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Obsidian Launch Links — File Link Standard

The rule

One format. All vault file types. No exceptions.

[short-name](obsidian://open?vault=Claude&file=full%2Fencoded%2Fpath)
  • Display label = short filename only — never the full path
  • URL path = full vault-relative path, every / encoded as %2F
  • .md files → opens in Obsidian
  • .html files → Obsidian delegates to Chrome
  • Other files → Obsidian handles via macOS file association

Why the label must be short

Long labels wrap in VS Code's terminal pane and break the link — the URL gets split across lines and becomes unclickable. A short label (just the filename, no path) keeps the entire [label](url) on one line.

Breaks (label too long, wraps): 

[operations/reports/daily/2026-04-21.md](obsidian://...)

Works (short label): 

[2026-04-21-daily](obsidian://open?vault=Claude&file=operations%2Freports%2Fdaily%2F2026-04-21.md)

Prior patterns used 2-3 formats per file (Obsidian link + VS Code code command + Cmd+P path). That created cognitive overhead and often sent .html files to the VS Code editor instead of Chrome. The obsidian:// format routes through macOS URL scheme registration and always opens the right app regardless of file type.

Examples

Markdown — mission brief: task-brief

HTML — dashboard: content-portal

HTML — UI concepts: ui-concepts

Markdown — deep path: brand-guidelines

Path encoding reference

Start from vault root. No leading slash. Replace every / with %2F.

File location Encoded file= value
dashboards/content-portal.html dashboards%2Fcontent-portal.html
operations/reports/daily/2026-04-21.md operations%2Freports%2Fdaily%2F2026-04-21.md
system/agents/development/code.platform.md system%2Fagents%2Fdevelopment%2Fcode.platform.md
knowledge/company/brand/tokens.json knowledge%2Fcompany%2Fbrand%2Ftokens.json

What NOT to use

Format Problem
[Label](file:///Users/rhartley/Claude/path) Opens in VS Code editor — wrong viewer
file:/// in any form Same problem
Plain path text Not clickable
Backtick-wrapped URL Not clickable
Full path as label Wraps and breaks the link
Multiple formats for one file Cognitive overhead; one is enough

Inside vault files (different rule)

Inside .md files stored in the vault, use Obsidian [[wikilinks]] — not obsidian:// URIs. Wikilinks create graph edges and power Dataview queries.

[[knowledge/tools/monday-com|Monday.com]]       ✅ inside vault .md files
[monday-com](obsidian://open?vault=Claude&file=knowledge%2Ftools%2Fmonday-com)   ✅ in chat output

Files outside the vault

Files outside /Users/rhartley/Claude/ (e.g., memory files at ~/.claude/projects/..., production workspace at /Users/rhartley/ecomonetize/) are not Obsidian-accessible. Use plain absolute paths for those.

Vault name

Registered as Claude — the folder name at /Users/rhartley/Claude/. Case-sensitive. Always vault=Claude.