MentisCell – Obsidian Vaults

Summary

A vault in Obsidian is a note repository.
Consolidating all notes into a single vault improves search, linking, discoverability, and reduces friction in knowledge management.
This note documents principles, number of vaults, and usage strategies.

Link to this note

MentisCell – Obsidian Vaults

Content

Definition

• A vault = a folder containing notes, settings, cache, themes, and automations.
• Consolidation into Obsidian provides:
  • Platform independence.
  • Centralized/semi-automated backup.
  • Cloud storage flexibility.
  • Offline availability.

One vault vs multiple vaults

• Preferred: a single vault for everything.

• Rationale:

  • Life concepts are interconnected; software should reflect that.
  • Easier recovery and discoverability.
  • Reduced friction when linking and reusing information.

• Exceptions where multiple vaults may be justified:

  1. Different encryption keys.
  2. Segregating intellectual property (e.g., work vs personal).
  3. Sharing with tools that don’t support partial sharing.
  4. Sharing the entire vault (themes, automations, appearance).

• Drawbacks of multiple vaults:

  • No synchronization between them.
  • Links don’t auto-update across vaults.
  • Advanced URI plugin mitigates some issues, but not fully.

• Personal practice:

  • Always a single vault.
  • Corporate data remains on corporate devices/software.
  • Vault name: Area51 (origin: early internet presence on Geocities).

Vault usage

• Search-first approach:
  • Always search before creating new notes.
  • See Searching for notes.
• Splitting rule:
  • Only split if a section is embedded/linked in at least two other notes.
  • See Splitting Notes.
• Note granularity:
  • Too many fragmented notes obscure the big picture.
  • Fewer, richer notes improve reuse.
  • Tested Atomic notes vs Molecular notes → molecular notes work better for context.

Essence

• Vault = repository of all notes.
• Single vault is the default best practice.
• Multiple vaults only in rare, justified cases.
• Search-first, split-later workflow.
• Richer notes (molecular) > fragmented notes (atomic).

Interconnections

• Backup Schedule — backup strategy.
• Patterns to make linking easier — linking strategies.
• Note linking process — linking workflow.
• Searching for notes — search-first principle.
• Splitting Notes — when to split notes.
• Atomic notes — fine-grained notes.
• Molecular notes — broader, contextual notes.
• Obsidian Vaults - Number of Vaults — when to use a single vault versus multiple vaults in Obsidian.
• Obsidian Vaults - Vault Usage — how to use a vault effectively, focusing on search-first workflows, splitting rules, and note granularity.

Tags

#obsidian #vaults #organization #mentiscraft #bestpractices

Contributors

Created with the support of Microsoft Copilot on 2025-10-04.
Validated and edited by Jorge Godoy.

Source or Origin of Information

• Original - Obsidian Vaults