type: rule
status: active
timestamp: 2026-06-27
tags: [rules, obsidian, pkm, plugins, vault, minimalism]
status: active
timestamp: 2026-06-27
tags: [rules, obsidian, pkm, plugins, vault, minimalism]
Obsidian vault: minimal plugin set
Only 3 Obsidian plugins: Terminal, Templater, Dataview
Obsidian vault: minimal plugin set
Rule
The vault runs exactly three community plugins: Terminal, Templater, Dataview. Adding a fourth requires a grill — most “useful” Obsidian plugins are sync-conflict surfaces, abandoned within 18 months, or duplicate something the vanilla app already does.
How to apply
- Default install: Terminal (shell access inside Obsidian), Templater (note templating), Dataview (query notes as a DB).
- Any new plugin proposal triggers a grill: what core need? what does vanilla + the existing three already do? what’s the maintenance status?
- Themes and CSS snippets are not plugins — those are unconstrained.
- When syncing the vault across machines, only
.obsidian/plugins/{terminal,templater,dataview}/needs to be in scope. - If a plugin gets abandoned, remove it the same week; do not patch around it.
Why
User locked this on 2026-06-27 (Q12). Obsidian’s plugin ecosystem is a known time-sink; constraining to three keeps the vault portable and the upgrade burden near zero.
Captured
2026-06-27 session, Q12 of the rules-lock grill round.