daily
This Claude Code skill creates and manages daily notes within Obsidian, automatically generating new files for each day using customizable templates with date variables. It structures daily workflows through morning planning routines that surface weekly goals and active project priorities, midday check-ins, and evening reflection prompts, making it useful for users seeking streamlined daily productivity systems or when explicitly asked to create today's planning note.
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm /tmp/daily && cp -r /tmp/daily/vault-template/.claude/skills/daily ~/.claude/skills/dailySKILL.md
# Daily Workflow Skill
Creates daily notes and provides structured workflows for morning planning, midday check-ins, and evening shutdowns.
## Usage
Invoke with `/daily` or ask Claude to create today's note or help with daily routines.
### Create Today's Note
```
/daily
```
Or simply ask:
- "Create today's daily note"
- "Start my morning routine"
- "Help me with evening shutdown"
## Daily Note Creation
### What Happens
1. **Checks if today's note exists**
- If yes: Opens the existing note
- If no: Creates new note from template
2. **Template Processing**
- Replaces `{{date}}` with today's date
- Replaces `{{date:format}}` with formatted dates
- Handles date arithmetic (e.g., `{{date-1}}` for yesterday)
3. **Automatic Organization**
- Places note in `Daily Notes/` folder
- Names file with today's date (YYYY-MM-DD.md)
- Preserves template structure
### Template Variables
Your daily template can use:
- `{{date}}` - Today's date in default format
- `{{date:dddd}}` - Day name (e.g., Monday)
- `{{date:MMMM DD, YYYY}}` - Formatted date
- `{{date-1:YYYY-MM-DD}}` - Yesterday's date
- `{{date+1:YYYY-MM-DD}}` - Tomorrow's date
- `{{time}}` - Current time
## Morning Routine (5-10 minutes)
### Automated Steps
1. Create today's daily note (if not exists)
2. Pull incomplete tasks from yesterday
3. Read this week's ONE Big Thing from `Goals/3. Weekly Review.md`
4. Surface active project next-actions from `Projects/*/CLAUDE.md`
5. Review weekly goals for today's priority
### Cascade Context Surfacing
Before interactive prompts, automatically surface:
- **ONE Big Thing** from most recent weekly review
- **Active project next-actions** from `Projects/*/CLAUDE.md` (read "Next Actions" section)
- **Monthly priority** from `Goals/2. Monthly Goals.md`
Display as a brief context block at the top of the morning routine:
```markdown
### Today's Context
- **Week's ONE Big Thing:** [from weekly review]
- **Active Projects:** [project names with first next-action each]
- **Monthly Focus:** [from monthly goals]
```
### Interactive Prompts
- "What's your ONE thing for today?"
- "What might get in the way?"
- "How do you want to feel at end of day?"
### Task Creation Guidance
When adding tasks to the daily note, recommend linking to goals/projects:
```markdown
- [ ] Draft API spec — Supports: [[Projects/MyApp]]
- [ ] Review chapter 3 — Supports: [[1. Yearly Goals#Read 12 books]]
```
### Morning Checklist
- [ ] Daily note created
- [ ] Cascade context reviewed (ONE Big Thing, projects, monthly focus)
- [ ] Yesterday's incomplete tasks reviewed
- [ ] ONE priority identified
- [ ] Time blocks set
- [ ] Potential obstacles identified
## Midday Check-in (2-3 minutes)
### Quick Review
1. Check morning task completion
2. Compare actual vs planned time use
3. Assess energy level
4. Identify afternoon priorities
### Adjustments
- Reschedule incomplete morning tasks
- Add urgent items that emerged
- Reorder by current energy level
- Note any blockers
### Midday Questions
- "How's your energy right now?"
- "What's the most important thing for this afternoon?"
- "What can you let go of today?"
