obsidian-kb/ofm-guide

When creating or editing notes in the user's Obsidian vault, follow these conventions.

Core Principles

1. Ask before creating — confirm the save location and vault structure first.
2. Use OFM syntax — prefer wikilinks, callouts, and embeds over standard Markdown equivalents.
3. Atomic notes — one concept per note, connected through links.
4. Metadata-driven — use YAML frontmatter for searchability and Dataview queries.

Wikilinks

[[Note Name]]                 # link to a note
[[Note Name|Display Text]]    # custom display text
[[Note Name#Heading]]         # link to a heading
[[Note Name#^block-id]]       # link to a block

• Use descriptive, unique note names. Avoid special characters: [ ] # ^ | \
• Prefer full note names over path-based links (Obsidian auto-resolves)

Embeds

![[Note Name]]                # embed entire note
![[Note Name#Heading]]        # embed a section
![[image.png]]                # embed image
![[image.png|300]]            # embed with width

Callouts

> [!note] Title
> Content here

> [!tip] Tip title
> Useful advice

> [!warning] Warning
> Important caution

> [!info]- Collapsible (collapsed by default)
> Hidden content

Available types: note, tip, warning, important, info, abstract, todo, example, question, quote, bug, success, failure, danger

YAML Frontmatter

Always start notes with frontmatter properties:

---
title: Note Title
date: 2026-03-22
tags: [topic1, topic2]
aliases: [alternate-name]
cssclass: custom-class
---

Key fields:

• tags — array format [tag1, tag2] preferred over inline #tags
• aliases — alternative names for linking
• date — ISO format YYYY-MM-DD

Daily Notes

Format: YYYY-MM-DD.md in the configured daily folder.

Template:

---
date: {{date}}
tags: [daily]
---

# {{date}}

## Tasks
- [ ]

## Notes

## Reflection

Folder Organization

Common vault structures:

• Inbox/ — new unsorted notes
• Projects/ — active project notes
• Areas/ — ongoing responsibility areas
• Resources/ — reference material
• Archive/ — completed items
• Daily/ — daily notes
• Templates/ — note templates

Best Practices

• Use [[wikilinks]] instead of [text](url) for internal links
• Add tags in frontmatter rather than inline #tags for consistency
• Create MOC (Map of Content) notes to organize related topics
• Keep file names concise but descriptive
• Use callouts for important information rather than bold/italic