Build a Second Brain in Obsidian

Create a personal knowledge system with linked notes, templates, and web clipping.

Introduction

30 Second Summary

You have brilliant ideas in the shower, forget them by lunch, and rediscover the same article three times without ever saving it. Your brain is designed for thinking, not for storing information.

In this project, you will build a personal knowledge management system in Obsidian that captures your ideas, tracks your relationships, and connects everything into a searchable, linked network.

What You'll Build

You will create a fully structured vault that functions like multiple interconnected brains, each focused on a different domain of your life.

By the end of this project, you'll have:

  • A vault with a PARA-inspired folder structure covering Projects, Areas, Resources, and an Inbox.
  • Reusable note templates for People, Ideas, and Topic Explorations with properties and template variables.
  • A nested tagging taxonomy and Web Clipper pipeline that captures, classifies, and connects your knowledge across domains.
  • Secret Mission: Create a dynamic Dashboard note that surfaces your most recent notes and pending ideas automatically.

Do I need any previous experience?

None at all. This guide includes setup instructions for every tool you need. Obsidian is free for personal use with no sign-up required.

Create Your Vault and Connect the Web Clipper

Everything in Obsidian lives inside a vault. A vault is simply a folder on your computer where all your notes are stored as plain Markdown files. No cloud accounts, no proprietary formats.

In this step, you will create your first vault and connect the Obsidian Web Clipper browser extension so you can capture content from the web directly into your notes.

In this step, get ready to:
  • Create a new Obsidian vault to store your knowledge base.
  • Connect your Web Clipper extension to the vault.
  • Test the connection by clipping a webpage.
Create a new vault in Obsidian

A vault is the top-level container for everything you will build in this project. Every note, folder, and template will live inside it.

  • In Obsidian, click Create new vault.
  • In the Vault name field, type MyBrain.
  • Click Browse next to the Location field and choose a folder on your computer where you want your vault to live (your Desktop or Documents folder works well).
  • Click Create.

Obsidian opens your new empty vault. You should see the left sidebar with no files listed yet.

What just happened?

Obsidian created a regular folder called MyBrain at the location you chose. Inside it, there is a hidden .obsidian folder that stores your settings. Every note you create from now on is saved as a plain .md file in this folder.

Because everything is local files, you can back them up, sync them, or move them to another app at any time. No lock-in.

Don't see the Create new vault option?

If Obsidian opened directly into a previous vault, click the vault icon in the bottom-left corner of the sidebar to open the vault switcher. From there you can select Create new vault.

help me find the vault switcher in Obsidian

Connect the Web Clipper to your vault

The Web Clipper needs to know which vault to send clipped content to. You will point it at the vault you just created.

  • In Brave, click the Obsidian Web Clipper icon in your browser toolbar (it looks like a small Obsidian logo).
  • Look at the footer of the clipper popup. You will see a Vault dropdown.
  • Click the Vault dropdown and select MyBrain.

Vault not appearing in the dropdown?

The Web Clipper can only detect vaults that are currently open in Obsidian. Switch back to Obsidian and confirm the MyBrain vault is active (you should see its name in the bottom-left corner). Then return to Brave and click the Web Clipper icon again.

help me connect the Obsidian Web Clipper to my vault

Test the connection by clipping a webpage

A quick test confirms that everything is wired up correctly before you build your folder structure.

  • In Brave, navigate to any webpage (a news article or blog post works well).
  • Click the Obsidian Web Clipper icon, or press Cmd+Shift+O (macOS) or Ctrl+Shift+O (Windows).
  • In the clipper popup, confirm the Vault dropdown shows MyBrain.
  • Click Add to Obsidian.

Switch back to Obsidian. You should see a new note in your vault with the title of the webpage you just clipped.

  • Right-click the test note in the left sidebar and select Delete to remove it. You will build a proper folder structure for clips in the next step.

What does the Web Clipper capture?

By default, the Web Clipper extracts the main article content from a page and converts it to Markdown. It also captures metadata like the page title, source URL, author, and date as note properties.

Images in the clipped note link to their original web URLs. They are not downloaded to your vault automatically.

Note did not appear in Obsidian?

Make sure Obsidian is open with the MyBrain vault active before clicking Add to Obsidian. The clipper sends content to whichever vault is currently open. If you have multiple vaults, double-check the Vault dropdown in the clipper footer.

help me troubleshoot my Web Clipper connection

Your vault is ready and your Web Clipper is connected. Next up, you will design the folder structure that turns this empty vault into a multi-brain knowledge system.

