A starter Obsidian vault built around the PARA Model, a framework for sorting everything you capture into four categories: Projects, Areas, Resources, and Archive. This vault comes with suggested folders and templates optimised for use as a work-related vault, but the structure doesn't enforce that use case keeping you free to adapt to our own needs.
Seed Vault/
├── 1 Projects/ # Active work with a defined outcome
│ └── Onboarding/
├── 2 Areas of focus/ # Ongoing responsibilities with no end date
│ └── Hiring/
│ └── Candidates/
├── 3 Resources and curiosities/ # Reference material and supporting files
│ ├── Attachments/
│ ├── Definitions/
│ ├── People/
│ ├── Prompts/
│ ├── Saved articles/
│ ├── List of opportunities.md
│ ├── List of questions.md
│ └── List of reminders.md
├── 4 Archive/ # Completed or inactive items
├── Notes/ # Periodic notes
│ ├── Daily/
│ ├── Weekly/
│ ├── Monthly/
│ ├── Quarterly/
│ ├── Yearly/
│ └── Zettelkasten/
├── Templates/ # All Templater templates
├── Inbox.md # Your landing pad, process regularly
└── Scratch.md # A throwaway scratchpad
All templates use Templater and include YAML frontmatter with saved_date and updated_date fields for tracking.
| Template | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Daily Note | Agenda, task rollup via Tasks plugin, and a space for notes |
| Week in Review | Weekly summary with done/not-done task queries and links to daily notes |
| Month in Review | Monthly summary with weekly note links and task rollups |
| Quarterly Review | Structured reflection with what went well / to improve / to continue |
| Year in Review | Annual summary linked to quarterly notes |
| Zettelkasten Template | Atomic note with blockquote for the core idea and source links |
| Note | General-purpose note |
| MOC | Map of Content with auto-generated backlinks, tag queries, and text references |
| Definition | Personal glossary entry |
| Extract | Pull a passage out of another note, maintaining the source link |
| Person | Contact note with org metadata fields (role, team, department, etc.), biography, and auto-generated references via Dataview |
| Saved Article | Clipped article with URL, author, and publisher fields |
Periodic notes (Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Yearly) auto-file themselves into the correct subfolder under Notes/ when created.
| Plugin | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Templater | Powers all templates with dynamic dates and scripting |
| Dataview | Query your notes like a database |
| Tasks | Track and query tasks across your vault |
| Periodic Notes | Create daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly notes |
| Calendar | Calendar sidebar view for navigating periodic notes |
| Natural Language Dates | Type dates in plain English |
| Advanced URI | Deep-link into your vault from external apps |
| Smart Typography | Auto-converts quotes and dashes to typographically correct characters |
| Tag Wrangler | Rename, merge, and manage tags |
| Change Case | Quickly transform text case |
- Download
seed-vault.zipfrom the releases section - Unzip it to wherever you keep your vaults
- Open Obsidian → Open folder as vault → select the unzipped folder
- Obsidian will prompt you to trust community plugins; click Trust and enable
- Start in
Inbox.mdand go from there
-
Daily Note includes a placeholder comment for an AI briefer link — replace or remove it
-
Person template includes org-specific fields (role, team, department, division), trim these if using this for personal rather than work contacts
-
Quarterly Review queries three list files in
3 Resources and curiosities/:- List of opportunities — open opportunities; completed ones move to the Closed section
- List of questions — open questions you're tracking over time
- List of reminders — standing reminders that don't fit neatly as tasks
All three are tagged
ignoreso they can be easily excluded from searches.
Organizational structure based on the PARA Model by Tiago Forte.