obsidian-yaml-frontmatter

YAML Frontmatter Management

Standardize YAML frontmatter properties across all vault content.

When to Use This Skill

Activate when you need to:

• Add or update frontmatter in markdown files
• Ensure consistent property naming and formatting
• Format tags, dates, or other property values
• Validate frontmatter structure

Note: This skill manages frontmatter PROPERTIES (keys, values, types, formatting). For document STRUCTURE (heading hierarchy, section order, frontmatter position), use obsidian-markdown-structure skill.

Core Frontmatter Rules

1. Single YAML Block at Top

Structure:

---
property: value
---

## First Section Header

Critical Rules:

• One YAML block at top of file
• Blank line after closing ---
• No content before first heading (after frontmatter)

2. Standard Property Names

Use lowercase, consistent keys:

✅ CORRECT:
title: Document Title
created: 2025-10-31
tags:
  - tag1
source: https://example.com
author: Author Name

❌ INCORRECT:
Title: Document Title (capitalized)
date: 2025-10-31 (use "created" not "date")
tag: tag1 (use "tags" plural)

No Duplicate Properties:

• Use created (not both date and created)
• Use tags (not both tag and tags)

3. Tag Formatting

CRITICAL: Plain text in YAML, NO hashtags:

✅ CORRECT:
tags:
  - journal
  - daily
  - reflection

❌ INCORRECT:
tags:
  - #journal
  - #daily

Always use list format with dashes:

✅ CORRECT (list format):
tags:
  - tag1
  - tag2

❌ INCORRECT (inline):
tags: [tag1, tag2]

4. Date Format

Use YYYY-MM-DD consistently:

✅ CORRECT:
created: 2025-10-31
updated: 2025-11-01

❌ INCORRECT:
created: 10/31/2025
created: 2025-10-31T10:30:00

5. Link Lists

Wrap wiki links in quotes:

✅ CORRECT:
sources:
  - "[[Journal/2025-10-31]]"
  - "[[Articles/2025-10-31 Title]]"

links:
  - "[[Roundup/2025-10-31]]"

attendees:
  - "[[People/John]]"
  - Jane

❌ INCORRECT:
sources:
  - [[Journal/2025-10-31]] (missing quotes)