MentisCell – Obsidian Vaults: Number of Vaults
Summary
Defines when to use a single vault versus multiple vaults in Obsidian.
Advocates for a single vault as the default, with exceptions only in specific cases.
Link to this note
MentisCell – Obsidian Vaults: Number of Vaults
Content
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Default practice: use a single vault for everything.
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Rationale:
- Life concepts are interconnected.
- Easier recovery and discoverability.
- Reduced friction when linking and reusing information.
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Exceptions where multiple vaults may be justified:
- Different encryption keys.
- Segregating intellectual property (e.g., work vs personal).
- Sharing with tools that don’t support partial sharing.
- Sharing the entire vault (themes, automations, appearance).
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Drawbacks of multiple vaults:
- No synchronization between them.
- Links don’t auto-update across vaults.
- Advanced URI plugin mitigates some issues, but not fully.
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Personal practice:
- Always a single vault.
- Corporate data remains on corporate devices/software.
- Vault name: Area51 (origin: early internet presence on Geocities).
Essence
- Single vault = best practice.
- Multiple vaults only in rare, justified cases.
- Corporate vs personal separation is organizational, not technical.
Interconnections
Tags
#vaults #organization #bestpractices #mentiscraft
Contributors
Created with the support of Microsoft Copilot on 2025-10-04.
Validated and edited by Jorge Godoy.