SKILL/TREE

The empty Obsidian vault problem, solved in one paste.

Tell it your role (consultant, writer, engineer, researcher) and note count. Get back a full vault setup — folder tree, tag taxonomy, daily note template, weekly review template, plugin picks, and a first-week guide.

$3.99
Works in Claude (Pro/Max/Team) or ChatGPT (Plus/Team) · paid AI plan required
Both Claude + ChatGPT packages included — you can't pick the wrong one.
Updated
Included
01Picks the right architecture for your role: PARA for consultants, PARA+Slipbox for writers, topic-based for engineers, Zettelkasten for researchers.
02Complete folder tree with inline comments on each folder's job — paste it straight into your vault on day one.
03Tag taxonomy of 12-20 tags grouped by status, type, domain, and context with rationale for each group.
04Daily note template + weekly review template as raw markdown — drop into Templates folder, point Daily Notes plugin at it, done.
05Curated plugin recommendations (3 core + 2 role-specific) — no plugin paralysis, no 30-plugin first-week trap.
06First-week guide that pre-empts the abandonment cliff: 10-min daily habit, inbox processing rule, linking-early discipline.

What it does

An Obsidian vault starter kit that eliminates the empty-vault paralysis that kills most new PKM systems. Tell it your role and roughly how many notes you have. It picks an opinionated architecture (PARA for consultants, Writer-hybrid for writers, topic-based for engineers, Zettelkasten-adjacent for researchers) and produces a complete setup: folder tree, tag taxonomy, daily note template, weekly review template, project/literature templates, plugin picks, and a first-week guide. It's opinionated on purpose. PARA vs Zettelkasten vs Johnny Decimal isn't your decision to make in week one — the kit picks for you based on your actual workflow, explains why in plain language, and gives you ready-to-paste files. The first-week guide addresses the actual reasons people abandon Obsidian: importing 5,000 Notion notes on day one, over-tagging, creating 30 empty folders, switching systems after reading a blog post, skipping the weekly review. Every output ships as a polished HTML artifact (printable, sidebar nav) plus raw markdown for the daily and weekly templates so you can paste them straight into Obsidian's Templates folder without extracting from HTML.

Frequently asked

How do I set up Obsidian for the first time without analysis paralysis?
Pick an architecture and stick with it for 90 days. This kit picks for you based on your role — PARA if you're a consultant, Writer-hybrid if you're writing essays/books, topic-based if you're an engineer, Zettelkasten pipeline if you're a researcher. Each comes with the folder tree, tags, and templates already filled in.
Should I use PARA or Zettelkasten?
Depends on what you do. PARA is project-and-deadline-shaped — best for consultants and operators. Zettelkasten is idea-atom-shaped — best for researchers and long-form writers. Writers usually want a hybrid (PARA outer shell + Slipbox for atomic ideas). This skill picks the right one for your role and explains why in plain language.
I have 500 notes in Apple Notes / Notion. Should I import them all?
No. The first-week guide addresses this specifically — mass imports create mass organizing debt and are the #1 cause of vault abandonment. Start fresh. Copy old notes over only when you actually reach for them. The kit gives you the structure that makes future imports easy when the need is real.
Will it work for someone who isn't really a 'consultant/writer/engineer/researcher'?
Yes. It maps fuzzy roles to the closest of the four (a marketer is a writer-leaning consultant; a PM is a consultant-leaning engineer) and flags the mapping so you can override. If you have no idea, it defaults to Writer-hybrid because it's the most flexible across domains.
Can I just buy the $9.99 power-user toolkit instead?
If you already have a working vault, yes — the power-user toolkit ships 10 Dataview queries, 5 Templater scripts, and a 3-level MOC architecture. This starter kit is for the empty vault: it sets up the structure those queries and templates need to run against. Most users buy starter first, power-user a few months later.

Install — no Terminal required

After checkout you land on a page with a one-click download and a pre-built install prompt. Pick the AI you already pay for — both packages are included, so you can't pick wrong.

What you'll see the second your payment clears
Your license key
ST-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX · permanent
Pre-built install prompt⧉ Copy
ChatGPT package (ZIP)⬇ Download

No setup work before you buy — copy, paste, done.

Have Claude Pro, Max, or Team?
Copy the prompt, paste into Claude

Copy the pre-built install prompt from the success page, paste it into any Claude Code chat, and Claude installs the skill itself — about 10 seconds. Using the app instead? Drop the downloaded folder into a Claude Project's knowledge and ask Claude to use it.

Have ChatGPT Plus or Team?
Build a Custom GPT — ~2 minutes
  1. Click Download ChatGPT package (included with every purchase).
  2. Unzip it — inside is a SETUP.md and a knowledge/ folder.
  3. Go to chatgpt.com → your profile → My GPTs Create a GPTConfigure.
  4. Paste the Name, Description, and Instructions from SETUP.md into the matching fields.
  5. Under Knowledge, upload every file in the knowledge/ folder.
  6. Click Create/Save, open your GPT, and describe your task in plain English.

A paid plan on either platform is required — Claude (Pro, Max, or Team) or ChatGPT (Plus or Team). Comfortable with Terminal? A one-line npx skilltree-network install path is available too.

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