Supported Note Organization Modes in claude-obsidian: A Complete Guide to PARA, LYT, Zettelkasten, and Generic

claude-obsidian supports four distinct note organization modes—generic, lyt, para, and zettelkasten—that determine how new notes are routed and filed within an Obsidian vault.

The open-source tool AgriciDaniel/claude-obsidian provides a configurable note organization system that lets users align their vault structure with established productivity methodologies. By selecting one of the four supported modes, you control whether new notes land in hierarchical folders, linked clusters, or ID-based Zettelkasten structures.

The Four Note Organization Modes

According to the skills/wiki-mode/SKILL.md specification and the repository's README.md, claude-obsidian enforces exactly four valid methodology strings. The validation logic in skills/wiki-mode/SKILL.md explicitly checks for the literals generic, lyt, para, or zettelkasten when processing mode changes.

Generic Mode

The generic mode serves as the default fallback when .vault-meta/mode.json is missing or unreadable. In this mode, the system routes all new notes into a standard wiki/pages/ directory without applying any specialized naming or linking conventions. This is ideal for users who prefer simple, flat hierarchies without methodology-specific constraints.

LYT (Link-Your-Thoughts) Mode

When configured for lyt, claude-obsidian implements the LYT (Link-Your-Thoughts) filing convention. This mode groups notes by linked-thought clusters, typically routing files to wiki/links/ and emphasizing bi-directional relationships over folder hierarchies. The system expects notes to reference each other through contextual links rather than rigid directory structures.

PARA (Projects-Areas-Resources-Archives) Mode

The para mode activates the PARA system, routing notes into four distinct buckets: Projects, Areas, Resources, and Archives. When this mode is active, new notes are directed to paths such as wiki/areas/ or wiki/projects/ based on their classification. This methodology excels for action-oriented workflows where notes align with active responsibilities and reference material.

Zettelkasten Mode

Enabling zettelkasten transforms the vault into a slip-box workflow where each note is a "Zettel" identified by a unique ID. The system routes these atomic notes to wiki/zettels/ and expects dense interlinking via timestamp or random identifiers. This mode enforces a bottom-up knowledge building approach suitable for academic research and long-term knowledge accumulation.

How to Configure and Switch Modes

The active organization mode persists in .vault-meta/mode.json at the vault root. You can query or modify this configuration using the wiki-mode skill via the CLI entry point scripts/claude-obsidian.py.

To check the current methodology:

python3 scripts/claude-obsidian.py mode get --vault /path/to/vault

To switch to PARA mode:

python3 scripts/claude-obsidian.py mode set para \
    --vault /path/to/vault \
    --generated-at "$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)" \
    --operation-id mode-reviewed

The command validates the input against the four supported literals defined in skills/wiki-mode/SKILL.md before persisting the change to .vault-meta/mode.json.

Programmatic Access to Organization Modes

Custom scripts can read the active mode directly from the JSON configuration to determine routing logic at runtime. The file stores the mode under the mode key, defaulting to generic if the key is absent.

import json
import pathlib

# Read the vault's methodology configuration

mode_path = pathlib.Path("/path/to/vault/.vault-meta/mode.json")
mode = json.loads(mode_path.read_text()).get("mode", "generic")

# Route based on the selected organization mode

if mode == "para":
    destination = "wiki/areas/"
elif mode == "lyt":
    destination = "wiki/links/"
elif mode == "zettelkasten":
    destination = "wiki/zettels/"
else:  # generic fallback

    destination = "wiki/pages/"

print(f"Route new note to: {destination}")

This pattern allows automation scripts to respect the vault's chosen methodology without hardcoding folder paths.

Summary

• Four supported modes: generic, lyt, para, and zettelkasten, as defined in skills/wiki-mode/SKILL.md and README.md.
• Configuration location: The active mode is stored in .vault-meta/mode.json within the vault root.
• Default behavior: When no configuration exists, the system falls back to generic mode and routes notes to wiki/pages/.
• Validation: The CLI and skill system only accept the four literal strings generic, lyt, para, or zettelkasten.
• Routing differences: PARA uses wiki/areas/, LYT uses wiki/links/, Zettelkasten uses wiki/zettels/, and Generic uses wiki/pages/.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the default note organization mode in claude-obsidian?

The default mode is generic. When .vault-meta/mode.json is missing or corrupted, the system automatically falls back to generic mode and routes new notes to wiki/pages/, as implemented in the wiki-mode skill logic.

How do I switch between PARA, LYT, and Zettelkasten modes?

Use the CLI command python3 scripts/claude-obsidian.py mode set <mode> with the --vault flag pointing to your vault path. The command validates the mode against the four supported options in skills/wiki-mode/SKILL.md before writing to .vault-meta/mode.json.

Where is the active organization mode stored?

The mode is persisted in a JSON file located at .vault-meta/mode.json relative to the vault root. This file contains a mode key whose value must be one of the four supported strings.

Can I create a custom organization mode beyond the four options?

No. The validation logic in skills/wiki-mode/SKILL.md explicitly restricts the mode parameter to the literals generic, lyt, para, or zettelkasten. Attempting to set any other value will result in a validation error from the CLI.

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