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daily-update

ar9av/obsidian-wiki

Run daily wiki maintenance: check source freshness, update index, regenerate hot.md.

What is daily-update?

Executes a lightweight maintenance cycle for your Obsidian wiki, checking which sources need ingestion, reconciling the index with vault pages, and refreshing the hot.md summary. Use this when you want to sync everything at once or set up automated daily runs via cron.

  • Check source freshness against file modification times and classify as fresh, stale, or missing
  • Reconcile index.md with actual vault pages, adding or removing entries as needed
  • Regenerate hot.md if older than 48 hours with a semantic snapshot of recent wiki content
  • Write vault-scoped state files for terminal notifications and cron tracking
  • Validate the maintenance cycle with impl-validator before logging results
  • Log all changes to log.md with counts of fresh/stale/missing sources and index updates

How to install daily-update

npx skills add https://github.com/ar9av/obsidian-wiki --skill daily-update
Prerequisites
  • Obsidian vault with .manifest.json tracking source ingestion times
  • Config resolution via .env, ~/.obsidian-wiki/config, or interactive setup
  • Bash shell (for launchd cron on macOS) or manual cron setup on other systems
Claude Code
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How to use daily-update

  1. 1.Resolve config using the Config Resolution Protocol to get OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH and OBSIDIAN_WIKI_REPO
  2. 2.Derive vault-scoped state directory using MD5 hash of vault path
  3. 3.Read .manifest.json and compare source mtimes against ingested_at timestamps
  4. 4.Enumerate vault pages with find and reconcile against index.md, updating if needed
  5. 5.Check hot.md frontmatter date; if >48h old, regenerate from 10 most recent pages
  6. 6.Write state files (.last_update, .pending_delta, .vault_path) to vault-scoped state dir
  7. 7.Spawn impl-validator to confirm index, hot.md, and state files are correct
  8. 8.Append results to log.md with source counts and index changes

Use cases

Good for
  • Run `/daily-update` command to manually trigger a full wiki sync
  • Set up launchd cron to run maintenance automatically at 9 AM each morning
  • Install terminal notifications to alert when wiki sources are >20 hours stale
  • Verify index consistency after bulk vault edits or imports
  • Refresh hot.md context snapshot before starting a new session with the wiki
Who it's for
  • Obsidian vault maintainers who ingest content from multiple sources
  • Users managing wikis with automated daily workflows
  • Anyone wanting terminal reminders when wiki sources need syncing

daily-update FAQ

How do I set up the daily cron?

Run the skill in setup mode by saying 'set up the daily cron' or 'install terminal notification'. It will install the launchd plist to ~/Library/LaunchAgents and optionally add wiki-notify.sh to your shell rc file. The cron runs at 9 AM daily.

What if I have multiple Obsidian vaults?

State is stored in ~/.obsidian-wiki/state/<vault-id>/ where vault-id is an MD5 hash of the vault path. Each vault maintains independent state, so you can run daily-update on multiple vaults without conflicts.

When should I manually run /daily-update vs waiting for cron?

Use /daily-update anytime you want an immediate sync—after bulk imports, before starting a session, or when you see a stale notification. The cron handles routine maintenance at 9 AM.

What happens if a source file is missing?

Missing sources are classified separately in the freshness check and reported in the daily log. You can then decide whether to re-ingest, remove from manifest, or restore the file.

Does this skill modify my vault content?

It only updates index.md and hot.md based on vault state. It does not ingest or rewrite source files—that is handled by separate ingest skills. It also updates state files and logs, which are outside the vault.

Full instructions (SKILL.md)

Source of truth, from ar9av/obsidian-wiki.


name: daily-update description: > Run the daily wiki maintenance cycle: check all source freshness, update the index, and regenerate hot.md. Use this skill when the user says "/daily-update", "run the daily update", "update everything", "morning sync", "refresh the wiki index", or when triggered by the launchd cron at 9 AM. Also use to set up or verify the cron + terminal notification infrastructure for the first time ("set up the daily cron", "install the terminal notification", "how do I get the morning reminder?").

Daily Update — Wiki Maintenance Cycle

You run a lightweight maintenance pass over the wiki: check source freshness, refresh the index, update hot.md, and write the state file that the terminal notification reads.

Before You Start

  1. Resolve config — follow the Config Resolution Protocol in llm-wiki/SKILL.md (inline @name override → walk up CWD for .env~/.obsidian-wiki/config → prompt setup). This gives OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH and OBSIDIAN_WIKI_REPO.
  2. Derive vault-scoped state dir — all runtime state is scoped to the resolved vault, not global:
    VAULT_ID=$(echo "$OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH" | md5sum 2>/dev/null | cut -c1-8 || md5 -q - <<< "$OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH" | cut -c1-8)
    STATE_DIR="$HOME/.obsidian-wiki/state/$VAULT_ID"
    mkdir -p "$STATE_DIR"
    
  3. Read $OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH/.manifest.json.

Modes

Run Mode (default — triggered by cron or /daily-update)

Execute the maintenance cycle:

Step 1: Source freshness check

Compare each source in .manifest.json against its file's modification time. Classify as:

  • Freshmtime ≤ ingested_at
  • Stalemtime > ingested_at (new content exists, not yet ingested)
  • Missing — source file no longer exists

Step 2: Index refresh

Read $OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH/index.md. If any pages in the vault are missing from the index (or vice versa), update the index. Use find $OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH -name "*.md" -not -path "*/_*" to enumerate vault pages, then reconcile against the index.

