Obsidian Zettelkasten: Setup Guide, Templates and Workflow

To build a Zettelkasten in Obsidian, turn on the Unique note creator and Templates core plugins, and keep three folders: Inbox for quick fleeting notes, Literature for notes on what you read, and Permanent for one idea per note in your own words. Link every new permanent note to at least one older note, and write down why. Backlinks, outgoing links and the graph view then show how your ideas connect, with no community plugin.

This guide explains the method, sets it up with core Obsidian only, gives you three note templates and a daily routine, and shows where AI helps and where it gets in the way.

Checked on November 3, 2026 against Obsidian 1.15.0 and Obsidian Help.

What the Zettelkasten method is

Zettelkasten is German for "slip box". A Zettel is a paper slip, and each slip holds one note. The method is linked to Niklas Luhmann, a German sociologist who published 50 books and over 600 articles and credited his slip box for that output. Each paper slip had a fixed address, and slips pointed to each other.

The modern version rests on a few ideas:

• Atomic notes. Each note holds one idea. Zettelkasten.de calls this a guiding compass, not a rigid law.
• Your own words. A note is your thinking about a source, not a copy of it.
• A fixed ID. Every note has an address that never changes. For digital notes, zettelkasten.de recommends a timestamp such as 202611031045.
• Links with a reason. Each new note connects to existing ones, and you write why the link exists. A bare link says little; the reason is where the thinking happens.
• Structure notes. Some notes only list and organize other notes, as entry points.

Sönke Ahrens's book How to Take Smart Notes (2017) made three note types popular:

Writers use these labels in different ways, so treat them as a guide. What matters is the flow: capture fast, take notes as you read, then write and link permanent notes.

Set up a Zettelkasten in Obsidian

1. Make four folders

In the file explorer, select New folder and create Inbox, Literature, Permanent and Templates. Then open Settings → Files and links → Default location for new notes and pick Inbox, so new notes from the New note button land there.

Keep the folder list short. The structure lives in links, not folders.

2. Turn on Templates

Open Settings → Core plugins and turn on Templates. Then open Settings → Core plugins → Templates → Template folder location and enter Templates. To insert a template, run Templates: Insert template from the command palette or select Insert template in the ribbon.

3. Turn on Unique note creator

In Settings → Core plugins, turn on Unique note creator. It names each new note with a timestamp in year, month, day, hour and minute order: a note made at 10:45 on November 3, 2026 is 202611031045. If that name is taken, it uses the next free timestamp.

In its settings, set Template file location to Templates/Permanent note, so every unique note starts from the permanent note template. Create one with Create new unique note in the ribbon or the command palette.

You can rename a note to add a title after the ID, such as 202611031045 Links need a reason. Obsidian can update internal links when you rename a file; check the option under Settings → Files and links.

4. Add the three templates

Save each block below as a note in Templates. The {{date}}, {{time}} and {{title}} variables fill in when you insert the template; the format after the colon uses Moment.js tokens. Keep the quotation marks around variables in properties: Obsidian Help warns that the properties editor in Live Preview can overwrite template variables without them.

Fleeting note (Templates/Fleeting note):

---
type: fleeting
created: "{{date}} {{time}}"
tags:
  - inbox
---

What I noticed:

Why it might matter:

Literature note (Templates/Literature note):

---
type: literature
author: ""
source: ""
created: "{{date}}"
tags:
  - literature
---

# {{title}}

## Main points, in my own words

-

## Quotes worth keeping (with page)

-

## Ideas to turn into permanent notes

-

Permanent note (Templates/Permanent note):

---
id: "{{date:YYYYMMDDHHmm}}"
type: permanent
source: ""
created: "{{date}}"
tags:
  - permanent
---

# One idea, stated as a claim

Write the idea in a few sentences, in your own words, so it makes
sense to someone who has never read the source.

## Links

- Builds on [[ ]] because
- Contradicts [[ ]] because

## Source

- [[ ]]

The id property keeps the timestamp if you rename the file. Links in properties need quotes, such as source: "[[How to Take Smart Notes]]". Our 10 free Obsidian templates include a source note and an idea note if you want more examples.

5. Link notes and see the connections

Type [[ to link a note; Obsidian suggests names as you type. You can link a heading with [[Note#Heading]] or a single paragraph with [[Note#^id]]. Then use the core panes to see what you have:

• Backlinks lists linked mentions, the notes that link to the open note, and unlinked mentions, notes that use its name without a link. Run Backlinks: Toggle backlinks in document to show them at the bottom of the note.
• Outgoing links lists the links in the open note and its unlinked mentions: text that matches another note's name. Select a mention to turn it into a link.
• Graph view draws each note as a circle and each link as a line. Run Open local graph to see only the notes linked to the open one, and raise the depth to see the next ring. Turn on Orphans in the filters to spot notes with no links.

