Obsidian Skills: The Complete Guide to Teaching AI Agents Your Knowledge Base
AI coding agents like Claude Code and Codex CLI are incredibly powerful — but they don't understand your tools. They don't know about Obsidian's Wikilinks, Callout syntax, Properties frontmatter, Bases databases, JSON Canvas diagrams, or the Obsidian CLI. Until now.
Obsidian Skills is an official collection of Agent Skills created by Steph Ango — the CEO of Obsidian — that teaches AI coding agents how to properly interact with every major Obsidian format. With 13,100+ GitHub stars, 715 forks, and 12 contributors, it's the most popular agent skills package in the entire ecosystem.
Built on the open Agent Skills specification, these skills work with any compatible agent including Claude Code, Codex CLI, OpenCode, and others.
What Are Agent Skills?
Agent Skills are structured instruction packages that teach AI coding agents about specific tools, formats, and workflows. They follow the Agent Skills specification — an open standard that defines how skill packages are structured so that any compatible agent can discover and use them.
Each skill is a folder containing a SKILL.md file — a markdown document with YAML frontmatter (name, description) and detailed instructions that the agent reads to understand a specific tool or format.
Think of it this way: without skills, an AI agent is like a brilliant developer who has never seen your codebase. Skills are the onboarding documentation that makes the agent immediately productive.
What Is Obsidian Skills?
Obsidian Skills is a repository of five agent skills that cover every major Obsidian format and tool:
Key Stats
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GitHub Stars | 13,100+ |
| Forks | 715 |
| Contributors | 12 |
| License | MIT |
| Created | January 2026 |
| Author | Steph Ango (kepano) — CEO of Obsidian |
| Topics | claude, clawdbot, cli, codex, defuddle, obsidian, openclaw, opencode, skills |
The Five Skills
1. Obsidian Markdown (obsidian-markdown)
Teaches agents Obsidian Flavored Markdown — the extended Markdown syntax that Obsidian uses. This includes:
- Wikilinks (
[[note name]]) for internal linking - Block references (
[[note^block-id]]) for referencing specific blocks - Embeds (
![[note]]) for transcluding content - Callouts (
> [!NOTE]) for styled admonitions - Properties frontmatter (YAML at the top of notes) for structured metadata
- Tags (
#tag) for categorization - Math (LaTeX
$$equation$$) for mathematical expressions - Footnotes, highlights, comments, and more
Without this skill, agents would generate standard Markdown that misses Obsidian's most powerful features — no Wikilinks, no embeds, no callouts, no properties.
File extension: .md
2. Obsidian Bases (obsidian-bases)
Teaches agents the Obsidian Bases format — Obsidian's database system for structured data. Bases allow you to:
- Create queryable views of your notes
- Define schemas with typed columns
- Filter, sort, and group notes by their properties
- Build dashboards and trackers
The skill ensures agents understand the .base file format and can create, modify, and query Bases correctly.
File extension: .base
3. JSON Canvas (json-canvas)
Teaches agents the JSON Canvas format — an open specification for infinite canvas data. In Obsidian, canvases are used for:
- Visual brainstorming and mind mapping
- Connecting notes, images, and media in spatial layouts
- Creating visual workflows and diagrams
The skill ensures agents can generate valid JSON Canvas files with correct node types, edge connections, and spatial positioning.
File extension: .canvas
4. Obsidian CLI (obsidian-cli)
Teaches agents the Obsidian CLI — Obsidian's command-line interface for vault operations. This enables agents to:
- Open specific notes from the terminal
- Create new notes programmatically
- Search vault contents
- Trigger vault actions without opening the GUI
5. Defuddle (defuddle)
Teaches agents Defuddle — a CLI tool (also created by kepano) for extracting clean, readable content from web pages. Defuddle strips away navigation, ads, and UI chrome to extract the main article content, similar to a reader mode.
Installation
Marketplace (Claude Code)
/plugin marketplace add kepano/obsidian-skills
/plugin install obsidian@obsidian-skills
npx skills
npx skills add git@github.com:kepano/obsidian-skills.git
Manual Installation
Claude Code
Add the repo contents to a /.claude folder in your Obsidian vault root:
your-vault/
├── .claude/
│ └── skills/
│ ├── obsidian-markdown/
│ │ └── SKILL.md
│ ├── obsidian-bases/
│ │ └── SKILL.md
│ ├── json-canvas/
│ │ └── SKILL.md
│ ├── obsidian-cli/
│ │ └── SKILL.md
│ └── defuddle/
│ └── SKILL.md
└── your-notes/
Codex CLI
Copy the skills/ directory into your Codex skills path:
cp -r skills/ ~/.codex/skills/
OpenCode
Clone the full repo into OpenCode's skills directory:
git clone https://github.com/kepano/obsidian-skills.git ~/.opencode/skills/obsidian-skills
OpenCode auto-discovers all SKILL.md files — no config changes needed.