Design Your Multi-Brain Folder Structure

Your vault is created and your Web Clipper is connected. Now you need a place for everything to live.

A knowledge management system only works if you can find things again. In this step, you will create a folder architecture that acts like multiple interconnected brains, each focused on a different area of your life.

In this step, get ready to:
  • Create the core folder architecture inside your vault.
  • Add subfolders for your life domains and resource topics.
  • Configure Obsidian to use your Templates and Attachments folders.
Create the core folder architecture

Your vault needs top-level folders that separate different types of content. This structure is inspired by the PARA method: Projects, Areas, Resources, and Archive.

  • In the left sidebar, locate the File Explorer panel. This is where all your vault's files and folders appear.
  • Click the New folder icon at the top of the File Explorer.
  • Type 00 - Inbox and press Enter.
  • Repeat this process to create each of the following folders: 10 - Projects, 20 - Areas, 30 - Resources, 40 - Archive, _Templates, _Attachments.

Why numbered folders?

The number prefixes (00, 10, 20, 30, 40) keep your folders in a logical order regardless of how Obsidian sorts them. The underscore prefix on _Templates and _Attachments pushes them to the top of the list, separating system folders from your content folders.

You should now see seven folders listed in your File Explorer sidebar.

Don't see the New folder icon?

The icon is at the very top of the File Explorer panel and looks like a folder with a plus sign. If your File Explorer panel is not visible, click the sidebar toggle icon in the top-left corner of Obsidian to reveal it.

help me find the New folder button in Obsidian

Add subfolders for your life domains

The 20 - Areas folder holds your different "brains". Each subfolder inside it focuses on a distinct life domain.

  • Right-click the 20 - Areas folder in the File Explorer.
  • Click New folder.
  • Type People and press Enter.
  • Repeat the right-click process on 20 - Areas to create three more subfolders: Ideas, Learning, Web Clips.
  • Now right-click the 30 - Resources folder.
  • Click New folder and create topic-based subfolders: Technology, Career, Health.

Customize your resource topics

The subfolders inside 30 - Resources should reflect whatever domains matter most to you. Feel free to rename or add more (like Finance or Hobbies) after you finish this project.

Expand both 20 - Areas and 30 - Resources in the File Explorer to confirm your subfolders are nested correctly inside them.

Subfolder ended up at the vault root?

If your subfolder appeared at the top level instead of inside the parent folder, you likely clicked the New folder icon at the top instead of right-clicking the parent folder. Drag the misplaced folder onto the correct parent to move it inside.

help me move a folder inside another folder in Obsidian

Configure Obsidian to use your Templates and Attachments folders

Obsidian needs to know which folders serve special purposes. You will point the Templates plugin at your _Templates folder and tell Obsidian to store all attachments in _Attachments.

  • Click the gear icon in the bottom-left corner of Obsidian to open Settings.
  • In the left sidebar of Settings, click Core plugins.
  • Scroll down and find Templates in the list.
  • Toggle Templates on if it is not already enabled.
  • Click the gear icon next to the Templates toggle to open its settings.
  • In the Template folder location field, type _Templates.

What does the Templates plugin do?

The Templates plugin lets you save reusable note structures (with headings, properties, and placeholder text) and insert them into new notes with a single command. Setting the template folder location tells Obsidian where to look when you want to insert a template.

  • Go back to the main Settings sidebar and click Files and links.
  • Find the Default location for new attachments dropdown.
  • Select In the folder specified below from the dropdown.
  • In the folder path field that appears below, type _Attachments.
  • Close the Settings window.

Why set a dedicated attachments folder?

By default, Obsidian saves pasted images and files to the vault root. This clutters your folder structure quickly. Pointing attachments to _Attachments keeps all media files in one tidy location, separate from your notes.

Your vault is now fully configured. The Templates plugin knows where to find templates, and all future attachments will land in a dedicated folder.

Don't see the folder path field?

The path field only appears after you select In the folder specified below from the dropdown. If you still see the default option (Vault folder), click the dropdown again and change your selection.

help me configure my attachments folder in Obsidian settings

Your vault now has a complete multi-brain architecture. Next up, you will fill those folders with reusable note templates that make capturing knowledge fast and consistent.

