   • Search for the note by name/title
   • If not found, inform user and stop
   • If multiple matches, ask user to clarify

2. Check note type

   • Read the frontmatter type field
   • If type is not supported for archiving, inform user:

     "This note type ({{type}}) doesn't need archiving. [Explain why based on type]"

   • Stop if not supported

3. Confirm with user

   • Show current note location and type
   • Ask: "Archive this note? (Y/n)"
   • If user declines, stop

4. Ask for archive reason (optional)

   • "Reason for archiving? (or skip)"
   • Common reasons:
     • Project: "Project completed"
     • Task: "Task completed"
     • Page: "Content outdated" / "Superseded by [[New Page]]"
     • Person: "Left organisation"

5. Update frontmatter Add these fields:

   archived: true
   archivedDate: YYYY-MM-DD  # Today's date
   archivedReason: "<reason>"  # If provided
   

   For Pages, also ask:

   • "Is this superseded by another page? (enter link or skip)"
   • If yes, add: supersededBy: "[[Page Name]]"

6. Add archived tag Add archived to the tags array:

   tags:
     - existing-tag
     - archived
   

7. Determine destination folder

   Type	Destination
   Project	+Archive/Projects/
   Task	+Archive/Tasks/
   Page	+Archive/Pages/
   Person	+Archive/People/

8. Create archive folder if needed

   • Check if destination folder exists
   • Create if missing (e.g., mkdir -p "+Archive/Projects")

9. Move the file

   • Use git mv to preserve history:

     git mv "original/path/Note.md" "+Archive/Type/Note.md"
     

   • Obsidian will auto-update wiki-links pointing to this note

10. Confirm to user

    Archived: Note Name
    From: original/path/
    To: +Archive/Type/
    Reason: <reason>
    
    Wiki-links to this note will continue to work.
    

Examples

Archive a completed project

User: /archive "Project - Legacy Migration"

Claude:
- Finds: Project - Legacy Migration.md
- Type: Project
- Status: completed
- Last modified: 2025-06-15 (7 months ago)

"Archive 'Project - Legacy Migration'? (Y/n)"
User: Y

"Reason for archiving? (or skip)"
User: Project completed, in production

Claude:
- Adds archived: true, archivedDate: 2026-01-10, archivedReason: "Project completed, in production"
- Adds 'archived' tag
- Moves to +Archive/Projects/Project - Legacy Migration.md

"Archived: Project - Legacy Migration
From: root
To: +Archive/Projects/
Reason: Project completed, in production"

Archive an outdated page

User: /archive "Page - Old API Guide"

Claude:
- Finds: Page - Old API Guide.md
- Type: Page

"Archive 'Page - Old API Guide'? (Y/n)"
User: Y

"Reason for archiving? (or skip)"
User: Superseded

"Is this superseded by another page? (enter link or skip)"
User: Page - New API Guide v2

Claude:
- Adds archived: true, archivedDate, archivedReason
- Adds supersededBy: "[[Page - New API Guide v2]]"
- Moves to +Archive/Pages/

"Archived: Page - Old API Guide
Superseded by: [[Page - New API Guide v2]]"

Archive a departed colleague

User: /archive "Sarah Chen"

Claude:
- Finds: +People/Sarah Chen.md
- Type: Person

"Archive 'Sarah Chen'? This is typically for people who have left the organisation. (Y/n)"
User: Y

"Reason for archiving? (or skip)"
User: Left YourOrg June 2025

Claude:
- Adds archived: true, archivedDate, archivedReason: "Left YourOrg June 2025"
- Moves to +Archive/People/Sarah Chen.md

"Archived: Sarah Chen
From: +People/
To: +Archive/People/
Reason: Left YourOrg June 2025

Note: Links like [[Sarah Chen]] in meeting notes will continue to work."

Batch Archive

For batch archiving (e.g., all completed tasks older than 3 months):

/archive batch tasks

This will:

1. Find all tasks where completed: true and modified > 3 months ago
2. List them for review
3. Ask for confirmation
4. Archive all in one operation

Reversing an Archive

To unarchive, manually:

1. Move file back to original location
2. Remove archived: true from frontmatter
3. Remove archived tag
4. Optionally remove archivedDate and archivedReason

Or create an /unarchive skill if this becomes common.

Dataview Integration

After archiving, update MOC queries to exclude archived content:

TABLE status, priority
FROM ""
WHERE type = "Project" AND archived != true
SORT modified DESC

Notes

• Links preserved: Obsidian updates wiki-links when files move
• Git history preserved: Using git mv maintains file history
• Reversible: Can always move back and remove flags
• Searchable: Archived content still searchable when needed