Wiki Dashboard — Dynamic Vault Views You are creating a .base file — an Obsidian Bases definition that turns vault frontmatter into a live, queryable view. The .base format is native to Obsidian 1.8+ and requires no plugins. Before You Start Read ~/.obsidian-wiki/config (preferred) or .env (fallback) to get OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH Read $OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH/index.md to understand what categories and pages exist Ask the user what they want to view if not specified — what folder, tag, category, or date range? What Obsidian Bases Can Do .base files define database-style views over vault notes. Each file declares: Which notes to include — filtered by folder, tag, frontmatter property, or combination Which properties to show — any frontmatter field becomes a column What view type — table , cards , or list Sort and group — by any property Computed columns — formulas using file.* helpers and arithmetic Embed a .base into any note with ![[MyBase.base]] . Step 1: Understand the Request Determine: What to show — all pages in a category? Pages with a specific tag? A project's pages? What columns matter — title, tags, created, updated, summary, category, project? View type — table (default), cards (visual), or list (minimal) Sort order — by updated (default), created, title, or a custom property Any filters — date range, specific tags, folder scope Step 2: Generate the .base File The .base format is YAML. Here are the patterns you'll use: Basic table — all pages in a category folder filters : - type : folder folder : concepts columns : - property : file.name title : Page - property : tags title : Tags - property : summary title : Summary - property : updated title : Updated sort : - property : updated direction : desc view : table Filtered by tag filters : - type : tag tag : "#machine-learning" columns : - property : file.name title : Page - property : category title : Category - property : summary title : Summary - property : created title : Created sort : - property : created direction : desc view : table Multi-filter (folder AND tag) filters : operator : and conditions : - type : folder folder : projects - type : tag tag : "#active" columns : - property : file.name title : Project - property : summary title : Summary - property : updated title : Last Updated view : cards Computed column (days since last update) columns : - property : file.name title : Page - property : updated title : Updated - formula : "floor((now() - updated) / 86400000)" title : Days Stale type : number sort : - formula : "floor((now() - updated) / 86400000)" direction : desc view : table Filter operators and functions available file.hasTag("tag") — boolean, true if page has tag file.inFolder("path") — boolean, true if page is in folder file.name — the note's filename (without extension) file.path — full vault-relative path now() — current timestamp in ms Arithmetic: + , - , * , / , floor() , ceil() Comparison: == , != ,
, < , = , <= Step 3: Write the File Target path: $OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH/_meta/
.base Use a slug derived from the dashboard's purpose: "All concepts" → _meta/concepts-index.base "Recent ingests" → _meta/recent-ingests.base "Project overview" → _meta/projects-overview.base "Stale pages" → _meta/stale-pages.base Create _meta/ if it doesn't exist yet. Step 4: Embed (optional) If the user wants the dashboard embedded in an existing note (e.g., index.md or a project overview), add:
.base]] Ask the user before modifying an existing note. Step 5: Update Tracking log.md — Append: - [TIMESTAMP] WIKI_DASHBOARD name="
" view= filter=" " No manifest or index update needed — .base files are live queries, not static content pages. Common Dashboard Recipes Tell the user about these if they're not sure what to ask for: Dashboard What it shows Content index All wiki pages grouped by category, sortable by updated date Entity tracker All entity pages (people, tools, orgs) with tags and sources Ingestion log Pages sorted by created date — see what was added recently Stale content Pages not updated in 30+ days — maintenance view Project overview All project pages with last-sync date Tag cloud Pages grouped by tag — see coverage across topics Research tracker All synthesis pages tagged research — shows research history Quality Checklist .base YAML is valid and uses correct field names Filter matches the user's intent File written to _meta/ with a descriptive slug log.md updated User told how to embed it ( ![[_meta/ .base]] ) and what Obsidian version is required (1.8+)