Create Your Note Templates

Your vault has a solid folder structure, but empty folders are just filing cabinets waiting for content.

Templates solve the "blank page" problem. Instead of deciding what to write every time you create a note, a template gives you a ready-made structure with the right metadata already in place. In this step, you will create three templates that cover the most common types of knowledge: people, ideas, and topics.

In this step, get ready to:
  • Create a Person Template with properties for tracking relationships.
  • Create an Idea Template with status tracking for note maturity.
  • Create a Topic Exploration Template for deep dives into subjects.
Switch to Source mode for template editing

Templates use special variables like {{date}} that Obsidian replaces with real values when you insert the template. The default Live Preview editor can interfere with these variables, so you will edit templates in Source mode where all Markdown syntax is displayed exactly as written.

  • Open the Command Palette by pressing Cmd+P (macOS) or Ctrl+P (Windows).
  • Type Toggle Live Preview/Source mode and press Enter.

You should now see raw Markdown syntax in the editor instead of formatted text.

What is Source mode?

Source mode shows your notes as plain text with all Markdown syntax visible. Live Preview hides most formatting characters and shows a rendered result instead. For templates, Source mode ensures your variables and frontmatter stay exactly as you type them.

Create the Person Template

The Person Template helps you track people you meet and build a record of your relationships over time. Each person note will have structured metadata and space for context about who they are.

  • In the left sidebar, right-click the _Templates folder and select New note.
  • Name the note Person Template.
  • Delete any existing content, then paste the following into the note:
---
type: person
tags: []
met: 
relationship: 
---

## About

## Contact

## Notes

## Connections
[[links]]

What does this template do?

The section between the --- delimiters is called YAML frontmatter. It stores structured metadata (called Properties in Obsidian) about the note. Here you are tracking the person's relationship type and the date you met them.

The [[links]] placeholder under Connections is a wikilink reminder. When you fill in a person note, you will replace it with actual links to related notes like projects or ideas.

  • Confirm the note is saved. Obsidian autosaves, so you should see Person Template listed in the _Templates folder in the left sidebar.

Don't see your note in the folder?

Make sure you right-clicked the _Templates folder itself (not the root of the vault) when creating the note. If the note ended up in the wrong location, drag it into _Templates from the sidebar.

Help me move my template note to the right folder.

Create the Idea Template

The Idea Template captures thoughts at any stage of development. A status property tracks whether an idea is brand new (seed), being developed (growing), or fully formed (evergreen).

  • Right-click the _Templates folder and select New note.
  • Name the note Idea Template.
  • Paste the following content into the note:
---
type: idea
tags: []
status: seed
date: {{date}}
---

## The Idea

## Why It Matters

## Related Ideas

## Next Steps

What does {{date}} do?

The {{date}} variable is a template placeholder. When you insert this template into a new note, Obsidian automatically replaces {{date}} with today's date in YYYY-MM-DD format. This gives every idea a creation date without manual entry.

The status property defaults to seed because every new idea starts small. You will manually update this to growing or evergreen as the idea matures.

  • Confirm Idea Template appears in the _Templates folder in the left sidebar.

Seeing {{date}} rendered as today's date already?

You are likely still in Live Preview mode. Open the Command Palette (Cmd+P or Ctrl+P) and run Toggle Live Preview/Source mode to switch to Source mode. Then retype {{date}} in the frontmatter.

My template variable is being replaced instead of staying as a placeholder.

Create the Topic Template

The Topic Template structures deep dives into subjects you want to understand. It prompts you to capture key concepts, open questions, and connections to other notes.

  • Right-click the _Templates folder and select New note.
  • Name the note Topic Template.
  • Paste the following content into the note:
---
type: topic
tags: []
status: 
date: {{date}}
---

## Overview

## Key Concepts

## Questions to Explore

## Sources

## Connections

Why is status empty here?

Unlike the Idea Template which defaults to seed, the Topic Template leaves status blank. Topics can have any starting state depending on how much you already know. You will fill this in yourself when you create a topic note.

  • Confirm Topic Template appears in the _Templates folder in the left sidebar.
  • Verify you now have three notes in _Templates: Person Template, Idea Template, and Topic Template.

Missing one of your templates?

Click the _Templates folder in the sidebar to expand it. All three notes should be listed inside. If a template ended up elsewhere, drag it into _Templates.

