obsidian-wsl-vault-access

Work with an Obsidian vault stored on Windows and accessed from WSL. Read, search, create, and edit markdown notes directly through mounted paths such as /mnt/c, /mnt/d, or other /mnt/<drive> locations. Use when the user wants note operations against a Windows-hosted Obsidian vault from WSL.

Obsidian Vault (WSL)

Use this skill when the vault lives on Windows but is being accessed from WSL through /mnt/<drive>.

Workflow

1. Identify the vault root from the user-provided path before doing broad searches or edits.
2. Operate on the filesystem path directly; Obsidian does not require a special API for normal note work.
3. Preserve existing frontmatter, wiki-links, embeds, headings, and folder structure unless the user asks to change them.

Vault Location

Do not assume a fixed vault path.

Common patterns:

• Windows: C:\Users\<user>\Documents\<vault>\
• Windows: D:\Notes\<vault>\
• WSL: /mnt/c/Users/<user>/Documents/<vault>/
• WSL: /mnt/d/Notes/<vault>/

Treat the vault root as the directory containing the Obsidian note tree.

Path Translation

text

Windows -> WSL: C:\path\to\file -> /mnt/c/path/to/file
Windows -> WSL: D:\path\to\file -> /mnt/d/path/to/file
WSL -> Windows: /mnt/c/path     -> C:/path
WSL -> Windows: /mnt/d/path     -> D:/path

Replace backslashes with forward slashes and lowercase the drive letter under /mnt/<drive>.

Common Operations

Read a note

bash

cat "/mnt/<drive>/<vault>/<path>/<filename>.md"

Search the vault

Prefer rg for speed:

bash

rg "search term" "/mnt/<drive>/<vault>/"

Edit a note

Edit the markdown file in place with targeted changes instead of rewriting the whole note when possible.

Create a new note

Use a minimal template when metadata is needed:

markdown

---
title: Note Title
tags: []
---

# Note Title

Obsidian Conventions

• Notes are markdown files ending in .md
• YAML frontmatter is commonly used for metadata such as title, tags, and aliases
• Internal links use [[Note Name]]
• Embeds use ![[Note Name]]
• Callouts use > [!type]

Working Rules

• Confirm the vault root before making broad searches or bulk changes
• Prefer targeted edits over full-file rewrites
• Keep filenames, wiki-links, and folder structure consistent with the existing vault