Why This Matters: The Agent Skills Ecosystem
Obsidian Skills is significant for several reasons:
1. It's From the CEO of Obsidian
Steph Ango (kepano) isn't just a community contributor — he's the CEO of Obsidian. This means these skills represent the official, authoritative understanding of how AI agents should interact with Obsidian formats. When the spec changes, these skills will be updated first.
2. It Follows an Open Standard
By building on the Agent Skills specification, these skills aren't locked to a single agent. They work with Claude Code, Codex CLI, OpenCode, and any future agent that supports the spec. This is a deliberate choice — Obsidian has always valued interoperability over lock-in.
3. It's the Most Starred Skills Package
With 13,100+ stars, Obsidian Skills is by far the most popular agent skills repository. This signals the massive demand for teaching AI agents about specific tools rather than expecting agents to know everything out of the box.
4. It Bridges Knowledge Management and AI Coding
Obsidian is principally a note-taking and knowledge management tool. By creating skills for coding agents, kepano bridges two worlds — enabling developers to use their entire knowledge base as context for AI-assisted work, not just their code.
Use Cases
📚 Knowledge Base Automation
Point Claude Code at your Obsidian vault and have it:
- Organize and tag notes using proper Obsidian syntax
- Generate index notes with Wikilinks
- Create MOCs (Maps of Content) with embeds
- Build Bases dashboards from your note properties
📊 Data Management
Use agents to:
- Generate
.basefiles from structured data - Query and filter notes using Bases syntax
- Build project trackers and reading lists
- Create status dashboards from note frontmatter
🖼️ Visual Knowledge Mapping
Have agents generate:
- JSON Canvas files for visual brainstorming
- Flowcharts and process diagrams as
.canvasfiles - Connected visual layouts of related notes
🔄 Content Processing with Defuddle
Use Defuddle through agents to:
- Extract clean content from web pages into notes
- Build research archives from URLs
- Process web content into Obsidian-formatted notes
💻 CLI Automation
Script vault operations through the Obsidian CLI:
- Batch create notes from templates
- Open specific notes from terminal workflows
- Integrate vault operations into CI/CD pipelines
Obsidian Skills vs Alternative Approaches
| Approach | Obsidian Skills | Claudian Plugin | Agent Client Plugin | Vault Agent Plugin | Direct Config |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stars | 13.1K | 500+ | 300+ | 200+ | N/A |
| Type | Agent Skills | Obsidian Plugin | Obsidian Plugin | Obsidian Plugin | Manual .claude |
| Author | Steph Ango (CEO) | Community | Community | Community | User |
| Agent Support | Claude, Codex, OpenCode | Claude only | Claude, Codex, Gemini | Claude, Cursor | Claude only |
| Format Coverage | All 5 formats | General vault | General vault | General vault | Custom |
| Open Standard | ✅ Agent Skills spec | ❌ Plugin API | ❌ Plugin API | ❌ Plugin API | ❌ |
| Requires Obsidian Open | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Works in Terminal | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Official | ✅ From CEO | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
When to Choose Each
- Obsidian Skills: When you want agents to understand Obsidian formats deeply — Markdown, Bases, Canvas, CLI. Works in the terminal without Obsidian running. The official, authoritative approach.
- Claudian Plugin: When you want Claude Code embedded inside Obsidian with full vault access, bash commands, and multi-step workflows.
- Agent Client Plugin: When you want a sidebar chat with multiple AI agents (Claude, Codex, Gemini) that can reference specific notes.
- Vault Agent Plugin: When you want an interactive terminal inside Obsidian for AI agents.
- Direct Config: When you want maximum control and custom instructions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need Obsidian installed to use these skills?
No. The skills teach agents about Obsidian formats (Markdown, Bases, Canvas). The agent can work with files on disk without Obsidian running.
What agents are compatible?
Any agent that follows the Agent Skills specification — including Claude Code, Codex CLI, and OpenCode.
Can I contribute new skills?
Yes. The repo accepts pull requests. Follow the Agent Skills spec format (SKILL.md with YAML frontmatter).
What if I only use basic Markdown?
Install just the obsidian-markdown skill. You don't need all five.
Does this work with Obsidian Publish or Sync?
The skills teach agents about file formats, not Obsidian services. Agents work on local files.
Conclusion
Obsidian Skills represents a pivotal moment in the intersection of knowledge management and AI coding. By creating an official, standards-based set of agent skills, Obsidian's CEO has ensured that AI agents can properly understand and work with every major Obsidian format — from Flavored Markdown with Wikilinks and Callouts to Bases databases and JSON Canvas diagrams.
With 13,100+ stars and growing, this is the most popular agent skills package in existence, signaling a massive shift toward teaching AI agents specific tool knowledge rather than relying on their general training alone.
The message is clear: your AI agent is only as good as the skills you give it.