## Evening Shutdown (5 minutes)
### Capture
1. Mark completed tasks with [x]
2. Add notes and learnings
3. Log energy levels (1-10)
4. Record gratitude items
### Goal & Project Attention Summary
Automatically generate an end-of-day summary showing which goals and projects received attention:
```markdown
### Today's Cascade Impact
- **Goals touched:** [[Goal 1]] (2 tasks), [[Goal 3]] (1 task)
- **Projects advanced:** [[ProjectA]] (3 tasks), [[ProjectB]] (1 task)
- **Unlinked tasks:** 2 (consider linking to a goal or project)
```
### Reflect
- What went well today?
- What could be better?
- What did I learn?
- What am I grateful for?
### Prepare
1. Identify tomorrow's priority (preview)
2. Move incomplete tasks to tomorrow or delete
3. Commit changes to git (`/push`)
### Shutdown Checklist
- [ ] All tasks updated (done/moved/deleted)
- [ ] Reflection completed
- [ ] Tomorrow's priority identified
- [ ] Changes committed
## Daily Note Structure
Standard daily note template:
```markdown
# {{date}}
## Focus
> What's the ONE thing that would make today successful?
## Time Blocks
- Morning (9-12):
- Afternoon (12-5):
- Evening (5+):
## Tasks
### Must Do Today
- [ ]
### Work
- [ ]
### Personal
- [ ]
## Notes
[Capture thoughts, meeting notes, ideas]
## Reflection
- **Wins:**
- **Challenges:**
- **Learned:**
- **Grateful for:**
- **Energy:** /10
- **Tomorrow's priority:**
```
## Time Block Strategies
### Energy-Based
- High energy tasks in morning
- Administrative work after lunch
- Creative work when naturally alert
### Context-Based
- Batch similar tasks together
- Minimize context switching
- Protect deep work blocks
## Configuration
Customize paths to match your vault:
- Daily notes folder: `Daily Notes/`
- Template location: `Templates/Daily Template.md`
- Date format: `YYYY-MM-DD`
### Different Date Formats
- `YYYY-MM-DD` - Standard ISO format (recommended)
- `MM-DD-YYYY` - US format
- `DD-MM-YYYY` - European format
- `YYYY-MM-DD-ddd` - Include day abbreviation
### Folder Organization by Month
Organize daily notes by month/year:
```
Daily Notes/2024/01/2024-01-15.md
```
## Task-Based Progress Tracking
The daily skill uses session tasks to show progress during multi-step routines.
### Morning Routine Tasks
Create tasks at skill start:
```
TaskCreate:
subject: "Create daily note"
description: "Create or open today's daily note from template"
activeForm: "Creating daily note..."
TaskCreate:
subject: "Pull incomplete tasks"
description: "Carry forward uncompleted tasks from yesterday"
activeForm: "Pulling incomplete tasks from yesterday..."
TaskCreate:
subject: "Surface relevant goals"
description: "Review weekly/monthly goals for today's priority"
activeForm: "Surfacing relevant goals..."
TaskCreate:
subject: "Set time blocks"
description: "EstablishAnalyze alignment between daily activities and long-term goals. Identify gaps, over/under-investment, and suggest rebalancing. Use for goal audits and priority checks.
Process inbox items using GTD principles. Categorize, clarify, and organize captured notes into actionable items. Use for inbox zero and capture processing.
Organize and restructure vault notes. Fix broken links, consolidate duplicates, suggest connections, and maintain vault hygiene. Use when managing vault organization or cleaning up notes.
Facilitate comprehensive weekly review process. Analyze past week's daily notes, calculate goal progress, and help plan next week. Use for Sunday/Monday weekly reviews.
Scaffold the PKM system onto an existing Obsidian vault. Scans your vault structure, maps folders interactively, and generates configuration — no template required.
Find broken wiki-links in the vault. Read-only analysis — scans for [[links]] and verifies target files exist. No writes, no dependencies.
Track progress toward 3-year, yearly, monthly, and weekly goals. Calculate completion percentages, surface stalled goals, connect daily tasks to objectives. Use for goal reviews and progress tracking.
Monthly review and planning. Roll up weekly reviews, check quarterly milestones, set next month's focus. Use at end of month or start of new month.