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.

Mindset

Obsidian's core principle: use vault-native syntax (wikilinks, embeds, callouts) for anything that lives inside the vault, and standard Markdown only for external references or content that must render outside Obsidian.

When to apply: Working with .md files in an Obsidian vault, creating notes with wikilinks, using callouts, defining frontmatter properties, or embedding content from other notes. When NOT to apply: Plain Markdown files outside a vault, GitHub READMEs, or documentation sites — Obsidian-specific syntax renders as raw text outside Obsidian.

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