Wiki Dashboard — Dynamic Vault Views

You are creating a .base file — an Obsidian Bases definition that turns vault frontmatter into a live, queryable view. The .base format is native to Obsidian 1.8+ and requires no plugins.

Before You Start

1. Read ~/.obsidian-wiki/config (preferred) or .env (fallback) to get OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH
2. Read $OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH/index.md to understand what categories and pages exist
3. Ask the user what they want to view if not specified — what folder, tag, category, or date range?

What Obsidian Bases Can Do

.base files define database-style views over vault notes. Each file declares:

• Which notes to include — filtered by folder, tag, frontmatter property, or combination
• Which properties to show — any frontmatter field becomes a column
• What view type — table, cards, or list
• Sort and group — by any property
• Computed columns — formulas using file.* helpers and arithmetic

Embed a .base into any note with ![[MyBase.base]].

Step 1: Understand the Request

Determine:

• What to show — all pages in a category? Pages with a specific tag? A project's pages?
• What columns matter — title, tags, created, updated, summary, category, project?
• View type — table (default), cards (visual), or list (minimal)
• Sort order — by updated (default), created, title, or a custom property
• Any filters — date range, specific tags, folder scope

Step 2: Generate the .base File

The .base format is YAML. Here are the patterns you'll use:

Basic table — all pages in a category folder

filters:
  - type: folder
    folder: concepts
columns:
  - property: file.name
    title: Page
  - property: tags
    title: Tags
  - property: summary
    title: Summary
  - property: updated
    title: Updated
sort:
  - property: updated
    direction: desc
view: table

Filtered by tag

filters:
  - type: tag
    tag: "#machine-learning"
columns:
  - property: file.name
    title: Page
  - property: category
    title: Category
  - property: summary
    title: Summary
  - property: created
    title: Created
sort:
  - property: created
    direction: desc
view: table

Multi-filter (folder AND tag)

filters:
  operator: and
  conditions:
    - type: folder
      folder: projects
    - type: tag
      tag: "#active"
columns:
  - property: file.name
    title: Project
  - property: summary
    title: Summary
  - property: updated
    title: Last Updated
view: cards

Computed column (days since last update)

columns:
  - property: file.name
    title: Page
  - property: updated
    title: Updated
  - formula: "floor((now() - updated) / 86400000)"
    title: Days Stale
    type: number
sort:
  - formula: "floor((now() - updated) / 86400000)"
    direction: desc
view: table

Filter operators and functions available

• file.hasTag("tag") — boolean, true if page has tag
• file.inFolder("path") — boolean, true if page is in folder
• file.name — the note's filename (without extension)
• file.path — full vault-relative path
• now() — current timestamp in ms
• Arithmetic: +, -, *, /, floor(), ceil()
• Comparison: ==, !=, >, <, >=, <=

Step 3: Write the File

Target path: $OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH/_meta/<dashboard-name>.base

Use a slug derived from the dashboard's purpose:

• "All concepts" → _meta/concepts-index.base
• "Recent ingests" → _meta/recent-ingests.base
• "Project overview" → _meta/projects-overview.base
• "Stale pages" → _meta/stale-pages.base

Create _meta/ if it doesn't exist yet.

Step 4: Embed (optional)

If the user wants the dashboard embedded in an existing note (e.g., index.md or a project overview), add:

## <Dashboard Title>

![[_meta/<dashboard-name>.base]]

Ask the user before modifying an existing note.

Step 5: Update Tracking

log.md — Append:

- [TIMESTAMP] WIKI_DASHBOARD name="<slug>" view=<type> filter="<description>"

No manifest or index update needed — .base files are live queries, not static content pages.

Common Dashboard Recipes

Tell the user about these if they're not sure what to ask for:

Quality Checklist

• .base YAML is valid and uses correct field names
• Filter matches the user's intent
• File written to _meta/ with a descriptive slug
• log.md updated
• User told how to embed it (![[_meta/<name>.base]]) and what Obsidian version is required (1.8+)