Obsidian Vault (WSL)#

Use this skill when the vault lives on Windows but is being accessed from WSL through /mnt/<drive>.

Workflow#

1. Identify the vault root from the user-provided path before doing broad searches or edits.
2. Operate on the filesystem path directly; Obsidian does not require a special API for normal note work.
3. Preserve existing frontmatter, wiki-links, embeds, headings, and folder structure unless the user asks to change them.

Vault Location#

Do not assume a fixed vault path.

Common patterns:

• Windows: C:\Users\<user>\Documents\<vault>\
• Windows: D:\Notes\<vault>\
• WSL: /mnt/c/Users/<user>/Documents/<vault>/
• WSL: /mnt/d/Notes/<vault>/

Treat the vault root as the directory containing the Obsidian note tree.

Path Translation#

text

Windows -> WSL: C:\path\to\file -> /mnt/c/path/to/file
Windows -> WSL: D:\path\to\file -> /mnt/d/path/to/file
WSL -> Windows: /mnt/c/path     -> C:/path
WSL -> Windows: /mnt/d/path     -> D:/path

Replace backslashes with forward slashes and lowercase the drive letter under /mnt/<drive>.

Common Operations#

Read a note#

bash

cat "/mnt/<drive>/<vault>/<path>/<filename>.md"

Search the vault#

Prefer rg for speed:

bash

rg "search term" "/mnt/<drive>/<vault>/"

Edit a note#

Edit the markdown file in place with targeted changes instead of rewriting the whole note when possible.

Create a new note#

Use a minimal template when metadata is needed:

markdown

---
title: Note Title
tags: []
---

# Note Title

Obsidian Conventions#

• Notes are markdown files ending in .md
• YAML frontmatter is commonly used for metadata such as title, tags, and aliases
• Internal links use [[Note Name]]
• Embeds use ![[Note Name]]
• Callouts use > [!type]

Working Rules#

• Confirm the vault root before making broad searches or bulk changes
• Prefer targeted edits over full-file rewrites
• Keep filenames, wiki-links, and folder structure consistent with the existing vault