6. Add an index with Bases (optional)

A Bases table makes a good structure note. Paste this into any note. It lists permanent notes newest first, plus notes that don't link anywhere yet:

```base
filters:
  and:
    - file.inFolder("Permanent")
properties:
  file.name:
    displayName: Note
  file.ctime:
    displayName: Created
views:
  - type: table
    name: Permanent notes
    order:
      - file.name
      - source
      - file.ctime
    sort:
      - property: file.ctime
        direction: DESC
  - type: table
    name: Needs links
    filters:
      and:
        - file.links.isEmpty()
    order:
      - file.name
      - file.ctime
```

Our Obsidian Bases guide explains filters, views and embedding.

A daily Zettelkasten workflow

1. Capture. Drop ideas into Inbox as fleeting notes. One line is enough.
2. Read. Keep one literature note per book, article or talk. Write the main points in your own words, with a page for every quote.
3. Process the inbox. Once a day, open each fleeting note. Rewrite it as a permanent note, add it to a literature note, or delete it.
4. Write permanent notes. Pick an idea from a literature note's "Ideas to turn into permanent notes" list. Create a unique note and state the idea as a claim.
5. Link. Search for two or three older notes that relate. Add each to Links with one sentence on why. Check the note's unlinked mentions for links you missed.
6. Review weekly. Open the Needs links view or the graph with Orphans on, and link or merge what you find.

Steps 3 to 5 are the method. Rewriting and linking is where ideas grow.

Where AI fits in a Zettelkasten

A Zettelkasten is valuable because you did the thinking. If AI writes your permanent notes, you end up with a pile of its summaries, and none of the understanding that comes from writing them yourself. Use AI for the clerical work, and keep the writing for yourself.

SystemSculpt is a free Obsidian plugin that puts an AI chat in a side pane. On desktop it can run your own installed, signed-in Claude Code or Codex, with no SystemSculpt account. Attach notes with @ and ask:

• Find candidate ideas. "Read @How to Take Smart Notes and list the separate ideas in it, one sentence each, with the page. Don't create any files." Use the list as prompts, then write the permanent notes yourself.
• Suggest links. "Here is @202611031045. Which notes in Permanent/ could it link to, and why? List them; don't edit anything." Open each suggestion and keep only the links you can explain.
• Review the inbox. "Go through the notes in Inbox/ and group them by topic. Mark any that repeat an idea already in Permanent/." You still decide what to keep.
• Make small edits with approval. "Add the links I picked to the Links section of @202611031045." Pick Ask mode in the run line (Ask before edits with Claude Code) to approve each change before it is written.

Chats and results are saved as Markdown in your vault. See how to chat with your Obsidian notes and Claude Code in Obsidian for setup.

SystemSculpt's Similar Notes panel also finds notes by meaning, so it can surface an older note that makes the same point in different words. Building its index uses SystemSculpt's hosted service and credits, even when chat uses your own Claude Code or Codex, and it sends the text of the notes you include to that service. You can exclude folders such as Inbox. See the semantic search guide.

What is free

Obsidian is free to use, though it is not open source, and every core plugin in this guide comes with it. The whole setup above costs nothing. The SystemSculpt plugin is free and open source (MIT). Running it with your own Claude Code or Codex needs no SystemSculpt account or plan; those services keep their own accounts and usage.

Install the free SystemSculpt plugin from Obsidian's community plugins. Hosted AI, including chat on your phone and Similar Notes indexing, uses a SystemSculpt account and credits; eligible new accounts can claim 500 one-time starter credits with no card, and Monthly is $9 a month and Yearly is $90 a year, each with a monthly hosted-credit allowance. Compare plans.

Common questions

Is Obsidian good for Zettelkasten? Yes. It stores notes as plain Markdown files, links them with [[ ]], shows backlinks and a graph, and has a core plugin that names notes with timestamp IDs. You don't need a community plugin.

Do I need a plugin for Zettelkasten in Obsidian? No community plugin. The core plugins Unique note creator, Templates, Backlinks, Outgoing links and Graph view cover the method.

What are fleeting, literature and permanent notes? Fleeting notes are quick captures you rewrite or delete within a day or two. Literature notes summarize a source in your own words. Permanent notes hold one idea each and make sense on their own.

Should I use folders or links in a Zettelkasten? Mostly links. A few folders, such as Inbox, Literature and Permanent, show where a note is in your process. The connections between ideas belong in links that say why they exist.

What is the best Zettelkasten app? Any app that gives each note a fixed ID and links notes can work; Luhmann used paper slips. Obsidian does both with core features and keeps notes as plain Markdown files.

Can AI build a Zettelkasten for me? It can sort an inbox, list ideas in a source and suggest links, but it shouldn't write your permanent notes. The method works because you put ideas into your own words.

Is Obsidian free? Yes. Obsidian is free to use, though it is not open source. Every core plugin in this guide is included.

Sources

• Introduction to the Zettelkasten Method, zettelkasten.de
• From Fleeting Notes to Project Notes: Concepts of "How to Take Smart Notes" by Sönke Ahrens, zettelkasten.de
• Unique note creator and Templates, Obsidian Help
• Properties and Internal links, Obsidian Help
• Backlinks, Outgoing links and Graph view, Obsidian Help
• File explorer and Bases functions, Obsidian Help