I'm writing this post in Obsidian. I have a window triggered by a plugin called Hyo. It links to Claude (Pro) and I'm using an agent I created called Woolf (as in Virginia). This post might look a little different when it's finished as I'm creating an initial draft in the chat window and Woolf will then post a note in my Tech folder, tweak the text in my voice, add YAML and a Related section. Then the note will be live.
The Philosophy
This site is my Digital Garden. I'm not precious about my notes being 100% creatively written by me without AI intervention. I want ideas to be published. I want Claude to link my notes to other relevant notes.
Like the e-bike analogy — AI allows me to create even when I'm short on time. It captures, collates, and processes ideas when I can't. The counterpoint to all the AI naysayers is simple: AI isn't creating for me. It's helping me make sense of what I'm already making.
My site is called Tiny Notes, built with Tiny Dot. The whole philosophy is to get stuff written and published. To get the job done. I mostly write these posts at 06:00 in the morning, before I go to work. I have limited time - for me, written is better than nothing.
The Setup
I've used Obsidian for around 5 years, on and off. The beauty of Markdown is that my notes live in a folder, sitting patiently until I come back to them. I'm in a full on Obsidian phase again now. I have multiple Vaults (including this one for Tiny Notes). Over the years, I've learned to keep my setup minimal. A small number of core plugins, the same theme in all Vaults and the most used plugin, Hyo.
Created by Ev Chapman, Hyo links my Vault to Claude. It has to be at least a Pro account. I created three distinct agents in my main Vault (linked in settings in all my other Vaults):
- Woolf - handles all my writing and creative work, The Essence Map project
- Fitz - manages work and other professional projects
- Lars - takes care of home and domestic life, and personal projects
Woolf is the one I use most here. There is a note that details how Woolf should operate. This is one of the instructions:
- Edit for clarity, flow, and voice
- Refine rough drafts without losing authenticity
- Identify where ideas need more development
- Spot inconsistencies or gaps in the narrative
- Suggest connections between different pieces of writing
How It Works
I love having Claude operate within Obsidian. No Terminal, no Claude Desktop. I can choose my Agent - I have three, each for a different purpose. I can check my Claude usage. I can choose my AI model.
Obsidian works perfectly with Tiny Dot. I open my Tiny Dot folder as my Vault. Hyo is set up and I can run all three Agents from here. Mostly I use Woolf as that's all about writing.
In my main Vault, I run a routine every day. It collates Voicenotes, Lightpage, Captures, and Telegram inputs — all into one place, neatly categorised under headings. I can drop an instruction directly into any note and have Claude act on it the next time the routine runs.
I often create a post with Woolf, add a few instructions, ask for backlinks to other related posts to be included and hey presto, it's done. I read it through, do a few minor edits and that's it.
The Magic of It
There is a magic to all this. Not because AI is creating for me. It isn't. But it is helping me make sense of what I'm already making — and that turns out to be the bit I always needed most. Claude finds the related notes that I've forgotten about. The brief references that would otherwise be missed.
It started as another rabbit hole, but this one has held. Claude does the customisation and the organisational legwork, so I don't have to. It does it inside my main writing tool, not alongside it. One day I asked Claude to work through 9000 notes and format them consistently for me - YAML, tags etc - for me to do that would have been days of work.
This is what tech working for me looks like. Simple, integrated, purpose-built. Everything flows into the Obsidian bucket, organised around threads of thinking rather than just collected and tagged.
Related: The Magic of Claude and Obsidian · The Claude Rabbit Hole · The Obsidian Renaissance · A New Look to my Obsidian · What I've Found Using Claude · AI is Like an eBike · What Tech is Working for me Right Now · Why I Love Voicenotes · My Lightpage Guide, Neo