---
type: meta
title: "Getting Started"
updated: 2026-04-07
tags:
  - meta
  - onboarding
status: evergreen
related:
  - "[[index]]"
  - "[[overview]]"
  - "[[LLM Wiki Pattern]]"
  - "[[Wiki vs RAG]]"
  - "[[Wiki Map]]"
---

# Getting Started with claude-obsidian

Welcome. This vault is your compounding knowledge base — a persistent second brain built with Claude and Obsidian.

Every source you add gets processed into 8–15 cross-referenced wiki pages. Every question you ask pulls from everything that's been ingested. Knowledge compounds like interest.

---

## Three-Step Quick Start

### 1. Drop a source

Put any document into the `.raw/` folder:
- PDFs, markdown files, transcripts, articles
- Or paste a URL and ask Claude to fetch it

### 2. Ingest it

Tell Claude in any Claude Code session:

```
ingest [filename]
```

Claude reads the source, creates 8–15 wiki pages under `wiki/`, cross-references everything, and updates `wiki/index.md`, `wiki/log.md`, and `wiki/hot.md`.

### 3. Ask questions

```
what do you know about [topic]?
```

Claude reads the hot cache, scans the index, drills into relevant pages, and gives you a synthesized answer — citing specific wiki pages, not training data.

---

## How the Hot Cache Works

`wiki/hot.md` is a ~500-word summary of recent vault context. It loads automatically at the start of every session (via the SessionStart hook).

You don't need to recap. Claude starts every session knowing what you've been working on.

Update it manually at any time: `update hot cache`

---

## Your First Ingest — Walkthrough

1. Create a file in `.raw/` — copy a transcript, paste an article, or save a PDF
2. Open Claude Code in this vault folder
3. Type: `ingest [your-filename]`
4. Watch the wiki grow — Claude will report which pages it created
5. Open `wiki/index.md` — you'll see the new pages listed
6. Open Graph View in Obsidian — a new cluster of connected nodes appears

After 3–5 ingests, the graph starts to look like a real knowledge network. Cross-references emerge automatically.

---

## Key Commands

| You say | Claude does |
|---------|-------------|
| `ingest [file]` | Creates 8–15 wiki pages from a source |
| `what do you know about X?` | Queries the wiki, cites pages |
| `/save` | Files this conversation as a wiki note |
| `/autoresearch [topic]` | Searches the web, ingests results autonomously |
| `lint the wiki` | Health check — finds orphans, gaps, stale links |
| `update hot cache` | Refreshes the session context summary |

---

## Navigate the Vault

- **[[Wiki Map]]** — visual Fibonacci graph of all wiki pages
- **[[index]]** — master catalog, all pages by type
- **[[overview]]** — executive summary of vault contents
- **[[LLM Wiki Pattern]]** — the pattern this vault is built on
- **[[Wiki vs RAG]]** — why a wiki beats RAG at human scale
- **[[dashboard]]** — live Dataview queries (requires Dataview plugin)

---

*Built on the [LLM Wiki pattern](https://github.com/karpathy) by Andrej Karpathy. Hot cache and cross-project patterns by Nate Herk.*
