Obsidian Markdown

Obsidian Flavored Markdown Skill

Create and edit valid Obsidian Flavored Markdown. Obsidian extends CommonMark and GFM with wikilinks, embeds, callouts, properties, comments, and other syntax. This skill covers only Obsidian-specific extensions -- standard Markdown (headings, bold, italic, lists, quotes, code blocks, tables) is assumed knowledge.

Workflow: Creating an Obsidian Note

1. Add frontmatter with properties (title, tags, aliases) at the top of the file. See PROPERTIES.md for all property types. 2. Write content using standard Markdown for structure, plus Obsidian-specific syntax below. 3. Link related notes using wikilinks ([[Note]]) for internal vault connections, or standard Markdown links for external URLs. 4. Embed content from other notes, images, or PDFs using the ![[embed]] syntax. See EMBEDS.md for all embed types. 5. Add callouts for highlighted information using > [!type] syntax. See CALLOUTS.md for all callout types. 6. Verify the note renders correctly in Obsidian's reading view.

When choosing between wikilinks and Markdown links: use [[wikilinks]] for notes within the vault (Obsidian tracks renames automatically) and [text](url) for external URLs only.

Internal Links (Wikilinks)

[[Note Name]]                          Link to note
[[Note Name|Display Text]]             Custom display text
[[Note Name#Heading]]                  Link to heading
[[Note Name#^block-id]]                Link to block
[[#Heading in same note]]              Same-note heading link

Define a block ID by appending ^block-id to any paragraph:

This paragraph can be linked to. ^my-block-id

For lists and quotes, place the block ID on a separate line after the block:

> A quote block

^quote-id

Embeds

Prefix any wikilink with ! to embed its content inline:

![[Note Name]]                         Embed full note
![[Note Name#Heading]]                 Embed section
![[image.png]]                         Embed image
![[image.png|300]]                     Embed image with width
![[document.pdf#page=3]]               Embed PDF page

See EMBEDS.md for audio, video, search embeds, and external images.

Callouts

> [!note]
> Basic callout.

> [!warning] Custom Title
> Callout with a custom title.

> [!faq]- Collapsed by default
> Foldable callout (- collapsed, + expanded).

Common types: note, tip, warning, info, example, quote, bug, danger, success, failure, question, abstract, todo.

See CALLOUTS.md for the full list with aliases, nesting, and custom CSS callouts.

Properties (Frontmatter)

---
title: My Note
date: 2024-01-15
tags:
  - project
  - active
aliases:
  - Alternative Name
cssclasses:
  - custom-class
---

Default properties: tags (searchable labels), aliases (alternative note names for link suggestions), cssclasses (CSS classes for styling).

See PROPERTIES.md for all property types, tag syntax rules, and advanced usage.

Tags

#tag                    Inline tag
#nested/tag             Nested tag with hierarchy

Tags can contain letters, numbers (not first character), underscores, hyphens, and forward slashes. Tags can also be defined in frontmatter under the tags property.

Comments

This is visible %%but this is hidden%% text.

%%
This entire block is hidden in reading view.
%%

Obsidian-Specific Formatting

==Highlighted text==                   Highlight syntax

Math (LaTeX)

Inline: $e^{i\pi} + 1 = 0$

Block:
$$
\frac{a}{b} = c
$$

Diagrams (Mermaid)

````markdown

graph TD
    A[Start] --> B{Decision}
    B -->|Yes| C[Do this]
    B -->|No| D[Do that]

````

To link Mermaid nodes to Obsidian notes, add class NodeName internal-link;.

Footnotes

Text with a footnote[^1].

[^1]: Footnote content.

Inline footnote.^[This is inline.]

Complete Example

````markdown --- title: Project Alpha date: 2024-01-15 tags:

• project
• active

status: in-progress ---

Project Alpha

This project aims to [[improve workflow]] using modern techniques.

[!important] Key Deadline

The first milestone is due on ==January 30th==.

Tasks

• [x] Initial planning
• [ ] Development phase
• [ ] Backend implementation
• [ ] Frontend design

Notes

The algorithm uses $O(n \log n)$ sorting. See [[Algorithm Notes#Sorting]] for details.

![[Architecture Diagram.png|600]]

Reviewed in [[Meeting Notes 2024-01-10#Decisions]]. ````

References

• Obsidian Flavored Markdown
• Internal links
• Embed files
• Callouts
• Properties

Callouts Reference

Basic Callout

> [!note]
> This is a note callout.

> [!info] Custom Title
> This callout has a custom title.

> [!tip] Title Only

Foldable Callouts

> [!faq]- Collapsed by default
> This content is hidden until expanded.

> [!faq]+ Expanded by default
> This content is visible but can be collapsed.

Nested Callouts

> [!question] Outer callout
> > [!note] Inner callout
> > Nested content

Supported Callout Types

Custom Callouts (CSS)

.callout[data-callout="custom-type"] {
  --callout-color: 255, 0, 0;
  --callout-icon: lucide-alert-circle;
}

Embeds Reference

Embed Notes

![[Note Name]]
![[Note Name#Heading]]
![[Note Name#^block-id]]

Embed Images

![[image.png]]
![[image.png|640x480]]    Width x Height
![[image.png|300]]        Width only (maintains aspect ratio)

External Images

![Alt text](https://example.com/image.png)
![Alt text|300](https://example.com/image.png)

Embed Audio

![[audio.mp3]]
![[audio.ogg]]

Embed PDF

![[document.pdf]]
![[document.pdf#page=3]]
![[document.pdf#height=400]]

Embed Bases

![[BaseFile.base]]
![[BaseFile.base#View Name]]

Embed Lists

![[Note#^list-id]]

Where the list has a block ID:

- Item 1
- Item 2
- Item 3

^list-id

Embed Search Results

````markdown

tag:#project status:done

````

Properties (Frontmatter) Reference

Properties use YAML frontmatter at the start of a note:

---
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

Default Properties

• tags - Note tags (searchable, shown in graph view)
• aliases - Alternative names for the note (used in link suggestions)
• cssclasses - CSS classes applied to the note in reading/editing view

Tags

#tag
#nested/tag
#tag-with-dashes
#tag_with_underscores

Tags can contain: letters (any language), numbers (not first character), underscores _, hyphens -, forward slashes / (for nesting).

In frontmatter:

---
tags:
  - tag1
  - nested/tag2
---