Help me find where my template notes ended up.

✔️ Awesome, I've got everything!

Great. Make sure all three templates are saved inside your _Templates folder before moving on.

ⓧ I'd like to double check the full code

Here is the exact content for each of your three template files. Compare yours against these:

Person Template:

---
type: person
tags: []
met: 
relationship: 
---

## About

## Contact

## Notes

## Connections
[[links]]

Idea Template:

---
type: idea
tags: []
status: seed
date: {{date}}
---

## The Idea

## Why It Matters

## Related Ideas

## Next Steps

Topic Template:

---
type: topic
tags: []
status: 
date: {{date}}
---

## Overview

## Key Concepts

## Questions to Explore

## Sources

## Connections

Your template library is ready. Next up, you will use wikilinks and nested tags to connect your notes into a living knowledge graph.

Build Your Linking and Tagging System

Your vault now has a solid folder structure and reusable templates. The next step is to connect your notes together so they form a web of knowledge instead of isolated files.

In this step, you will learn how to create links between notes, build a tagging system for classification, and visualize the connections in your vault using the Graph View.

In this step, get ready to:
  • Create internal links between notes using wikilink syntax.
  • Build a nested tag taxonomy for organizing your knowledge.
  • Connect sample notes and visualize your knowledge graph.
Learn the wikilink syntax

The real power of a knowledge system comes from connections between ideas. In Obsidian, you create these connections using wikilinks (double square brackets around a note name).

  • In the left sidebar, expand the 20 - Areas folder, then the Ideas subfolder.
  • Right-click the Ideas folder and select New note.
  • Name the note My First Idea.
  • In the note body, type [[ and notice the autocomplete dropdown that appears.
  • Type Machine Learning and press Enter to create a link to a note that does not exist yet.
  • On a new line, type [[Career Goals]] to create another link.
  • Add a few more wikilinks to topics that interest you (for example, [[Productivity]] or [[Side Projects]]).

What are wikilinks doing here?

Each [[Note Name]] you type creates a link to another note. If that note does not exist yet, Obsidian shows the link in a lighter color. You can click it later to create and fill the note.

This is how your knowledge graph grows organically. You do not need to plan every note in advance. Just link to ideas as they come up and create the actual notes when you are ready.

Your My First Idea note should now contain several wikilinks. Some will appear dimmed because the linked notes do not exist yet.

Links not showing as clickable?

Make sure you are typing two opening brackets [[ and two closing brackets ]] around your note name. A single bracket will not trigger the wikilink syntax.

If the autocomplete dropdown does not appear, check that your cursor is in the note editor and not inside the Properties section at the top of the note.

Why aren't my wikilinks appearing as links?

Set up your nested tag taxonomy

Links connect specific notes to each other. Tags let you classify notes into categories and filter across your entire vault. Obsidian supports nested tags using forward slashes, which lets you build a hierarchy.

  • Return to your My First Idea note.
  • In the note body (below your wikilinks), type #status/seed to add a nested tag indicating this idea is in its earliest stage.
  • On a new line, type #domain/tech to classify this note under the technology domain.
  • On another new line, type #source/article to indicate this idea was inspired by an article.

What is the nested tag taxonomy?

Nested tags use forward slashes to create a hierarchy. Here is the full taxonomy you will use throughout this project:

  • Note maturity: #status/seed, #status/growing, #status/evergreen.
  • Content origin: #source/article, #source/book, #source/video.
  • Life areas: #domain/tech, #domain/career, #domain/health.

When you search for a parent tag like #status, Obsidian matches all nested tags underneath it (#status/seed, #status/growing, etc.). Tags are case-insensitive and must contain at least one non-numeric character.

You should now see your tags rendered with a distinct color in the note body. They are clickable and will show all notes sharing that tag.

Tags in frontmatter vs body

You can also add tags in the Properties section at the top of your note (the tags property). Both methods work. Inline tags in the body are great for quick classification while writing. Properties tags keep your note header clean and structured.

Practice connecting notes across folders

Now it is time to create a small network of connected notes. You will make one note in each of your main content areas and link them together to see the Graph View come alive.

