Obsidian Setup

How to open and use your codex as an Obsidian vault.

Quick Start

1. Open Obsidian
2. Open folder as vault → select your codex root directory
3. Trust the vault when prompted (enables community plugins)
4. Install recommended plugins (see below)

The codex folder structure maps directly to Obsidian’s sidebar file tree.

Recommended Plugins

Essential

Plugin	Purpose
Dataview	Query frontmatter across notes — list projects, filter by tags, show recent captures
Templater	Use _codex/templates/ for consistent note creation
Git (Obsidian Git)	Auto-commit changes, sync via GitHub

Recommended

Plugin	Purpose
Calendar	Navigate daily notes, see capture history
Tag Wrangler	Rename and manage tags across the vault
Frontmatter Title	Display title from frontmatter instead of filename in sidebar
Hover Editor	Preview linked notes on hover without leaving current note

Optional

Plugin	Purpose
Kanban	Visualize projects or inbox items as boards
Excalidraw	Visual diagrams within notes
Tasks	Track TODO items across the vault

Folder Structure Mapping

The codex domains appear as top-level folders in Obsidian’s sidebar:

Vault Root/
├── _codex/          ← Meta layer (collapse this in sidebar if noisy)
├── 00-24 UI/        ← Tech, infrastructure, AI
├── 25-49 HP/        ← Health, skills, personal
├── 50-74 LE/        ← Family, home, legacy
├── 75-99 GE/        ← Business, ventures, wealth
└── 06 Inbox/        ← Quick capture landing zone

Tip: Star/bookmark frequently accessed domain folders for quick access.

Tags

The codex uses Obsidian’s native tag system. Tags live in YAML frontmatter:

tags: [project, active, q2-2026]

Obsidian renders these as clickable tags. Use the Tag Wrangler plugin to rename tags vault-wide.

Suggested Tag Taxonomy

• Type tags: project, decision, reference, log, capture
• Status tags: active, paused, completed, archived
• Domain tags: tech, health, family, business
• Time tags: q1-2026, weekly, daily

Wiki-Links

Use [[double brackets]] for cross-domain linking:

This architecture decision affects the [[deployment-pipeline]]
and relates to the [[q2-hiring-plan]].

Obsidian resolves these across the entire vault regardless of folder location.

Dataview Queries

Install the Dataview plugin, then use these in any note:

List All Active Projects

TABLE title, domain, tags
FROM ""
WHERE type = "project" AND contains(tags, "active")
SORT domain ASC

Decisions This Month

TABLE title, domain, created
FROM ""
WHERE type = "decision" AND created >= date(2026-03-01)
SORT created DESC

Inbox Items (Unrouted)

LIST title
FROM "06 Inbox"
SORT created DESC

Recent Captures by Domain

TABLE title, type, created
FROM "75-99 GE"
WHERE created >= date(2026-03-01)
SORT created DESC
LIMIT 10

Notes Missing ai_summary

LIST
FROM ""
WHERE !ai_summary AND file.name != "README"
LIMIT 20

Templates

Put note templates in _codex/templates/. Configure Templater to use this folder:

Templater Settings → Template folder location: _codex/templates

Then use Templater: Insert template or set up folder-specific templates (e.g., notes created in 75-99 GE/ auto-apply the project template).

Settings Recommendations

Setting	Value	Why
Default location for new notes	06 Inbox/	Everything starts in inbox, gets routed later
Attachment folder path	assets/	Keep media organized
New link format	Shortest path when possible	Cleaner wiki-links
Use Wikilinks	ON	Standard codex linking
Detect all file extensions	ON	Find non-markdown files