obsidian-markdown
Create and edit Obsidian Flavored Markdown with wikilinks, embeds, callouts, properties, and other Obsidian-specific syntax. Use when working with .md files in Obsidian, or when the user mentions wikilinks, callouts, frontmatter, tags, embeds, or Obsidian notes.
Best use case
obsidian-markdown is best used when you need a repeatable AI agent workflow instead of a one-off prompt.
Create and edit Obsidian Flavored Markdown with wikilinks, embeds, callouts, properties, and other Obsidian-specific syntax. Use when working with .md files in Obsidian, or when the user mentions wikilinks, callouts, frontmatter, tags, embeds, or Obsidian notes.
Teams using obsidian-markdown should expect a more consistent output, faster repeated execution, less prompt rewriting.
When to use this skill
- You want a reusable workflow that can be run more than once with consistent structure.
When not to use this skill
- You only need a quick one-off answer and do not need a reusable workflow.
- You cannot install or maintain the underlying files, dependencies, or repository context.
Installation
Claude Code / Cursor / Codex
Manual Installation
- Download SKILL.md from GitHub
- Place it in
.claude/skills/obsidian-markdown/SKILL.mdinside your project - Restart your AI agent — it will auto-discover the skill
How obsidian-markdown Compares
| Feature / Agent | obsidian-markdown | Standard Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Platform Support | Not specified | Limited / Varies |
| Context Awareness | High | Baseline |
| Installation Complexity | Unknown | N/A |
Frequently Asked Questions
What does this skill do?
Create and edit Obsidian Flavored Markdown with wikilinks, embeds, callouts, properties, and other Obsidian-specific syntax. Use when working with .md files in Obsidian, or when the user mentions wikilinks, callouts, frontmatter, tags, embeds, or Obsidian notes.
Where can I find the source code?
You can find the source code on GitHub using the link provided at the top of the page.
SKILL.md Source
# Obsidian Flavored Markdown Skill
This skill enables Claude Code to create and edit valid Obsidian Flavored Markdown, including all Obsidian-specific syntax extensions.
## Overview
Obsidian uses a combination of Markdown flavors:
- [CommonMark](https://commonmark.org/)
- [GitHub Flavored Markdown](https://github.github.com/gfm/)
- [LaTeX](https://www.latex-project.org/) for math
- Obsidian-specific extensions (wikilinks, callouts, embeds, etc.)
## Basic Formatting
### Paragraphs and Line Breaks
```markdown
This is a paragraph.
This is another paragraph (blank line between creates separate paragraphs).
For a line break within a paragraph, add two spaces at the end
or use Shift+Enter.
```
### Headings
```markdown
# Heading 1
## Heading 2
### Heading 3
#### Heading 4
##### Heading 5
###### Heading 6
```
### Text Formatting
| Style | Syntax | Example | Output |
|-------|--------|---------|--------|
| Bold | `**text**` or `__text__` | `**Bold**` | **Bold** |
| Italic | `*text*` or `_text_` | `*Italic*` | *Italic* |
| Bold + Italic | `***text***` | `***Both***` | ***Both*** |
| Strikethrough | `~~text~~` | `~~Striked~~` | ~~Striked~~ |
| Highlight | `==text==` | `==Highlighted==` | ==Highlighted== |
| Inline code | `` `code` `` | `` `code` `` | `code` |
### Escaping Formatting
Use backslash to escape special characters:
```markdown
\*This won't be italic\*
\#This won't be a heading
1\. This won't be a list item
```
Common characters to escape: `\*`, `\_`, `\#`, `` \` ``, `\|`, `\~`
## Internal Links (Wikilinks)
### Basic Links
```markdown
[[Note Name]]
[[Note Name.md]]
[[Note Name|Display Text]]
```
### Link to Headings
```markdown
[[Note Name#Heading]]
[[Note Name#Heading|Custom Text]]
[[#Heading in same note]]
[[##Search all headings in vault]]
```
### Link to Blocks
```markdown
[[Note Name#^block-id]]
[[Note Name#^block-id|Custom Text]]
```
Define a block ID by adding `^block-id` at the end of a paragraph:
```markdown
This is a paragraph that can be linked to. ^my-block-id
```
For lists and quotes, add the block ID on a separate line:
```markdown
> This is a quote
> With multiple lines
^quote-id
```
### Search Links
```markdown
[[##heading]] Search for headings containing "heading"
[[^^block]] Search for blocks containing "block"
```
## Markdown-Style Links
```markdown
[Display Text](Note%20Name.md)
[Display Text](Note%20Name.md#Heading)
[Display Text](https://example.com)
[Note](obsidian://open?vault=VaultName&file=Note.md)
```
Note: Spaces must be URL-encoded as `%20` in Markdown links.
