How to use the Obsidian Vault Wiki Setup agent skill

What the wiki skill makes the agent do

An agent skill is a folder of instructions that an AI agent loads when a task matches it. The wiki skill covers vault setup: it can create a new vault, adopt an existing Obsidian vault, select which vault a request applies to, and set up configuration that spans projects.

The skill treats the product code as code and your vault as data. Setup commands are dry-run by default, so the agent first shows the selected path and a preview of the files it would change. Nothing is written until you approve the reviewed plan. Setup is non-destructive by default and creates no upstream Git remote.

• Create a new, separate vault or adopt an existing one.
• Preview every changed path before any file is written.
• Choose the correct follow-up skill for a request, such as ingest, query, save, or lint.
• Ask for approval before broad edits.

How to install the wiki skill

Download the wiki skill as a ZIP from the skill's page in this directory. Then install it in one of two ways.

For Claude Code, unzip it into your personal skills folder at ~/.claude/skills/, or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder if you want it only for that project. For the Claude apps, upload the ZIP under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

• Personal install: unzip into ~/.claude/skills/.
• Project install: unzip into the project's .claude/skills/ folder.
• Claude apps: upload the ZIP under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.
• The skill also expects the claude-obsidian product checkout, which provides scripts/claude-obsidian.py. Get that checkout before you start setup.

Trigger the skill with natural requests

You can invoke the skill with the /wiki command or by describing what you want in plain words. The skill's description lists the phrases it responds to, so you do not need special syntax. Name the vault folder when you can, because the skill fails closed if it cannot tell which vault to use.

• /wiki
• set up wiki
• scaffold vault
• create knowledge base
• adopt this vault
• Obsidian vault
• second brain setup
• persistent wiki

Set up a new or existing vault with a reviewed plan

For a new, separate vault, the agent first runs init without the apply flag to produce a plan. After you review the changed paths, it runs the same command with the approved plan hash and --apply. For an existing vault, it does the same with adopt.

The agent passes the generated plan hash unchanged. It will not use --force unless you have reviewed the conflicts and explicitly approved replacing them.

• Dry run first: the command without --apply shows the plan.
• Apply second: add --approved-plan-sha256 with the reviewed hash, plus --apply.
• Use --force only after you have reviewed conflicts and approved replacement.

Route work to the right sub-skill

Once a vault exists, the wiki skill decides which sibling skill fits a request, without quietly widening its scope. Query is read-only. Saving anything from a query needs a separate, explicitly scoped Save operation.

• Ingest supplied sources: wiki-ingest
• Answer from existing vault knowledge: wiki-query
• Save a specific conversation result: save
• Research the public web under a budget: autoresearch
• Check vault health: wiki-lint
• Roll up log entries: wiki-fold
• Work with a canvas: canvas

What it needs and safety notes

The skill needs Python 3, because it runs a bundled script through python3. It needs an Obsidian vault folder on your local disk and the claude-obsidian checkout that provides scripts/claude-obsidian.py. The skill runs scripts, but the baseline setup makes no network requests. It does not fetch templates, plugins, or remote content unless you approve the destinations and budget.

Every change is one reviewed operation with a recoverable record. There are no automatic commits. A Git checkpoint runs only if you explicitly ask for one. Obsidian, sync clients, and other editors do not take the skill's lock, so pause them while a reviewed change applies.

• Requires Python 3 and a local vault folder.
• Runs scripts; uses no network for baseline setup.
• No automatic commits and no Git remote is created.
• Other editors or sync tools can change files after a check, so pause syncing during an apply.

Tips for a smooth setup

Back up the vault before adopting an existing one, and let sync settle on every device first. Choose one machine as the only writer for each operation. If an apply reports a conflict, ask the agent to re-read the files and rebuild the plan rather than retrying the old one.

• Back up the vault and let sync finish before adopting.
• Keep one machine as the only writer during an operation.
• If a conflict appears, have the agent re-read and rebuild the plan.
• Ask for a Git checkpoint only when you want one.