Obsidian-Ontology Sync#

Philosophy: Obsidian is PRIMARY (human writes natural notes) → Ontology is DERIVED (machine extracts structure) → Feedback loop improves both

Core Concept#

text

Obsidian Notes (Markdown)
    ↓ Extract (every 3 hours)
Ontology Graph (Structured)
    ↓ Query & Analyze
Insights & Suggestions
    ↓ Feedback
Improved Note Templates

When to Use#

SituationActionAfter creating/updating contactsRun sync to extract entitiesBefore business queriesSync then query ontologyWeekly reviewSync + analyze + get suggestionsNew project setupExtract entities + suggest structureTeam status trackingSync daily-status → ontology → analytics

What Gets Extracted#

From Contact Notes ( references/contacts/*.md)#

Extracts:

• Person entity (name, email, phone)
• works_at → Organization
• met_at → Event
• assigned_to → Project (if mentioned)
• status → (prospect, warm_lead, client, etc.)

Example:

markdown

# Alice Johnson

**Email:** alice@company.com
**Company:** Acme Corp
**Met At:** Tech Conference 2026
**Projects:** Project Alpha

## Notes
Great developer, responsive communication.

Becomes:

json

{
  "entity": {
    "id": "person_alice_johnson",
    "type": "Person",
    "properties": {
      "name": "Alice Johnson",
      "email": "alice@company.com",
      "notes": "Great developer, responsive communication"
    }
  },
  "relations": [
    {"from": "person_alice_johnson", "rel": "works_at", "to": "org_acme"},
    {"from": "person_alice_johnson", "rel": "met_at", "to": "event_tech_conference_2026"},
    {"from": "person_alice_johnson", "rel": "assigned_to", "to": "project_alpha"}
  ]
}

From Client Notes ( references/clients/*.md)#

Extracts:

• Organization entity
• has_contract_value → number
• projects → Project entities
• primary_contact → Person

From Team Notes ( references/team/*.md)#

Extracts:

• Person entity
• works_for → Organization
• assigned_to → Project[]
• reports_to → Person
• response_pattern → (proactive, reactive, non-responsive)

From Daily Status ( daily-status/YYYY-MM-DD/*.md)#

Extracts:

• response_time property on Person
• status_update → Event
• blockers → Issue entities
• behavioral_pattern tracking

From Project Notes ( projects/*.md)#

Extracts:

• Project entity
• for_client → Organization
• team → Person[]
• status, value, deadline

Sync Process#

1. Extract Phase (Markdown → Ontology)#

bash

# Run extraction
python3 skills/obsidian-ontology-sync/scripts/sync.py extract

# What it does:
# 1. Scan configured Obsidian directories
# 2. Parse markdown frontmatter + content
# 3. Extract entities (Person, Project, Organization, etc.)
# 4. Extract relationships (works_at, assigned_to, etc.)
# 5. Write to ontology using append-only operations

Detection Rules:

python

# Contact files
if file.startswith("references/contacts/"):
    entity_type = "Person"
    extract_email_from_content()
    extract_company_from_property("Company:")
    extract_projects_from_links([[Project]])

# Client files
if file.startswith("references/clients/"):
    entity_type = "Organization"
    extract_contract_value()
    extract_projects()

# Team files
if file.startswith("references/team/"):
    entity_type = "Person"
    role = "team_member"
    extract_assignments()
    extract_response_patterns()

2. Analysis Phase (Ontology → Insights)#

bash

# Run analytics
python3 skills/obsidian-ontology-sync/scripts/sync.py analyze

# Generates insights like:
# - "3 team members have no assigned projects"
# - "Contact 'John Doe' missing email address"
# - "Project 'X' has 5 people but no client linked"
# - "10 contacts from AI Summit not linked to follow-up tasks"

3. Feedback Phase (Insights → Improve PKM)#

bash

# Get suggestions
python3 skills/obsidian-ontology-sync/scripts/sync.py feedback

# Creates:
# - Missing property suggestions
# - Broken link reports
# - Relationship suggestions
# - Template improvements

Example Feedback:

markdown

# Sync Feedback - 2026-02-27

## Missing Information (10 items)
- [ ] `Alice Johnson` missing phone number
- [ ] `Bob` missing email in team file
- [ ] Project `Project Alpha` missing deadline

## Suggested Links (5 items)
- [ ] Link `Jane Doe` (TechHub) to organization `TechHub`
- [ ] Link `Eve` to project (found in daily-status but not in team file)

