Obsidian Personal Notes System

This personal notes system for Obsidian is designed for quick capture, durable notes, archives, and cross-note task tracking.

What is in this system

• Inbox/ - where temporary notes are captured
• Clippings/ - where browser-clipped notes are stored
• Notes/ - where durable notes are stored
• Archive/ - where archived notes are kept
• Templates/ - note templates used by Obsidian
• Bases/ - Obsidian Bases definitions for structured views over your notes
• .obsidian/ - plugin and system configuration

How it works

This system combines four Obsidian features:

1. Templates
2. Bases
3. Workspaces
4. The community Tasks plugin

The workflow is:

• capture quick notes in Inbox/
• move durable information into Notes/ when it should be kept
• move inactive but useful notes into Archive/
• track unfinished tasks through Tasks queries
• review notes through Bases views that use frontmatter properties such as type, status, and area

Main areas

Use the folders directly for capture and storage, and use the Bases files for review:

• Inbox/ for temporary notes, with Bases/Inbox.base for browsing and filtering
• Clippings/ for web captures, with Bases/Clippings.base for review
• Notes/ for durable notes, with Bases/Notes.base for review
• Archive/ for inactive notes, with Bases/Archive.base for retrieval

Suggested routine:

1. Create a new note in Inbox/.
2. Apply Templates/Inbox Note.
3. Promote durable information into Notes/ when it is worth keeping.
4. Move inactive notes into Archive/ after changing status to archived.

Templates

Templates/Inbox Note.md

This template creates temporary notes with frontmatter like:

• type: inbox
• created
• status: active
• topic
• promote_to
• source

It also gives you sections for:

• context
• notes
• actions
• promote to notes
• topic, promote target, and source prompts
• decision on whether to keep, archive, or delete the note

Templates/Note.md

This template creates durable notes with frontmatter like:

• type: note
• created
• status: active
• area
• source

It also gives you sections for:

• context
• key points
• details
• decisions
• related information
• next review
• archive trigger
• area and source prompts in context

Bases

The files in Bases/ create structured table views over your notes.

Bases/Inbox.base

This Base includes notes that:

• are Markdown files
• are inside Inbox/
• have type: inbox
• do not have status: archived

It provides views such as:

• Recent
• Active
• By topic
• By status
• With clickable source links

Bases/Clippings.base

This Base includes notes that:

• are Markdown files
• are inside Clippings/
• have type: clipping
• do not have status: archived

It provides views such as:

• Recent
• Active
• By source
• By status
• With clickable source links

Bases/Notes.base

This Base includes notes that:

• are Markdown files
• are inside Notes/
• have type: note
• do not have status: archived

It provides views such as:

• Recent
• Active
• By area
• By status
• With clickable source links

Bases/Archive.base

This Base includes notes that:

• are Markdown files
• are inside Archive/
• have status: archived

It provides views such as:

• Recent
• By type
• By area
• By created
• With clickable source links

Tasks plugin usage

This system uses the community plugin obsidian-tasks-plugin to collect checkbox items across notes.

That means any checkbox like this can show up in dashboard queries:

- [ ] Follow up on this note

The plugin is configured with basic statuses including:

• todo: [ ]
• in progress: [/]
• done: [x]
• cancelled: [-]

Use Tasks searches or Bases views to review unfinished work across your notes.

Required setup in Obsidian

This system is already configured to use:

• core plugin: Templates
• core plugin: Bases
• core plugin: Workspaces
• community plugin: Tasks

Templates is configured to use:

• Templates/

How to use the system

Inbox workflow

1. Create a new note in Inbox/.
2. Optionally open Bases/Inbox.base to review related notes.
3. Apply Templates/Inbox Note.
4. Name it YYYY-MM-DD HHmm - topic.
5. Keep only the current inbox note open.
6. Review or clean up old inbox notes through Bases/Inbox.base, especially the topic and status views.

Notes workflow

1. Create a new note in Notes/.
2. Apply Templates/Note.
3. Move durable information there after it is worth keeping.
4. Review long-lived notes through Bases/Notes.base.

Web clipper workflow

1. Save browser clips into Clippings/.
2. Let the browser extension create the clipping note and metadata.
3. Review captured pages through Bases/Clippings.base.
4. Promote durable insights into Notes/ when they are worth keeping.
5. Archive old clips when they are no longer active.

Archive workflow

1. Change a note to status: archived when it is no longer active.
2. Move the note into Archive/.
3. Review archived notes through Bases/Archive.base by type, area, or created date.
4. Keep the archive for retrieval, not active use.

Tips

• Keep temporary information in Inbox/ so you do not need to keep many tabs open.
• Keep durable information in Notes/ once it is worth preserving.
• Keep browser captures in Clippings/ so raw source material stays separate from durable notes.
• Keep inactive but useful notes in Archive/ so active areas stay lighter.
• Do not remove the type property from notes created from templates; Bases rely on it.
• Use status consistently so filtered views remain useful.

Getting started

If you open this system on a new Obsidian install:

1. Enable community plugins if they are disabled.
2. Confirm the Tasks plugin is installed and enabled.
3. Create notes in Inbox/ to start capturing.
4. Save browser captures into Clippings/ as needed.
5. Create persistent notes as needed in Notes/.
6. Move inactive notes into Archive/ when they are still worth keeping.

Once you start adding notes, the Tasks queries and Bases views will begin filling in automatically.