How Obsidian Works¶
+---------------------------+
| OBSIDIAN |
| Knowledge Management |
+---------------------------+
|
+--------------------------------+--------------------------------+
| | |
v v v
+---------------+ +---------------+ +---------------+
| LOCAL VAULT | | EDITOR | | PLUGINS |
| (Your Files) | | (Markdown) | | (Extensions) |
+---------------+ +---------------+ +---------------+
| | |
v v v
+---------------+ +---------------+ +---------------+
| /vault/ | | - Live Preview| | Core Plugins: |
| notes/ | | - Source Mode | | - Backlinks |
| images/ | | - Reading View| | - Graph View |
| attachments/| | - Split Panes | | - Search |
+---------------+ +---------------+ | - Templates |
+---------------+
|
v
+---------------+
| Community: |
| - Dataview |
| - Templater |
| - Excalidraw |
+---------------+
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| LINKING SYSTEM |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| +--------+ [[wikilink]] +--------+ [[wikilink]] +--------+ |
| | Note A |------------------->| Note B |------------------->| Note C | |
| +--------+ +--------+ +--------+ |
| ^ | | |
| | | | |
| +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+ |
| Backlinks (automatic) |
| |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| GRAPH VIEW |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| (Note A) |
| / \ |
| / \ |
| (Note B)----------(Note C) |
| / \ | |
| / \ | |
| (Note D) (Note E)-----(Note F) |
| |
| Visualizes connections between all linked notes |
| |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DATA FLOW |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| +------------+ +------------+ +------------+ |
| | Write |----->| Store |----->| Query | |
| | Markdown | | Plain .md | | Dataview | |
| +------------+ +------------+ +------------+ |
| | | |
| v v |
| +------------+ +------------+ |
| | Sync | | Dynamic | |
| | (Optional) | | Tables | |
| +------------+ +------------+ |
| | |
| v |
| +------------------+ |
| | iCloud / Dropbox | |
| | Git / Obsidian | |
| | Sync | |
| +------------------+ |
| |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| PROPERTIES (YAML Frontmatter) |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| --- +---> Tags: #project #active |
| title: My Note | |
| tags: [project, active] -----+---> Status: In Progress |
| status: In Progress | |
| created: 2024-01-15 +---> Metadata: Queryable via Dataview |
| --- |
| |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
KEY CONCEPTS:
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1. Everything is a plain .md file (no lock-in, portable) |
| 2. [[Wikilinks]] create bidirectional connections automatically |
| 3. Graph view visualizes your knowledge network |
| 4. Plugins extend functionality infinitely |
| 5. Local-first: your data stays on your machine |
| 6. Properties (YAML) enable structured data in unstructured notes |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+