Obsidian Flavored Markdown Skill

Create and edit valid Obsidian Flavored Markdown. Obsidian extends CommonMark and GFM with wikilinks, embeds, callouts, properties, comments, and other syntax. This skill covers only Obsidian-specific extensions -- standard Markdown (headings, bold, italic, lists, quotes, code blocks, tables) is assumed knowledge.

Property Discipline

Prefer Obsidian-native properties and file metadata before adding custom frontmatter.

• Use native properties (tags, aliases, cssclasses) when they fit the request.
• Use the note file name, folder, links, backlinks, tags, created/modified time, and other Obsidian file metadata instead of duplicating them into custom properties.
• Do not add custom properties such as title, status, date, priority, due, category, or type unless the user asks for those fields, an existing vault convention already uses them, or another requested feature needs structured data that Obsidian cannot infer natively.
• When editing an existing note, preserve existing properties and only add new ones when needed for the user's requested workflow.

Workflow: Creating an Obsidian Note

1. Decide whether frontmatter is needed. If no structured metadata is required, start directly with Markdown content. If properties are needed, prefer native Obsidian properties first. See PROPERTIES.md for all property types.
2. Write content using standard Markdown for structure, plus Obsidian-specific syntax below.
3. Link related notes using wikilinks ([[Note]]) for internal vault connections, or standard Markdown links for external URLs.
4. Embed content from other notes, images, or PDFs using the ![[embed]] syntax. See EMBEDS.md for all embed types.
5. Add callouts for highlighted information using > [!type] syntax. See CALLOUTS.md for all callout types.
6. Verify the note renders correctly in Obsidian's reading view.

When choosing between wikilinks and Markdown links: use [[wikilinks]] for notes within the vault (Obsidian tracks renames automatically) and [text](url) for external URLs only.

Internal Links (Wikilinks)

[[Note Name]]                          Link to note
[[Note Name|Display Text]]             Custom display text
[[Note Name#Heading]]                  Link to heading
[[Note Name#^block-id]]                Link to block
[[#Heading in same note]]              Same-note heading link

Define a block ID by appending ^block-id to any paragraph:

This paragraph can be linked to. ^my-block-id

For lists and quotes, place the block ID on a separate line after the block:

> A quote block

^quote-id

Embeds

Prefix any wikilink with ! to embed its content inline:

![[Note Name]]                         Embed full note
![[Note Name#Heading]]                 Embed section
![[image.png]]                         Embed image
![[image.png|300]]                     Embed image with width
![[document.pdf#page=3]]               Embed PDF page

See EMBEDS.md for audio, video, search embeds, and external images.

Callouts

> [!note]
> Basic callout.

> [!warning] Custom Title
> Callout with a custom title.

> [!faq]- Collapsed by default
> Foldable callout (- collapsed, + expanded).

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

See CALLOUTS.md for the full list with aliases, nesting, and custom CSS callouts.

Properties (Frontmatter)

---
tags:
  - project
  - active
aliases:
  - Alternative Name
cssclasses:
  - custom-class
---

Default properties: tags (searchable labels), aliases (alternative note names for link suggestions), cssclasses (CSS classes for styling).

Add custom properties only when the user's request or the vault's existing schema needs them; otherwise rely on the file name, note path, links, tags, and Obsidian's file metadata.

See PROPERTIES.md for all property types, tag syntax rules, and advanced usage.

Tags

#tag                    Inline tag
#nested/tag             Nested tag with hierarchy

Tags can contain letters, numbers (not first character), underscores, hyphens, and forward slashes. Tags can also be defined in frontmatter under the tags property.

Comments

This is visible %%but this is hidden%% text.

%%
This entire block is hidden in reading view.
%%

Obsidian-Specific Formatting

==Highlighted text==                   Highlight syntax

Math (LaTeX)

Inline: $e^{i\pi} + 1 = 0$

Block:
$$
\frac{a}{b} = c
$$

Diagrams (Mermaid)

graph TD A[Start] --> B{Decision} B -->|Yes| C[Do this] B -->|No| D[Do that]

To link Mermaid nodes to Obsidian notes, add class NodeName internal-link;.

Footnotes

Text with a footnote[^1].

[^1]: Footnote content.

Inline footnote.^[This is inline.]

Complete Example

---
tags:
  - project
  - active
---

# Project Alpha

This project aims to [[improve workflow]] using modern techniques.

> [!important] Key Deadline
> The first milestone is due on ==January 30th==.

## Tasks

- [x] Initial planning
- [ ] Development phase
  - [ ] Backend implementation
  - [ ] Frontend design

## Notes

The algorithm uses $O(n \log n)$ sorting. See [[Algorithm Notes#Sorting]] for details.

![[Architecture Diagram.png|600]]

Reviewed in [[Meeting Notes 2024-01-10#Decisions]].

References

• Obsidian Flavored Markdown
• Internal links
• Embed files
• Callouts
• Properties