Markdown & Obsidian

Why we standardize on Obsidian

We picked one tool on purpose, so we can teach it well, help each other, and build shared habits.

What is Markdown?

Markdown is a way to add formatting to plain text using ordinary characters. Instead of clicking a bold button, you type symbols. The file stays readable either way.

The whole language, more or less

This is genuinely most of what you'll ever need:

# Big Heading
## Smaller Heading
### Smaller Still

**bold text**
*italic text*

- a bullet point
- another bullet point

1. a numbered list
2. the next item

[a link](https://obsidian.md)

> a quote or callout

`a snippet of code`

Try it live

Type in the left box. The right side shows what it becomes. Nothing you do here touches your computer, so experiment freely.

Install Obsidian

Four steps. Do them now, in a second window, and come back.

1. Go to obsidian.md in your browser.
2. Click Download and choose your system: Windows, Mac, or Linux.
3. Open the downloaded file and follow the install prompts.
4. Launch Obsidian.

The first time it opens, Obsidian asks you to create or open a Vault. A vault is a folder on your computer where your notes live. That's all it is. Don't overthink it. We'll create ours in the next lesson.

Check them off as you go

• ✓Downloaded the installer for my system
• ✓Installed it
• ✓Obsidian opens and I can see the welcome screen

Create your AI Workspace

One folder. Everything you build from here lives inside it.

1. On Obsidian's welcome screen, click Create new vault.
2. Name it My AI Workspace.
3. Choose where to save it. Documents is a fine home. Click Create.

You now have an empty vault. This folder is yours. Everything you put in it is a normal file you can find in Finder or File Explorer, back up, email, or open on another machine.

• ✓Created a vault named My AI Workspace
• ✓I know where on my computer it lives

Create your first notes

Six starter notes. Together they give you a simple system: where you're headed, who you are, what your assistant does, what you're building, what you're dreaming up, and what happened today.

How to create a note

• Click the New note icon (a small page with a pencil) in the top left, or press Ctrl/Cmd + N.
• Type a title at the top, press Enter, and start writing.
• Obsidian saves automatically. There's no Save button to remember. It's already done.

The six notes

Copy each template into a new note. The copy button puts it on your clipboard, ready to paste.

# My Goals

## This Quarter
-

## This Year
-

## Someday
-

# Who I am / what I do

## Who I serve
-

## My #1 constraint right now
-

# My Assistant

## Role, who it is (the expert in your corner)
-

## Tasks, what it does again and again
-

## Outputs, what it delivers and in what format
-

# Projects

## In Progress
-

## Next Up
-

## Done
-

# Ideas

-

# Daily Notes

## 2026-08-25
- What I worked on:
- What I learned:
- Tomorrow:

Edit a note

Editing is just typing. Open a note, click where you want to change something, and write.

• Type **something** and watch it turn bold.
• Start a line with - to make a bullet.
• Start a line with # to make a heading.

Obsidian has two views: Edit, where you type raw Markdown, and Reading, a clean formatted view. Toggle with the book or pencil icon in the top right, or press Ctrl/Cmd + E. Seeing both is what makes the formatting click.

Link your notes

This is what makes Obsidian more than a text editor. Type two square brackets and start typing a note name.

See my [[Goals]] for the big picture, and [[Projects]] for what I'm building now.

As you type, Obsidian suggests existing notes. Pick one and a live link is created. Click that link anytime to jump straight there. If the note doesn't exist yet, clicking the link creates it.

You're not filing notes into folders you'll forget. You're building a connected web of your own thinking. Open the Graph View (the icon that looks like connected dots) to see it.

Delete a note

Cleaning up is as easy as creating.

• Right-click the note in the left-hand file list and choose Delete, or
• Open the note, press Ctrl/Cmd + P for the command palette, type "delete," and pick Delete current file.

Deleted notes go to your vault's trash or your system trash, depending on your settings, so a slip-up is recoverable. To change where they go, visit Settings → Files & Links → Deleted files.

• ✓Created a throwaway note and deleted it
• ✓Opened the command palette with Ctrl/Cmd + P

Connect your folder to Claude CoWork

Once CoWork can see your My AI Workspace folder, Claude becomes a thinking partner inside your own notes.

1. Open Claude CoWork.
2. Choose the option to connect or select a folder.
3. Navigate to your My AI Workspace vault and select it.

Three things to ask on day one

Claude reads and writes the same .md files you do. You stay in control. It's your vault, your words, your system. CoWork just helps you move faster.

• ✓Connected My AI Workspace to CoWork
• ✓Asked Claude one question about my own notes