## Embeds
### Embed Notes
```markdown
![[Note Name]]
![[Note Name#Heading]]
![[Note Name#^block-id]]
```
### Embed Images
```markdown
![[image.png]]
![[image.png|640x480]] Width x Height
![[image.png|300]] Width only (maintains aspect ratio)
```
### External Images
```markdown


```
### Embed Audio
```markdown
![[audio.mp3]]
![[audio.ogg]]
```
### Embed PDF
```markdown
![[document.pdf]]
![[document.pdf#page=3]]
![[document.pdf#height=400]]
```
### Embed Lists
```markdown
![[Note#^list-id]]
```
Where the list has been defined with a block ID:
```markdown
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Item 3
^list-id
```
### Embed Search Results
````markdown
```query
tag:#project status:done
```
````
## Callouts
### Basic Callout
```markdown
> [!note]
> This is a note callout.
> [!info] Custom Title
> This callout has a custom title.
> [!tip] Title Only
```
### Foldable Callouts
```markdown
> [!faq]- Collapsed by default
> This content is hidden until expanded.
> [!faq]+ Expanded by default
> This content is visible but can be collapsed.
```
### Nested Callouts
```markdown
> [!question] Outer callout
> > [!note] Inner callout
> > Nested content
```
### Supported Callout Types
| Type | Aliases | Description |
|------|---------|-------------|
| `note` | - | Blue, pencil icon |
| `abstract` | `summary`, `tldr` | Teal, clipboard icon |
| `info` | - | Blue, info icon |
| `todo` | - | Blue, checkbox icon |
| `tip` | `hint`, `important` | Cyan, flame icon |
| `success` | `check`, `done` | Green, checkmark icon |
| `question` | `help`, `faq` | Yellow, question mark |
| `warning` | `caution`, `attention` | Orange, warning icon |
| `failure` | `fail`, `missing` | Red, X icon |
| `danger` | `error` | Red, zap icon |
| `bug` | - | Red, bug icon |
| `example` | - | Purple, list icon |
| `quote` | `cite` | Gray, quote icon |
### Custom Callouts (CSS)
```css
.callout[data-callout="custom-type"] {
--callout-color: 255, 0, 0;
--callout-icon: lucide-alert-circle;
}
```
## Lists
### Unordered Lists
```markdown
- Item 1
- Item 2
- Nested item
- Another nested
- Item 3
* Also works with asterisks
+ Or plus signs
```
### Ordered Lists
```markdown
1. First item
2. Second item
1. Nested numbered
2. Another nested
3. Third item
1) Alternative syntax
2) With parentheses
```
### Task Lists
```markdown
- [ ] Incomplete task
- [x] Completed task
- [ ] Task with sub-tasks
- [ ] Subtask 1
- [x] Subtask 2
```
## Quotes
```markdown
> This is a blockquote.
> It can span multiple lines.
>
> And include multiple paragraphs.
>
> > Nested quotes work too.
```
## Code
### Inline Code
```markdown
Use `backticks` for inline code.
Use double backticks for ``code with a ` backtick inside``.
```
### Code Blocks
````markdown
```
Plain code block
```
```javascript
// Syntax highlighted code block
function hello() {
console.log("Hello, world!");
}
```
```python
# Python example
def greet(name):
print(f"Hello, {name}!")