  • Navigate to 20 - Areas/People in the left sidebar.
  • Right-click the People folder and select New note.
  • Name the note after someone you know (for example, Alex Chen).
  • In the note body, type a brief description and add a wikilink to your earlier idea: [[My First Idea]].
  • Add tags like #domain/career and #status/seed.
  • Navigate to 30 - Resources and open one of your topic subfolders (like Technology).
  • Create a new note and name it after a topic (for example, Artificial Intelligence).
  • In the body, add wikilinks to both your person note ([[Alex Chen]]) and your idea note ([[My First Idea]]).
  • Add tags like #domain/tech and #source/video.
  • Go back to your My First Idea note in 20 - Areas/Ideas.
  • Add a wikilink back to your person note: [[Alex Chen]].
  • Add a wikilink to your topic note: [[Artificial Intelligence]].

You now have at least three notes in different folders, all connected to each other through wikilinks.

  • Open the Graph View by pressing Cmd+P (macOS) or Ctrl+P (Windows) to open the Command Palette.
  • Type Open graph view and press Enter.

You should see your notes displayed as connected dots (nodes) with lines between them representing your wikilinks. Hover over any node to highlight its direct connections.

What is the Graph View showing me?

Each dot is a note in your vault. Each line is a wikilink between two notes. Notes that do not exist yet (like Machine Learning or Career Goals) still appear as nodes because something links to them.

This is the power of linked thinking. Your person note, idea note, and topic note form a connected triangle of knowledge. Your different "brains" (People, Ideas, Resources) are talking to each other through these links.

Graph View looks empty or disconnected?

Make sure you saved each note after adding wikilinks. Unsaved notes will not show their connections in the graph.

Check that your wikilink text matches the exact note name. If your person note is called Alex Chen but you typed [[alex chen]], Obsidian treats it as a link to a different (non-existent) note. Note names in wikilinks are case-sensitive.

My Graph View isn't showing connections between my notes

Your knowledge network is taking shape. Next up, you will set up the Web Clipper workflow to capture interesting content from the web directly into this system.

Set Up Your Web Clipper Workflow

You have a structured vault with templates and a tagging system ready to go. The missing piece is a way to capture knowledge from the web without leaving your browser.

In this step, you will configure the Obsidian Web Clipper to save articles directly into the right folder, clip your first real webpage, and enhance it with your own tags and links.

In this step, get ready to:
  • Configure the Web Clipper to save clips into your vault structure.
  • Clip a real webpage and confirm it arrives in the right folder.
  • Enhance a clipped note with tags, links, and your own summary.
Configure the Web Clipper default template

The Web Clipper needs to know where in your vault to save clipped content. You will set the default save location to your 20 - Areas/Web Clips folder so every clip lands in the right place automatically.

  • In Brave, click the Obsidian Web Clipper icon in your browser toolbar.
  • Click the Settings cog icon in the header area of the clipper popup.
  • In the left sidebar, click on the Default template to open its settings.
  • Find the Note location section and enter 20 - Areas/Web Clips in the folder path field.
  • Your changes save automatically. Close the settings by clicking back to the main clipper view.

What does the default template already capture?

The default Web Clipper template automatically extracts useful metadata from the page: title, source URL, author, and date. These are saved as properties (YAML frontmatter) in your clipped note.

The note content section captures the main article text, intelligently excluding headers, footers, and navigation elements.

Clip your first real webpage

With the folder configured, it is time to capture your first piece of external knowledge. Pick any article or resource you find genuinely interesting. This will become a real note in your system.

  • In Brave, navigate to an article, blog post, or resource that interests you.
  • Click the Obsidian Web Clipper icon in the toolbar, or press Ctrl+Shift+O to open the clipper.
  • Review the captured content in the popup. You will see the page title, extracted properties, and the article content.
  • Click Add to Obsidian in the footer of the popup.
  • Switch to Obsidian and open the 20 - Areas/Web Clips folder in the File Explorer sidebar. You should see your newly clipped note appear with the article title as the filename.

Don't see the clipped note?

  • Make sure Obsidian is open with the MyBrain vault active. The Web Clipper cannot send notes to a closed vault.
  • Check that the vault name in the Web Clipper footer dropdown matches your vault name exactly (not the folder path).
  • Check that 20 - Areas/Web Clips is spelled correctly in the template folder path. The folder must already exist in your vault.

Help me troubleshoot why my Web Clipper note is not appearing in Obsidian.

