Obsidian: The Knowledge Forge

The Instructor's Perspective

In the Army, we had a “Battle Book”—a single source of truth for every mission. In your lab, Obsidian is that battle book. It’s not just for taking notes; it’s for forging connections between what you know and what you’re learning. It’s the foundational tool that keeps our Stack from becoming a “manageable mess.”

Why use it?

• Ownership: Your data is stored in plain-text Markdown files on your own hardware.
• Connection: Link your thoughts, projects, and people together to see the “big picture.”
• Extensibility: A huge ecosystem of plugins (like Dataview and Excalidraw) and services.
• Publishing: Easily share your journey with the world using GitHub-Quartz-Obsidian.

Documentation Reliability (The PACE Plan)

Information Discipline

P (Primary): Local Obsidian Vault synced across devices using Self-Hosted Sync. A (Alternate): GitHub Repository (Private or Public) for version control and backup. C (Contingency): Automated local file-system backups to your NAS. E (Emergency): Exported PDF or printed SOPs for critical recovery (The “Offline Battle Book”).

Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) Best Practices

1. Link Aggressively: If you mention a service, person, or policy, link to it.
2. Use Templates: Save time and stay consistent by using the templates folder.
3. Daily Notes: Use the daily folder to capture “ramblings” and “stupid questions” as they happen.
4. Tag for Discovery: Use tags (e.g., #networking, #security) to find related info fast.

Obsidian Knowledge Tree

TABLE join(sort(rows.file.link), " | ") as Documents
FLATTEN regexreplace(file.folder, ".*/", "") as lastPart
WHERE contains(file.folder, this.file.folder) AND file.name != this.file.name
GROUP BY lastPart as Folder
SORT lastPart

Recent Changes

TABLE 
  file.ctime AS "Created", 
  file.mtime AS "Updated"
WHERE (file.cday >= date(today) - dur(7 days) OR file.mday >= date(today) - dur(7 days))
  AND contains(file.folder, this.file.folder) AND file.name != this.file.name
SORT file.mtime DESC
LIMIT 10

Check for Understanding

• Why is “Ownership” considered a primary benefit of using Obsidian over cloud-based tools?
• How does the Alternate plan (GitHub) help you collaborate with other students or peers?

Related: Mark Down, GitHub-Quartz-Obsidian, Home Lab 101