```
````
### Nesting Code Blocks
Use more backticks or tildes for the outer block:
`````markdown
````markdown
Here's how to create a code block:
```js
console.log("Hello")
```
````
`````
## Tables
```markdown
| Header 1 | Header 2 | Header 3 |
|----------|----------|----------|
| Cell 1 | Cell 2 | Cell 3 |
| Cell 4 | Cell 5 | Cell 6 |
```
### Alignment
```markdown
| Left | Center | Right |
|:---------|:--------:|---------:|
| Left | Center | Right |
```
### Using Pipes in Tables
Escape pipes with backslash:
```markdown
| Column 1 | Column 2 |
|----------|----------|
| [[Link\|Display]] | ![[Image\|100]] |
```
## Math (LaTeX)
### Inline Math
```markdown
This is inline math: $e^{i\pi} + 1 = 0$
```
### Block Math
```markdown
$$
\begin{vmatrix}
a & b \\
c & d
\end{vmatrix} = ad - bc
$$
```
### Common Math Syntax
```markdown
$x^2$ Superscript
$x_i$ Subscript
$\frac{a}{b}$ Fraction
$\sqrt{x}$ Square root
$\sum_{i=1}^{n}$ Summation
$\int_a^b$ Integral
$\alpha, \beta$ Greek letters
```
## Diagrams (Mermaid)
````markdown
```mermaid
graph TD
A[Start] --> B{Decision}
B -->|Yes| C[Do this]
B -->|No| D[Do that]
C --> E[End]
D --> E
```
````
### Sequence Diagrams
````markdown
```mermaid
sequenceDiagram
Alice->>Bob: Hello Bob
Bob-->>Alice: Hi Alice
```
````
### Linking in Diagrams
````markdown
```mermaid
graph TD
A[Biology]
B[Chemistry]
A --> B
class A,B internal-link;
```
````
## Footnotes
```markdown
This sentence has a footnote[^1].
[^1]: This is the footnote content.
You can also use named footnotes[^note].
[^note]: Named footnotes still appear as numbers.
Inline footnotes are also supported.^[This is an inline footnote.]
```
## Comments
```markdown
This is visible %%but this is hidden%% text.
%%
This entire block is hidden.
It won't appear in reading view.
%%
```
## Horizontal Rules
```markdown
---
***
___
- - -
* * *
```
## Properties (Frontmatter)
Properties use YAML frontmatter at the start of a note:
```yaml
---
title: My Note Title
date: 2024-01-15
tags:
- project
- important
aliases:
- My Note
- Alternative Name
cssclasses:
- custom-class
status: in-progress
rating: 4.5
completed: false
due: 2024-02-01T14:30:00
---
```
### Property Types
| Type | Example |
|------|---------|
| Text | `title: My Title` |
| Number | `rating: 4.5` |
| Checkbox | `completed: true` |
| Date | `date: 2024-01-15` |
| Date & Time | `due: 2024-01-15T14:30:00` |
| List | `tags: [one, two]` or YAML list |
| Links | `related: "[[Other Note]]"` |
### Default Properties
- `tags` - Note tags
- `aliases` - Alternative names for the note
- `cssclasses` - CSS classes applied to the note
## Tags
```markdown
#tag
#nested/tag
#tag-with-dashes
#tag_with_underscores
In frontmatter:
---
tags:
- tag1
- nested/tag2
---
```
Tags can contain:
- Letters (any language)
- Numbers (not as first character)
- Underscores `_`
- Hyphens `-`
- Forward slashes `/` (for nesting)
## HTML Content
Obsidian supports HTML within Markdown:
```markdown
<div class="custom-container">
<span style="color: red;">Colored text</span>
</div>
<details>
<summary>Click to expand</summary>
Hidden content here.
</details>
<kbd>Ctrl</kbd> + <kbd>C</kbd>
```
## Complete Example
````markdown
---
title: Project Alpha
date: 2024-01-15
tags:
- project
- active
status: in-progress
priority: high
---
# Project Alpha
## Overview
This project aims to [[improve workflow]] using modern techniques.
> [!important] Key Deadline
> The first milestone is due on ==January 30th==.
## Tasks
- [x] Initial planning
- [x] Resource allocation
- [ ] Development phase
- [ ] Backend implementation
- [ ] Frontend design
- [ ] Testing
- [ ] Deployment
## Technical Notes
The main algorithm uses the formula $O(n \log n)$ for sorting.
```python
def process_data(items):
return sorted(items, key=lambda x: x.priority)
```
## Architecture
```mermaid
graph LR
A[Input] --> B[Process]
B --> C[Output]
B --> D[Cache]
```
## Related Documents
- ![[Meeting Notes 2024-01-10#Decisions]]
- [[Budget Allocation|Budget]]
- [[Team Members]]
## References
For more details, see the official documentation[^1].
[^1]: https://example.com/docs
%%
Internal notes:
- Review with team on Friday
- Consider alternative approaches
%%
````
## References
- [Basic formatting syntax](https://help.obsidian.md/syntax)
- [Advanced formatting syntax](https://help.obsidian.md/advanced-syntax)
- [Obsidian Flavored Markdown](https://help.obsidian.md/obsidian-flavored-markdown)
- [Internal links](https://help.obsidian.md/links)
- [Embed files](https://help.obsidian.md/embeds)
- [Callouts](https://help.obsidian.md/callouts)
- [Properties](https://help.obsidian.md/properties)Related Skills
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