Step 3: hot.md update

Read hot.md. If it's >48h old based on its updated: frontmatter, regenerate it: read the 10 most recently modified wiki pages and write a fresh ~500-word semantic snapshot of what the wiki covers. This keeps the next session's context warm without a full vault crawl.

Step 4: Write state

Write to the vault-scoped $STATE_DIR derived in "Before You Start":

date +%s > "$STATE_DIR/.last_update"
echo "<stale_count>" > "$STATE_DIR/.pending_delta"
echo "$OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH" > "$STATE_DIR/.vault_path"

Step 5: Spawn impl-validator

After the cycle, spawn impl-validator as a subagent:

impl-validator check:
  goal: "Daily wiki maintenance — index reconciled, hot.md refreshed, state file written"
  artifacts:
    - $OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH/index.md
    - $OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH/hot.md
    - $STATE_DIR/.last_update
    - $STATE_DIR/.pending_delta
  checks:
    - Does .last_update contain a recent Unix timestamp (within the last 60 seconds)?
    - Does .pending_delta contain a non-negative integer?
    - Does hot.md have an updated: frontmatter field set to today?
    - Does index.md list at least as many pages as exist in the vault?

Apply any FAILs before logging.

Step 6: Log

Append to $OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH/log.md:

- [TIMESTAMP] DAILY-UPDATE fresh=N stale=N missing=N index_added=N hot_refreshed=true|false

Step 7: Report to user

## Daily Wiki Update

- Sources: N fresh · N stale · N missing
- Index: N pages (N added, N removed)
- hot.md: refreshed / up to date

Stale sources (run to sync):
  /wiki-history-ingest claude   — N sessions since last ingest
  /wiki-history-ingest codex    — N sessions since last ingest

Setup Mode (triggered by "set up the daily cron" or "install terminal notification")

Walk the user through first-time setup:

Step 1: Verify script exists

Check that $OBSIDIAN_WIKI_REPO/scripts/daily-update.sh exists and is executable. If not, point the user to it.

Step 2: Install launchd plist

# Replace placeholder in plist
sed "s|OBSIDIAN_WIKI_REPO|$OBSIDIAN_WIKI_REPO|g" \
  "$OBSIDIAN_WIKI_REPO/scripts/com.obsidian-wiki.daily-update.plist" \
  > "$HOME/Library/LaunchAgents/com.obsidian-wiki.daily-update.plist"

# Load it
launchctl load "$HOME/Library/LaunchAgents/com.obsidian-wiki.daily-update.plist"

Step 3: Install terminal notification (optional)

Ask the user: "Do you want a terminal reminder when your wiki is stale? (y/n)" — skip this step if they say no, or if the environment is headless/VPS.

If yes, detect the user's shell and target the right rc file:

SHELL_NAME=$(basename "$SHELL")   # zsh, bash, fish, etc.
case "$SHELL_NAME" in
  zsh)  RC_FILE="$HOME/.zshrc" ;;
  bash) RC_FILE="$HOME/.bashrc" ;;
  *)    echo "Shell '$SHELL_NAME' not auto-detected. Add the source line manually to your shell rc file." ; return ;;
esac

Check if wiki-notify.sh is already sourced in that rc file. If not, append:

echo "" >> "$RC_FILE"
echo "# obsidian-wiki terminal notification" >> "$RC_FILE"
echo "source $OBSIDIAN_WIKI_REPO/scripts/wiki-notify.sh" >> "$RC_FILE"

For Fish shell, source syntax is different — provide the manual instruction:

# Add to ~/.config/fish/config.fish:
bass source $OBSIDIAN_WIKI_REPO/scripts/wiki-notify.sh
# (requires bass plugin, or copy the logic natively)

Step 4: Run the script once

bash "$OBSIDIAN_WIKI_REPO/scripts/daily-update.sh"

This initializes $STATE_DIR/.last_update so the terminal notification works immediately.

Step 5: Confirm

Tell the user:

  • The cron runs daily at 9 AM (or on next login if missed)
  • Terminal notifications appear when the wiki is >20 hours stale
  • State is stored in ~/.obsidian-wiki/state/<vault-id>/ — supports multiple vaults independently
  • They can run /daily-update anytime to force a sync
  • Logs go to /tmp/obsidian-wiki-daily.log

QMD Refresh After Vault Writes

QMD is a search index, not the source of truth. If $QMD_WIKI_COLLECTION is empty or unset, skip this step. Run it only after this skill has written or rewritten vault markdown. If QMD refresh fails, do not roll back the vault changes; report the QMD status separately.

Use $QMD_CLI if set; otherwise use qmd.

${QMD_CLI:-qmd} update

If the output says vectors are needed or embeddings may be stale, run:

${QMD_CLI:-qmd} embed

Verify the collection with either:

${QMD_CLI:-qmd} ls "$QMD_WIKI_COLLECTION"

or, when a specific page path is known:

${QMD_CLI:-qmd} get "qmd://$QMD_WIKI_COLLECTION/<page>.md" -l 5

Record one of:

  • QMD refreshed: update + embed + verified
  • QMD refreshed: update only + verified
  • QMD skipped: QMD_WIKI_COLLECTION unset
  • QMD skipped: qmd CLI unavailable
  • QMD failed: <short error summary>