canvas

canvas: Visual Reference Layer

The three knowledge capture layers:

• /save → text synthesis (wiki/synthesis/, wiki/concepts/)
• /autoresearch → structured knowledge (wiki/sources/, wiki/concepts/)
• /canvas → visual references (wiki/canvases/)

A canvas is a JSON file Obsidian renders as an infinite visual board. This skill reads and writes canvas JSON directly. Read references/canvas-spec.md for the full format reference before making any edits. This spec aligns with the JSON Canvas open standard. If the kepano/obsidian-skills plugin is installed, its json-canvas skill is the authoritative canvas spec reference. Otherwise, use the guidance below.

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Default Canvas

wiki/canvases/main.canvas

If it does not exist, create it:

{
  "nodes": [
    {
      "id": "title",
      "type": "text",
      "text": "# Visual Reference\n\nDrop images, PDFs, and notes here.",
      "x": -400,
      "y": -300,
      "width": 400,
      "height": 120,
      "color": "6"
    },
    {
      "id": "zone-default",
      "type": "group",
      "label": "General",
      "x": -400,
      "y": -140,
      "width": 800,
      "height": 400,
      "color": "4"
    }
  ],
  "edges": []
}

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Operations

open / status (/canvas with no args)

1. Check if wiki/canvases/main.canvas exists.
2. If yes: read it, count nodes by type, list all group node labels (zone names). Report: "Canvas has N nodes: X images, Y text cards, Z wiki pages. Zones: [list]"
3. If no: create it with the starter structure above. Report: "Created main.canvas with a General zone."
4. Tell user: "Open wiki/canvases/main.canvas in Obsidian to view."

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new (/canvas new [name])

1. Slugify the name: lowercase, spaces → hyphens, strip special chars.
2. Create wiki/canvases/[slug].canvas with the starter structure, title updated to # [Name].
3. Add entry to wiki/overview.md under a "## Canvases" subsection (append after the Current State section). Do not modify wiki/index.md. It uses a fixed section schema (Domains, Entities, Concepts, Sources, Questions, Comparisons).
4. Report: "Created wiki/canvases/[slug].canvas"