frontmatter

Frontmatter Property Management

Manages core and type-specific frontmatter properties for Obsidian vault notes.

Slash Commands (v1.0.0)

Command	Description
obsidian:props	List core properties
obsidian:props core	List core properties (explicit)
obsidian:props core add <name>	Add a core property
obsidian:props core remove <name>	Remove a core property
obsidian:props type <name>	List properties for a note type
obsidian:props required	List required properties
obsidian:props types	List all types with properties

Quick Start

# List core properties
uv run props_command.py --vault . core

# List properties for a type
uv run props_command.py --vault . type project

# Add a new core property
uv run props_command.py --vault . core add author

# Get required properties for a type
uv run props_command.py --vault . required --type project

Core Properties

Default core properties available to all notes:

Property	Type	Required	Description
type	string	Yes	Note type classification
up	wikilink	No	Parent note in hierarchy
created	date	Yes	Creation date (YYYY-MM-DD)
daily	wikilink	No	Associated daily note
collection	wikilink	No	Collection classification
related	list[wikilink]	No	Related notes

Type-Specific Properties

Additional properties defined per note type:

Dot (Atomic Notes)

• tags: list[string] - Topic tags

Map (Structure Notes)

• tags: list[string] - Topic tags
• summary: string - Map summary

Source (Reference Notes)

• author: string - Source author
• url: string - Source URL
• published: date - Publication date (YYYY-MM-DD)

Project (Project Notes)

• status: string (required) - Project status (active, completed, archived, planning)
• deadline: date - Project deadline (YYYY-MM-DD)

Daily (Daily Notes)

• mood: string - Daily mood (great, good, neutral, bad)

Commands

Core Properties

# List all core properties
frontmatter.py list-core [--format text|json|yaml]

# Add or update core property
frontmatter.py add-core <name> <type> [--required] [--description DESC] [--format FORMAT]

# Remove core property
frontmatter.py remove-core <name>

Type Properties

# List all types
frontmatter.py list-types

# List properties for a specific type (or all types)
frontmatter.py list-type [TYPE] [--format text|json|yaml]

# Add type-specific property
frontmatter.py add-type-prop <type> <name> <prop_type> [--required] [--description DESC]

# Remove type-specific property
frontmatter.py remove-type-prop <type> <name>

Utility

# Get required properties for a note type
frontmatter.py get-required [TYPE] [--format text|json|yaml]

# Save current configuration
frontmatter.py save

Property Types

Supported property types:

• string - Text value
• date - Date in YYYY-MM-DD format
• wikilink - Obsidian wikilink [[Note]]
• list[string] - List of text values
• list[wikilink] - List of wikilinks
• Custom types as needed

Configuration

Configuration is stored at .claude/config/frontmatter.yaml in the vault:

core_properties:
  type:
    required: true
    type: string
    description: Note type classification
  # ... other core properties

type_properties:
  dot:
    tags:
      required: false
      type: list[string]
      description: Topic tags
  # ... other types

Property Specifications

Each property can have:

• required: true|false - Whether property is mandatory
• type: Property data type
• description: Human-readable description
• format: Format specification (e.g., YYYY-MM-DD for dates)
• values: Allowed values (for enums)

Integration with Validator

The frontmatter manager provides property definitions used by the validator:

1. Validator uses core properties to check required fields
2. Type-specific properties validated based on note type
3. Format specifications enforce date formats, enums, etc.
4. Custom properties can be added per vault needs

Output Formats

All list commands support multiple output formats:

• text: Human-readable formatted output (default)
• json: Machine-readable JSON
• yaml: YAML format for configs

Examples

Add Custom Core Property

# Add a priority property
uv run scripts/frontmatter.py add-core priority string \
  --description "Note priority" --save

Configure Project Type

# Add budget field to projects
uv run scripts/frontmatter.py add-type-prop project budget string \
  --description "Project budget"

# Make it required
uv run scripts/frontmatter.py add-type-prop project budget string \
  --required --description "Project budget"

Export Properties as YAML

# Export all core properties
uv run scripts/frontmatter.py list-core --format yaml > core-properties.yaml

# Export type properties
uv run scripts/frontmatter.py list-type --format yaml > type-properties.yaml

Workflow

1. Define Properties: Use frontmatter manager to define required/optional properties
2. Configure Types: Add type-specific properties for different note types
3. Validate: Validator uses definitions to check notes
4. Iterate: Adjust properties based on vault needs

Relationship with Other Skills

Skill	Relationship
config	Reads property definitions from settings.yaml
validate	Uses property rules for frontmatter validation
note-types	Defines which properties each note type requires
templates	Templates include frontmatter with these properties
init	Sets up initial property definitions per methodology

Boundary: This skill manages property definitions (schema). The validate skill checks property values in actual notes.

Property Type Examples

Type	Example Value	YAML Format
string	"active"	status: active
date	2025-01-15	created: 2025-01-15
wikilink	[[Parent]]	up: "[[Parent]]"
list[string]	["tag1", "tag2"]	tags: [tag1, tag2]
list[wikilink]	["[[A]]", "[[B]]"]	related: ["[[A]]", "[[B]]"]

Interactive Mode

Terminal

In terminal mode, the interactive wizard guides you through property management.

Claude Code / Non-Interactive

When called without a terminal (e.g., in Claude Code), JSON is returned:

{
  "interactive_required": true,
  "action": "add",
  "config_schema": {...}
}

Use --config='...' or --yes to pass values directly.

Best Practices

• Keep core properties minimal and universal
• Use type-specific properties for specialized fields
• Mark properties required only when truly mandatory
• Provide clear descriptions for all properties
• Use appropriate types (wikilink for links, date for dates)
• Test validation after property changes