## Relationship Insights
- `Project Alpha` team: Alice, Carol, David (extracted from daily-status)
- Suggest updating project file with team assignments

## Template Suggestions
- Add `Projects: [[]]` field to contact template
- Add `Response Pattern:` field to team template

Configuration#

config.yaml#

yaml

# /root/life/pkm/ontology-sync/config.yaml

obsidian:
  vault_path: /root/life/pkm

  # What to sync
  sources:
    contacts:
      path: references/contacts
      entity_type: Person
      extract:
        - email_from_content
        - company_from_property
        - projects_from_links

    clients:
      path: references/clients
      entity_type: Organization
      extract:
        - contract_value
        - projects
        - contacts

    team:
      path: references/team
      entity_type: Person
      role: team_member
      extract:
        - assignments
        - response_patterns
        - reports_to

    daily_status:
      path: daily-status
      extract:
        - response_times
        - behavioral_patterns
        - blockers

ontology:
  storage_path: /root/life/pkm/memory/ontology
  format: jsonl  # or sqlite for scale

  # Entity types to track
  entities:
    - Person
    - Organization
    - Project
    - Event
    - Task

  # Relationships to extract
  relationships:
    - works_at
    - assigned_to
    - met_at
    - for_client
    - reports_to
    - has_task
    - blocks

feedback:
  output_path: /root/life/pkm/ontology-sync/feedback
  generate_reports: true
  suggest_templates: true
  highlight_missing: true

schedule:
  # Run via cron every 3 hours
  sync_interval: "0 */3 * * *"
  analyze_daily: "0 9 * * *"  # 9 AM daily
  feedback_weekly: "0 10 * * MON"  # Monday 10 AM

Scheduled Sync (Cron Integration)#

Setup Automatic Sync#

bash

# Add to OpenClaw cron
python3 skills/obsidian-ontology-sync/scripts/setup-cron.py

# Or manually via cron tool
cron add \
  --schedule "0 */3 * * *" \
  --task "python3 skills/obsidian-ontology-sync/scripts/sync.py extract" \
  --label "Obsidian → Ontology Sync"

Cron Jobs Created:

1. Every 3 hours: Extract entities from Obsidian → Update ontology
2. Daily 9 AM: Run analytics and generate insights
3. Weekly Monday 10 AM: Generate feedback report + template suggestions

Queries (Using Ontology)#

Once synced, you can query:

bash

# All team members on high-value projects
python3 skills/ontology/scripts/ontology.py query \
  --type Person \
  --where '{"role":"team_member"}' \
  --related assigned_to \
  --filter '{"type":"Project","value__gt":400000}'

# Contacts from specific event not yet followed up
python3 skills/ontology/scripts/ontology.py query \
  --type Person \
  --where '{"met_at":"event_tech_conference_2026"}' \
  --missing has_task

# Team response patterns
python3 skills/ontology/scripts/ontology.py query \
  --type Person \
  --where '{"role":"team_member"}' \
  --aggregate response_pattern

# Projects by client
python3 skills/ontology/scripts/ontology.py query \
  --type Project \
  --group-by for_client \
  --count

Feedback Loop Examples#

Example 1: Missing Email Detection#

Ontology finds: Person entity with no email property

Feedback generated:

markdown

## Missing Contact Information

The following team members are missing email addresses:

- [ ] Bob (`references/team/Bob.md`)
- [ ] Lucky (`references/team/Lucky.md`)

**Suggestion:** Add email field to team member template:
\`\`\`markdown
**Email:**
\`\`\`

Example 2: Broken Project Links#

Ontology finds: Person assigned_to Project that doesn't exist

Feedback generated:

markdown

## Broken Project References

Found references to projects that don't have dedicated files:

- [ ] "Project Epsilon" mentioned in team files but no `projects/Project Epsilon.md`
- [ ] "Project Delta Tata DT" assigned but no project file

**Suggestion:** Create project files with template

Example 3: Relationship Discovery#

Ontology finds: Multiple people working at same company

Feedback generated:

markdown

## Suggested Company Grouping

Found 3 contacts at "TechHub":
- Jane Doe
- [2 others from daily-status mentions]

**Suggestion:** Create `references/clients/TechHub.md` and link contacts

Integration with Daily Workflow#

Morning Routine (9 AM)#

bash

# Cron runs analysis
# Generates daily-insights.md with:
- Response rate from yesterday's status requests
- Projects needing attention (blockers mentioned)
- Contacts to follow up (met > 3 days ago, no task)

