The schema file

Changing the built-in rules

• Add a kind by adding an entry: research: "reading notes on a topic; no task, no decision".
• Rewrite a rule by restating it.
• Drop a kind or a folder by setting it to null.
• Nest folders by path: Work/Logs: { kind: log }.

The frontmatter contract

The built-in layout's contract:

frontmatter:
  required: [title, date, updated, tags, status]
  optional: [kind, area, summary, path, superseded_by, priority, source, kebbie]
  area_required_in: [Projects, Resources, Log]
  status_values: [draft, active, backlog, complete, superseded]
  kind_values: [system, task, trap, howto, decision, reference, log]
  priority_values: [urgent, high, medium, low]

path ties a note to code: a comma-separated list of directories (~ is kept as written and also indexed expanded). context and the session-start hook match the working directory against it.

Kinds

Each kind carries a one-line rule, and the server puts the rules in its instructions so every client picks kinds the same way:

kinds:
  trap: "a gotcha that bit once and will bite again; nothing to do, nothing was chosen"
  decision: "a choice and its reasons; something was chosen, alternatives were dropped"
  howto: "steps that are known to work; nothing chosen, nothing open"

Folders

folders:
  Areas: { kind: system, weight: 3.0, description: "One living note per system or subsystem." }
  Archive: { kind: archive, weight: 0.3, searched: false, description: "History." }

Key	Default	Meaning
kind	reference	system, reference, task, log or archive: which tools write there.
weight	1.0	How much a note in the folder weighs in search, 0 or more.
searched	true	false hides the folder from search unless asked for.
description		The folder's line in the server's instructions.

root_description is the vault root's line in the same list. backlog.folder names which folder of kind task holds the backlog when there are several.

Other keys

Key	Built-in default	Meaning
language	en	The vault's language, as an ISO code. Picks the stemmer and the task headings.
other_languages	[]	More languages to stem, such as [sv]. Changing either rebuilds the index.
tags.vocabulary	[]	The vault's tags, named in the server's instructions.
tags.strict	false	true refuses a write with a tag outside the vocabulary, and lint reports such tags.
synonyms	[]	Groups of words search treats as one, such as [[bokning, booking]].
stale_after_days	30	When an open task note counts as stale.
search.recency_half_life_days	90	How fast an old note's rank decays.
search.title_weight, summary_weight, tags_weight, body_weight, stem_weight	10.0, 5.0, 3.0, 1.0, 20.0	How much a match in the title, summary, tags, body and file name weighs.
search.stemmed_weight	0.5	How much a match on a word's stem alone weighs, so the exact form ranks first.

Repo log

log:
  folder: Log
  file_format: "{repo}-log.md"
  period_format: "{repo}-{period}.md"
  entry_format: "- [{date}] {line} | branch: {branch} | commits: {commits} | {area}"

The default -log suffix keeps Log/myapp-log.md from colliding with the hub note Areas/myapp.md, which Obsidian could not tell apart as [[myapp]]. Every place that builds the log path reads file_format, so changing it moves all of them at once; rename the existing files to match.

Task sections

The headings task check looks for, picked by the vault's language:

task:
  sections:
    en: { problem: Problem, solution: Solution, decisions: Decisions, tests: Test decisions, scope: Out of scope }
    sv: { problem: Problem, solution: Lösning, decisions: Beslut, tests: Testbeslut, scope: Utanför ramen }

When the schema does not hold

The schema is checked when it is loaded. A schema that does not hold leaves the vault on its preset, and context, lint and the vault's page on a server list each problem, for example folders.Inbox.kind 'todo' is not one of: system, reference, task, log, archive. A running server picks up an edited schema on its next refresh.

A vault whose schema names a preset this version does not ship is read as written, over the empty custom schema, and context, lint and the vault's page say so; init keeps that schema until --preset <name> --force switches it.