Obsidian Vault Structure and Linking Decision Tree
Decide folders, links, and tags for a vault.
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Help me design an Obsidian vault. What I will use it for (research, writing, projects, journaling, study): [USES]. Volume of notes now and expected: [NOTE_VOLUME]. Existing notes to import: [EXISTING_NOTES]. Plugins I'm comfortable with: [PLUGINS]. Sync method: [SYNC_METHOD]. Use this tree to decide the structure: 1. Do I need folders at all? IF my notes are mostly connected ideas THEN use few folders (Inbox, Notes, Projects, Archive, Templates) and rely on links. IF I have many projects with deadlines THEN add a Projects folder with one subfolder per project. 2. Link or tag? Link to notes that are concepts, people, or projects (they accumulate backlinks); tag for status or type (#todo, #reading) that you want to filter. 3. Note types: daily notes, literature notes (from sources), permanent notes (my own ideas in my own words), project notes, and maps of content (index notes). Define each with a template. 4. Naming: consistent titles (statement-like for permanent notes), unique IDs optional, avoid special characters that break sync. 5. Properties (frontmatter): type, status, created, source, tags; keep it small. Return a folder tree, templates in Markdown for each note type, a naming convention, a set of core plugins and optional community plugins (with a note to evaluate security and maintenance), a weekly maintenance routine (process the inbox, add links, update maps), and a migration plan from my existing notes. Include a warning about over-engineering and about backing up the vault.
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