Enhance your clipped note with context

A raw clip is just a copy of someone else's words. The real value comes from adding your own thinking on top. You will now turn this clip into a connected node in your knowledge system.

  • Open the clipped note in Obsidian by clicking on it in the 20 - Areas/Web Clips folder.
  • At the very top of the note (below the frontmatter properties), write 2-3 sentences summarising the article in your own words. Focus on what matters to you, not a neutral summary.
  • Open the note properties by clicking the properties section at the top. Add relevant tags from your taxonomy to the tags property. For example, add source/article for the content type and a domain tag like domain/tech or domain/career for the topic area.
  • In the body of the note, add wikilinks to related notes in your vault. Type [[ and use the autocomplete to link to existing notes like your idea notes, person notes, or topic notes.

Why enhance clips manually?

Your personal summary forces you to process the information, not just hoard it. Research shows that restating ideas in your own words dramatically improves retention.

The tags and wikilinks turn a standalone clip into a connected piece of your knowledge graph. Over time, these connections surface patterns you would never notice by reading articles in isolation.

Use the highlighter for future clips

Before clipping a page, press Alt+Shift+H to activate the highlighter tool. Click on specific passages you want to keep, then clip the page. Only your highlighted sections will be captured, making your notes more focused from the start.

  • Save the note by pressing Ctrl+S.
  • Open the Graph View using the graph icon in the left sidebar. You should see your clipped note connected to other notes in your vault through the wikilinks you just added.

Your Web Clipper pipeline is live. Every interesting article you encounter online is now one shortcut away from becoming a connected piece of your knowledge system. Next up, you will bring all the pieces together by creating linked notes across different domains and watching your graph come alive.

Bring It All Together with Your First Knowledge Session

Your vault now has templates, a tagging system, and a working Web Clipper pipeline. The real magic happens when you use all of these together in a single knowledge session.

In this step, you will create notes from your templates, fill them with real content, and link them to each other. The result is a visible network of connected knowledge that spans multiple "brains" in your vault.

In this step, get ready to:
  • Create a person note from your template and fill it out for someone you know.
  • Create an idea note inspired by your web clip and link it across your vault.
  • Explore your Graph View to see how your notes connect across different folders.
Create a person note

Your Person Template gives every person note a consistent structure. Now you will use it to capture information about a real person in your life.

  • In the left sidebar, expand the 20 - Areas folder, then click into People.
  • Right-click the People folder and select New note.
  • Name the note after someone you know (a colleague, mentor, or friend).
  • Open the Command Palette by pressing Cmd+P (macOS) or Ctrl+P (Windows).
  • Type Templates: Insert template and select it from the list.
  • Choose Person Template from the options that appear.

What just happened?

Obsidian inserted your Person Template into the note, including all the frontmatter properties and section headings. The properties (type, tags, met, relationship) are now editable fields at the top of your note.

  • Fill in the met property with the date you met this person.
  • Fill in the relationship property with a word like colleague, mentor, or friend.
  • Under the ## About heading, write a few sentences about who this person is.
  • Under ## Connections, replace [[links]] with wikilinks to relevant notes in your vault. For example, type [[Career Goals]] or [[My First Idea]].

Your person note is now a living document. Every time you learn something new about this person or collaborate with them, you can come back and add to it.

Template not appearing in the list?

Make sure the Templates core plugin is enabled in Settings and that your Template folder location is set to _Templates. The template files must be inside that exact folder.

Help me troubleshoot why my template is not showing up

Create an idea note connected to your web clip

The most powerful notes are ones that connect to other notes. This idea note will link back to the article you clipped and to the person you just wrote about.

  • In the left sidebar, navigate to 20 - Areas/Ideas.
  • Right-click the Ideas folder and select New note.
  • Name the note after an idea inspired by the article you clipped earlier.
  • Open the Command Palette (Cmd+P or Ctrl+P) and select Templates: Insert template.
  • Choose Idea Template.
  • Under ## The Idea, write a few sentences describing the idea that the article sparked for you.
  • Under ## Why It Matters, explain why this idea is worth exploring.
  • Under ## Related Ideas, type [[ and select the title of your clipped article from the autocomplete list to create a link back to it.
  • Still under ## Related Ideas, add a link to your person note by typing [[ followed by the person's name.

Why link to both the article and the person?

Each link creates a bidirectional connection in your vault. Your web clip now shows a backlink to this idea. Your person note shows a backlink too.

