No Plugins, No MCP: Tidying an Obsidian Vault With Claude Desktop and 3 Prompts
HowzoTV · reddit · 2026-10-26
A user shows how to clean up a messy Obsidian vault using only the Claude desktop app — no plugins or MCP needed, since a vault is just a folder of .md files Claude can read and edit.
Setup (2 min): new Claude desktop session → "This computer" → open the vault folder and grant trust (back up first).
Three prompts and results (test vault: 24 untitled, unlinked notes):
- Sort + link: back up to Desktop, create 6 per-client folders, rename vague notes, add [[links]], generate an Index note, verify against backup. Graph went from 24 dots to a connected web.
- Daily note: scan the last 7 days, surface 9 open tasks (4 from to-do, 5 buried in other notes), each linked back to its source.
- Ask your notes: e.g. "What did I promise client Mia last week?" — answered with deadline and source note link.
Caveats: requires paid Claude plan; notes are sent to Anthropic so use a copy for sensitive vaults; iCloud vaults must be set to "Keep Downloaded"; Obsidian 1.12+ CLI lets Claude invoke Obsidian's own search and daily-note commands.
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