Weekly Review (Monday 10 AM)#

bash

# Cron generates weekly feedback
# Creates suggestions for:
- Missing information to fill in
- Broken links to fix
- New templates to adopt
- Relationship insights

On-Demand Queries#

bash

# Before a meeting
"Show me all interactions with Client X"

# Resource planning
"Which team members are on <3 projects?"

# Sales pipeline
"Contacts met at conferences in last 30 days without follow-up"

Benefits#

✅ For You#

1. Zero Extra Work: Just keep writing normal Obsidian notes
2. Automatic Structure: Ontology extracted automatically
3. Powerful Queries: Find patterns across all your data
4. Quality Improvement: Feedback loop catches missing info
5. No Double Entry: Single source of truth (Obsidian)

✅ For Team Management#

• Track who's on which project (auto-extracted)
• Monitor response patterns (from daily-status)
• Identify unbalanced workloads
• Find blockers across projects

✅ For Sales/BD#

• Track contact network (who you met, where, when)
• Follow-up reminders (contacted >7 days ago)
• Relationship mapping (who knows who)
• Pipeline insights (prospects → warm → clients)

✅ For Finance#

• Project valuations (extracted from client notes)
• Team cost allocation (people → projects → revenue)
• Revenue forecasting (active projects × value)

File Structure After Sync#

text

/root/life/pkm/
├── references/
│   ├── contacts/          # Source notes (you write these)
│   ├── clients/           # Source notes
│   └── team/              # Source notes
├── daily-status/          # Source notes
├── projects/              # Source notes
│
├── memory/ontology/       # Generated ontology
│   ├── graph.jsonl        # Entity/relation storage
│   └── schema.yaml        # Type definitions
│
└── ontology-sync/         # Sync outputs
    ├── config.yaml        # Your config
    ├── feedback/
    │   ├── daily-insights.md
    │   ├── weekly-feedback.md
    │   └── suggestions.md
    └── logs/
        └── sync-YYYY-MM-DD.log

Advanced: Bidirectional Sync#

Future capability:

Update Obsidian notes FROM ontology insights:

bash

# Automatically add missing fields
python3 skills/obsidian-ontology-sync/scripts/sync.py apply-feedback

# What it does:
# - Adds missing email field to contact notes
# - Creates suggested project files
# - Links related entities
# - Updates frontmatter

Safety: Always creates backup before modifying files.

Comparison with Alternatives#

ApproachProsConsManual ontologyFull controlToo much work, falls behindObsidian onlySimpleNo structured queriesOntology onlyPowerful queriesNot human-friendlyThis skillBest of bothInitial setup needed

Getting Started#

1. Install Dependencies#

bash

# Already have ontology skill installed
clawhub install obsidian  # If not already installed

2. Create Config#

bash

python3 skills/obsidian-ontology-sync/scripts/init.py

# Creates:
# - config.yaml with your vault path
# - ontology directory structure
# - cron jobs

3. Run First Sync#

bash

# Manual first sync to test
python3 skills/obsidian-ontology-sync/scripts/sync.py extract --dry-run

# See what would be extracted
# Review, then run for real:
python3 skills/obsidian-ontology-sync/scripts/sync.py extract

4. Enable Automatic Sync#

bash

python3 skills/obsidian-ontology-sync/scripts/setup-cron.py

# Confirms cron jobs:
# ✓ Sync every 3 hours
# ✓ Daily analysis at 9 AM
# ✓ Weekly feedback Monday 10 AM

5. Query Your Data#

bash

# Try some queries
python3 skills/obsidian-ontology-sync/scripts/query.py "team members on high value projects"

Troubleshooting#

Extraction Issues#

bash

# Dry run to see what would be extracted
python3 skills/obsidian-ontology-sync/scripts/sync.py extract --dry-run --verbose

# Check specific file
python3 skills/obsidian-ontology-sync/scripts/debug.py \
  --file references/contacts/Alice.md

Query Not Finding Data#

bash

# Check what's in ontology
python3 skills/ontology/scripts/ontology.py query --type Person

# Verify sync ran
cat /root/life/pkm/ontology-sync/logs/sync-latest.log

Feedback Not Generated#

bash

# Manually run analysis
python3 skills/obsidian-ontology-sync/scripts/sync.py analyze
python3 skills/obsidian-ontology-sync/scripts/sync.py feedback

Version History#

• 1.0.0 (2026-02-27) - Initial version with extraction, analysis, feedback loop

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Author: Built for team management, contact tracking, and business intelligence at scale License: MIT Tags: obsidian, ontology, knowledge-graph, pkm, automation, sync