These connections let you rediscover relationships between concepts months from now when you have forgotten the original context.

You now have three notes that reference each other: a person, an idea, and a web clip. This is the foundation of linked thinking.

Explore your Graph View

The Graph View turns your linked notes into a visual network. Each note becomes a dot, and each wikilink becomes a line connecting them.

  • Click the graph icon in the left sidebar (it looks like interconnected dots).
  • Look for three nodes that form a triangle: your person note, your idea note, and your web clip note.
  • Hover over any node to highlight its direct connections.
  • Drag nodes around to explore how different clusters form across your vault.

What should I see?

Your graph should show connected dots representing the notes you have created. The person note, idea note, and web clip form a connected triangle. Other notes like My First Idea and any sample notes from earlier steps also appear with their own connections.

This is the power of linked thinking. Your different "brains" (People, Ideas, Web Clips) talk to each other through these connections. As you add more notes over time, the graph becomes richer and more useful for rediscovering forgotten links.

Graph looks empty or disconnected?

Make sure the wikilinks in your notes use the exact note title. For example, if your person note is called Sarah Chen, the link must be [[Sarah Chen]] (case-sensitive). Misspelled links create unresolved references that do not show in the graph.

Help me figure out why my Graph View is not showing connections

Your knowledge system is live. You have captured a person, an idea, and a web resource, and linked them into a connected graph. Next up, you will take on a secret mission to build a dynamic Dashboard that surfaces your most important notes automatically.

Secret mission

Build a Dynamic Dashboard

Your vault has notes scattered across multiple folders. What if you had a single command center that surfaces your most recent work, pending ideas, and people you haven't connected with lately? In this secret mission, you will build a living Dashboard note that updates itself using Obsidian's built-in embedded search queries.

Clean Up Your Resources

Clean Up Your Resources

This project runs entirely on your local machine. There are no cloud services, subscriptions, or ongoing costs. Decide whether to keep your vault as-is, close Obsidian to free up memory, or delete everything entirely.

Resources you used:

  • The MyBrain vault folder on your computer (contains all your notes, templates, and attachments as plain Markdown files).
  • Obsidian Web Clipper extension in Brave (configured to save clips to your vault).

Keep everything running

No action needed. Your vault is a folder of plain Markdown files stored locally on your computer. It takes up minimal disk space and Obsidian does not run background processes when closed.

  • Keep Obsidian installed and your vault open to continue building your knowledge system.
  • The Web Clipper extension stays ready in Brave for whenever you find something worth saving.

Pause - I'll come back to this later

Close Obsidian to free up system memory. Your vault folder stays on your computer untouched, and you can reopen it at any time.

  • Close the Obsidian window. Your vault and all its notes remain safely on disk.
  • When you are ready to return, open Obsidian and select your MyBrain vault from the vault list.

Delete - I don't want to use this again

Remove all project resources from your computer. This permanently deletes your notes and cannot be undone.

  • Remove the vault from Obsidian's vault list first. Click the vault name at the bottom-left of the sidebar.
  • Select Manage Vaults... from the context menu.
  • Click the More options icon (three dots) next to MyBrain and select Remove from list.
  • This only removes the vault from Obsidian's list. It does not delete the files from your computer.

Now delete the vault folder from your file system. Open Finder (macOS) or File Explorer (Windows), navigate to the location you chose when creating the vault, and delete the MyBrain folder.

  • Remove the Obsidian Web Clipper extension from Brave. Click the puzzle piece icon in the Brave toolbar.
  • Find Obsidian Web Clipper in the extensions list, click the three-dot menu next to it, and select Remove from Brave.

Nice Work!

Nice Work!

You have built a complete personal knowledge management system from scratch. Your Obsidian vault now captures ideas, tracks relationships, clips web content, and connects knowledge across every area of your life.

You've learned how to:

  • Built a multi-brain vault architecture using PARA-inspired folders, reusable templates with Properties and template variables, and a nested tagging taxonomy for status tracking and classification.
  • Set up the Obsidian Web Clipper to capture and enhance web content directly into your vault with proper metadata, tags, and wikilinks.
  • Connected notes across different domains using wikilinks and visualized your knowledge network in the Graph View.
  • Built a dynamic Dashboard note using embedded search queries to surface recent notes, pending ideas, and people to reconnect with.

Ready to quiz yourself?