Use when searching for information across the Obsidian vault — 'what did we decide about X', 'find everything about Y', 'summarize what we know about Z'. Synthesizes answers from multiple notes with source citations.

mnemo:ask — Vault Knowledge Search & Synthesis

Search across the entire vault, read relevant notes, and synthesize an answer with source citations.

Prerequisites

Obsidian must be open — CLI works through app indexes

Config

Read vault and links_section from config.json in the plugin config directory (~/.mnemo/config.json). If missing, ask user and save.

Workflow

Step 1: Accept Query

Input as argument: /mnemo:ask "what did we decide about pricing strategy?"

If no argument, ask: "What would you like to find in your vault?"

Step 2: Extract Search Terms

Break query into 2-4 key search terms. Example:

"what did we decide about pricing strategy?" → ["pricing", "strategy", "decision"]

Step 3: Search Vault

For each search term:

obsidian search query="{term}" vault="{vault}"

Collect all unique matching notes. Deduplicate.

Step 4: Read Top Results

Read the most relevant notes (max 7):

obsidian read file="{note_name}" vault="{vault}"

Step 5: Synthesize Answer

Compose a clear answer from the found notes. For each claim, cite the source note:

Based on your vault:

The pricing strategy was decided on 2026-03-14 during the pipeline review session.
Key points:
- Freemium model with usage-based tiers [Source: Session — 2026-03-14 pipeline vision]
- Enterprise plan at $99/mo was rejected as too low [Source: Atom — pricing research]
- Final decision: $29 starter, $99 pro, custom enterprise [Source: Molecule — pricing decision]

📚 Sources (3 notes):
1. [[Session — 2026-03-14 pipeline vision]]
2. [[Atom — pricing research]]
3. [[Molecule — pricing decision]]

Step 6: Offer Follow-up

Ask: "Want me to search deeper, or connect any of these notes?"

Gotchas

"Unable to connect to main process" — Obsidian IPC hung. Fix: quit Obsidian (Cmd+Q), reopen, wait 3 seconds, retry
CLI for search, not MCP — obsidian CLI search is 70,000x cheaper
Max 7 notes read — don't blow context reading the entire vault
Always cite sources — every claim must reference a specific note
If nothing found — say so honestly, suggest alternative search terms
Don't hallucinate — only answer from what's in the vault, not from general knowledge
Respect note types — Sessions contain decisions, Atoms contain facts, Molecules contain insights

vault-search