Work with Obsidian vaults (plain Markdown notes) and automate via obsidian-cli.
61
43%
Does it follow best practices?
Impact
100%
2.12xAverage score across 3 eval scenarios
Passed
No known issues
Optimize this skill with Tessl
npx tessl skill review --optimize ./openclaw/skills/obsidian/SKILL.mdQuality
Discovery
22%Based on the skill's description, can an agent find and select it at the right time? Clear, specific descriptions lead to better discovery.
The description identifies the domain (Obsidian vaults) and a specific tool (obsidian-cli) but fails to list concrete actions or provide any trigger guidance. It reads more like a topic label than a functional skill description, making it difficult for Claude to know when to select this skill over others.
Suggestions
Add specific concrete actions like 'Create, search, link, and tag notes in Obsidian vaults; manage backlinks; run obsidian-cli commands for bulk operations'.
Add an explicit 'Use when...' clause such as 'Use when the user mentions Obsidian, vault management, note linking, backlinks, or obsidian-cli commands'.
Include natural user terms like 'notes', 'knowledge base', 'backlinks', 'daily notes', 'tags', and 'wikilinks' to improve trigger term coverage.
| Dimension | Reasoning | Score |
|---|---|---|
Specificity | The description says 'work with' and 'automate via obsidian-cli' but doesn't list any concrete actions like creating notes, linking notes, searching, tagging, or managing templates. 'Work with' is vague. | 1 / 3 |
Completeness | The 'what' is extremely vague ('work with' and 'automate') and there is no 'when' clause or explicit trigger guidance at all. The missing 'Use when...' clause caps this at 2 per the rubric, but the 'what' is also weak, so it scores 1. | 1 / 3 |
Trigger Term Quality | Includes 'Obsidian', 'vaults', 'Markdown notes', and 'obsidian-cli' which are relevant keywords. However, it misses common user terms like 'notes', 'knowledge base', 'backlinks', 'tags', '.md files', or specific task-oriented terms users would say. | 2 / 3 |
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk | Mentioning 'Obsidian vaults' and 'obsidian-cli' provides some distinctiveness from generic markdown or note-taking skills, but 'plain Markdown notes' could overlap with any markdown editing skill. | 2 / 3 |
Total | 6 / 12 Passed |
Implementation
64%Reviews the quality of instructions and guidance provided to agents. Good implementation is clear, handles edge cases, and produces reliable results.
This is a solid, concise skill that efficiently covers the essentials of working with Obsidian vaults and obsidian-cli. Its main strengths are token efficiency and practical CLI command references. Its weaknesses are the lack of executable code for config-file parsing, missing validation/verification steps for destructive operations, and no feedback loops for move/delete commands.
Suggestions
Add an executable code snippet for reading and parsing obsidian.json to find the active vault path (e.g., a Python or shell example)
Add verification steps after move and delete operations (e.g., 'Verify the note exists at the new path' or 'Confirm wikilinks were updated by searching for old references')
Consider adding a brief note about what to do if obsidian-cli commands fail (error recovery guidance)
| Dimension | Reasoning | Score |
|---|---|---|
Conciseness | The content is lean and efficient. It avoids explaining what Markdown or Obsidian is, assumes Claude's competence, and every section delivers only the information needed to work with vaults and the CLI tool. Minor notes like 'Multiple vaults common' are practical warnings, not padding. | 3 / 3 |
Actionability | The skill provides specific CLI commands that are copy-paste ready, but lacks executable code examples for programmatic tasks (e.g., reading obsidian.json to find the active vault). The guidance is concrete but stops short of fully executable snippets for the non-CLI operations like parsing the config file. | 2 / 3 |
Workflow Clarity | The skill presents a logical sequence (find vault → set default → search/create/move/delete) but lacks explicit validation checkpoints. For potentially destructive operations like move and delete, there are no verification steps or feedback loops (e.g., confirming the move updated links correctly). | 2 / 3 |
Progressive Disclosure | The content is well-organized with clear sections and appropriate length for a SKILL.md, but it doesn't reference any external files for advanced topics (e.g., canvas JSON format, plugin configuration, advanced search patterns). For a skill of this size it's acceptable, but the canvas and attachment topics could benefit from linked references. | 2 / 3 |
Total | 9 / 12 Passed |
Validation
72%Checks the skill against the spec for correct structure and formatting. All validation checks must pass before discovery and implementation can be scored.
Validation — 8 / 11 Passed
Validation for skill structure
| Criteria | Description | Result |
|---|---|---|
metadata_version | 'metadata.version' is missing | Warning |
metadata_field | 'metadata' should map string keys to string values | Warning |
frontmatter_unknown_keys | Unknown frontmatter key(s) found; consider removing or moving to metadata | Warning |
Total | 8 / 11 Passed | |
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Table of Contents
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