ingest

Ingest

Synthesize source material into the vault's knowledge layer. Ingesting without synthesis just creates noise — the value is the conversation that happens before anything gets written.

Boundaries: use process-inbox for PARA triage of raw inbox notes, and save-note for saving the current conversation answer as a standalone wiki page.

Rule: always discuss before writing. Never silently file a note.

Step 1 — Find the Source

If the user specified a file or URL, use that directly.

Otherwise, list the inbox:

obsidian files folder="0 - Inbox/" format=json

If multiple items, ask which one to process (or process all in sequence).

Step 2 — Read the Source

obsidian read path="0 - Inbox/[filename]"

For URLs or web content: fetch the content directly.

Step 3 — Discuss Before Writing (required)

Surface for conversation — don't skip this step:

1. 2–3 most important ideas from the source, in your own words
2. Existing wiki pages this connects to — search for related notes:

   qmd query "<key concept>" --json -n 8 2>/dev/null
   

3. Any contradictions with existing knowledge worth flagging

Present these and wait for Chris to confirm:

• Which ideas to capture
• Whether to update existing pages or create new ones
• Which subfolder in 3 - Resources/ to target

Step 4 — Write/Update Wiki Pages

Based on similarity to existing notes:

Update existing page (score ≥ 0.7 match):

obsidian read path="3 - Resources/<subfolder>/<existing-page>.md"
# Then append a dated section:
obsidian append path="3 - Resources/<subfolder>/<existing-page>.md" \
  content="\n## Update — $(date +%Y-%m-%d)\n\n<synthesized content>"

Ambiguous match (score 0.5–0.7): show the candidate pages and ask whether to append, create a distinct page, or cancel. Do not decide silently.

Create new page (score < 0.5, genuinely new territory):

obsidian create path="3 - Resources/<subfolder>/<new-page>.md" content="..."

New page frontmatter:

---
source: claude-memory
created: YYYY-MM-DD
aliases: [<acronyms, alternate names, spelling/casing variants>]
tags: [claude-memory, <topic-tags>]
---

Generate 2–6 aliases: the off-title terms someone would search to find this page (acronyms, alternate names, "X vs Y" framings). This is what makes the page recall-able from queries that don't match the title verbatim. Skip only when the title is the sole term anyone would use.

Write in wiki style: neutral, reference-focused, no "I learned that..." framing. This is reference material, not a diary. Target 3–10 pages per source — focus on durable concepts, not summaries of the source itself.

Source type → subfolder mapping:

• article → 3 - Resources/Articles/
• tweet → 3 - Resources/Tweets/
• video → 3 - Resources/Videos/
• book → 3 - Resources/Books/

Step 5 — Update Index and Log

Add to index under the right category heading (Articles / Tweets / Videos / Books / Concept notes). The CLI has no patch, so the entry can't be inserted under a specific section directly — ask the user: use the MCP obsidian_patch_content tool (target the heading, operation: append) or read + create ... overwrite. Entry format:

- **<Title>** ($(date +%Y-%m-%d)) — [[<stem>]] (<path>) · from <hostname>. _<summary>_

Append to log (chronological — append is fine):

obsidian append path="3 - Resources/log.md" content="\n## $(date +%Y-%m-%d)\ningest | <title>"

Step 6 — Move the Source

After confirming the write succeeded:

obsidian move path="0 - Inbox/[filename]" \
  to="3 - Resources/[Type]/[filename]"

Never delete inbox items — always move to the appropriate Resources subfolder.

What NOT to do

• Don't silently file without discussing — synthesis is the whole point
• Don't process a whole inbox queue — use process-inbox for PARA triage
• Don't save the current conversation answer — use save-note
• Don't create duplicate pages — always search first
• Don't use diary voice in wiki pages — write for reference, not narrative
• Don't move the source before the knowledge is captured

References

Priority	Load when	Reference
1 — High	Creating or linking wiki pages — block refs, aliases, evergreen structure	references/advanced-workflows.md
2 — Medium	User wants Dataview queries or dynamic MOC views inside a note	references/dataview-patterns.md
3 — Medium	Creating a MOC or deciding MOC vs standalone note	references/moc-advanced.md