obsidian-memory:memory-system

Obsidian Memory System

Obsidian is my primary workspace, not just long-term storage. Use it for:

• Working memory during sessions (scratchpads, analysis, task tracking)
• Permanent knowledge (decisions, lessons, patterns)
• Everything in between

Why Obsidian Over Local Disk

Aspect	Local Disk	Obsidian
Folder creation	Need mkdir first	Auto-created
Searchability	Grep/Glob	search_notes with frontmatter
User visibility	Hidden in filesystem	Visible in Obsidian app
Cross-session	Lost or scattered	Organized, persistent
Linking	None	[[wiki-links]] work

Default choice: Obsidian. Only use local disk for generated code or build artifacts.

MCP Tools for Workspace

Need	Tool	Example
Create/overwrite	write_note	Session context, scratchpad
Surgical edit	patch_note	Update status, add findings
Read	read_note	Load previous context
Search	search_notes	Find related work
List	list_directory	Browse folder contents

Session Workspace Protocol

For ANY working memory during a session:

1. Create Session Folder (Auto-Created)

Just write your first file - folder is created automatically:

agent-workspaces/claude-[YYYYMMDD]-[HHMMSS]-[context]/context.md

Context examples: vault-setup, feature-auth, debug-api, pr-review-123

2. Standard Session Files

File	Purpose
context.md	Session state, current task, status
scratchpad.md	Working notes, analysis, draft content
findings.md	Discoveries, results, outputs
tasks.md	Task tracking if complex

3. Update Status When Done

Use patch_note to mark session completed:

status: completed

When to Write to Obsidian

Always (Proactive)

Trigger	What to Capture	Where
Starting any task	Session context	agent-workspaces/claude-[timestamp]-[context]/
"Let's do X instead of Y"	Decision + rationale	decisions/ folder as ADR
"I prefer..."	User preference	agent-workspaces/shared/persistent.md
"That worked/didn't work"	Lesson learned	knowledge-base/lessons-learned/
Person mentioned	Facts about them	people/[name].md
Recurring pattern	Pattern documentation	knowledge-base/ with #pattern
Important constraint	Project context	engagements/active/[project]/
Quick note, unsure where	Inbox for triage	agent-workspaces/shared/inbox.md

During Complex Tasks

• Multi-step analysis → write intermediate findings to scratchpad
• Research → capture sources and summaries
• Debugging → log what you tried and results
• Code review → note issues found before reporting

When to Read from Obsidian

Before Starting Work

• Any task → Check agent-workspaces/shared/persistent.md for standing context
• Client work → Read engagements/active/[client]/context.md
• Technical decision → Check relevant decisions/ folder
• Person mentioned → Check people/[name].md
• Implementation → Check playbooks/ and knowledge-base/

Resuming Work

• Check agent-workspaces/ for previous sessions on same topic
• Search by context identifier if you know it

Write Location Decision Tree

ANY working memory (scratchpad, analysis, tasks)?
  └─ YES → agent-workspaces/claude-[timestamp]-[context]/

Decision or choice made?
  └─ YES → relevant decisions/ folder as ADR

Reusable pattern or lesson?
  └─ YES → knowledge-base/lessons-learned/

About a person?
  └─ YES → people/[name].md

Engagement-specific?
  └─ YES → engagements/active/[project]/

Reference material?
  └─ YES → knowledge-base/[technology]/

Unsure?
  └─ agent-workspaces/shared/inbox.md

Standard Frontmatter

Always include when creating notes:

---
type: context | scratchpad | decision | lesson | person | note
status: active | completed | archived
date: YYYY-MM-DD
summary: "1-2 sentences for quick scanning without reading content"
tags: [relevant, tags]
related: [[other-note]]
---

The summary field is critical for efficient navigation.

Shared Persistent Context

agent-workspaces/shared/persistent.md stores cross-session knowledge:

• User preferences and corrections
• Standing instructions
• Patterns specific to this user
• Things learned that should persist

Update this file when you learn something that should survive session boundaries.

Tag Taxonomy

Category	Tags
Status	#draft #active #completed #archived
Type	#decision #pattern #lesson #meeting #blocker
Priority	#urgent #backlog
Sharing	#shareable #internal #sensitive

What NOT to Store in Obsidian

• Generated code (belongs in git)
• Build artifacts
• Secrets or credentials
• Large binary files
• Ephemeral single-turn conversation details

Related

• obsidian-memory:search-navigation - Efficient vault searching
• CLAUDE.md in vault root - User-specific instructions