Obsidian Workflow

This page defines the best Obsidian setup for Shanepedia as a dual-use system: fast for Shane, legible for agents.

Design goals

• frictionless capture
• obvious navigation
• durable metadata
• low-maintenance dashboards
• safe automation boundaries

Recommended plugin stack

Tier 1, install first

1. Dataview

• why: live tables and filtered views over notes with frontmatter
• use here: dashboards for projects, stale notes, open loops, recently updated pages
• source: official community plugin listing plus Dataview docs

1. Templater

• why: stronger note creation templates with variables and automation
• use here: page scaffolds for entities, projects, topics, ops notes, and intake capture
• caution: it can run JS and system commands, so only use trusted local templates
• source: official repo docs

1. QuickAdd

• why: one-keystroke capture and note creation flows
• use here: fast capture into wiki/inbox/, create project/topic/entity notes from templates

1. Tasks

• why: actionable checklists across the vault
• use here: open loops, next actions, project review pages

Tier 2, high value after basics work

1. Metadata Menu

• why: easier editing of structured frontmatter without hand-editing YAML
• use here: consistent fields like type, status, area, updated, owner, tags

1. Canvas / Bases / Graph

• why: spatial maps and visual review
• use here: founder map, lane map, opportunity clusters, trip planning boards
• note: prefer these for visual navigation, not as the only source of truth

1. Homepage or start-note flow

• why: open directly into wiki/START_HERE.md
• use here: reduce startup friction

Tier 3, optional

1. Commander

• add buttons/commands for common actions

1. Omnisearch

• stronger search if built-in search feels weak

1. Kanban

• only if project pages actually benefit from board views

Recommended metadata standard

Use frontmatter fields consistently:

title: Page Title
type: topic
status: active
area: shanepedia
last_updated: 2026-04-10
tags:
  - map
  - founder
related:
  - "[[../START_HERE.md]]"

Preferred fields:

• title
• type
• status
• area
• last_updated
• tags
• related

Human workflow

1. open vault
2. land on START_HERE
3. capture rough notes into wiki/inbox/
4. promote useful notes into real pages
5. use maps and dashboards to review what matters now

Agent workflow

1. start with START_HERE
2. read the relevant map page
3. use metadata and links to narrow scope fast
4. write updates into the correct page class
5. rebuild index and lint after meaningful edits

Safety and reliability

• markdown pages remain the source of truth
• community plugins are helpers, not core storage
• avoid plugin lock-in for critical information
• avoid Templater scripts from untrusted sources
• prefer a small stable stack over plugin sprawl

Best next implementation steps

1. add metadata fields to key pages
2. add Dataview dashboard notes
3. add QuickAdd capture choices
4. add a homepage/start-note behavior
5. create one or two Canvas maps for founder and project navigation

Alignment with the LLM wiki pattern

This workflow matches the LLM wiki pattern closely:

• raw files are the immutable evidence layer
• the markdown wiki is the maintained synthesis layer
• dashboards, maps, and canvases are durable outputs from repeated questions
• agent rules should push good analysis back into the wiki instead of leaving it in chat
• Codex can act as the primary maintainer while Obsidian stays the human-facing IDE