Obsidian Easy for Windows

A smart note-filing system for Obsidian on Windows. Drop markdown notes into a folder, and they automatically get filed into the right place in your vault with internal wikilinks added.

Powered by the Claude API for intelligent routing decisions.

Note: This is the Windows-only version using PowerShell. For the original macOS/Python version, see obsidian-easy.

How It Works

1. Create: Create a markdown (.md) or text (.txt) file in your drop folder (e.g., C:\Users\YourName\obsidian-drop\my-note.md)
2. Write: Add your note content and save the file.
3. File: Run note-sorter.ps1 to analyze the note with Claude and:
   • File it into the correct folder in your Obsidian vault (or append it to an existing note)
   • Add [[wikilinks]] to semantically related notes
   • Add YAML frontmatter (created, modified, filed_by)
4. Backup: The original file is moved to a Filed\ subfolder as a backup.

Optional: Set up a Windows Task Scheduler job to run note-sorter.ps1 automatically every 5 minutes.

Note: Text files (.txt) are automatically converted to markdown format with a heading based on the filename.

Requirements

• Windows 10 or later (with PowerShell 5.1+, included by default)
• Anthropic API key — for Claude API access
• Administrator privileges — to set up the scheduled task

Installation

1. Clone or download this repository

git clone https://github.com/DanPiazza-Netwrix/obsidian-easy-windows.git
cd obsidian-easy-windows

2. Create directories

# Create config and drop directories
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path "$env:APPDATA\note-sorter" -Force
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\obsidian-drop\Filed" -Force

3. Copy scripts to a convenient location

# Option A: Copy to AppData (recommended)
Copy-Item note-sorter.ps1 -Destination "$env:APPDATA\note-sorter\"
Copy-Item Setup-NotesorterSchedule.ps1 -Destination "$env:APPDATA\note-sorter\"

# Option B: Copy to a custom location (e.g., C:\Tools\note-sorter)
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path "C:\Tools\note-sorter" -Force
Copy-Item note-sorter.ps1, Setup-NotesorterSchedule.ps1 -Destination "C:\Tools\note-sorter\"

4. Configure

# Copy the example config
Copy-Item config.example.json -Destination "$env:APPDATA\note-sorter\config.json"

# Edit it with your favorite editor (replace notepad with your editor)
notepad "$env:APPDATA\note-sorter\config.json"

Required settings:

• vault_path: Absolute path to your Obsidian vault (e.g., C:\Users\YourName\Documents\My Obsidian Vault)
• editor: Your preferred editor (e.g., code, notepad++, vim)

Optional settings:

• drop_dir: Where to watch for new notes (default: %USERPROFILE%\obsidian-drop)
• filed_dir: Where to backup processed notes (default: %USERPROFILE%\obsidian-drop\Filed)
• model: Claude model to use (default: claude-haiku-4-5-20251001)
• log_level: Logging verbosity (DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR)

5. Set your API key

# Option A: Set as environment variable (recommended)
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("ANTHROPIC_API_KEY", "sk-ant-...", "User")

# Then restart PowerShell for the change to take effect

# Option B: Create a .env file in the config directory
# This is useful for Task Scheduler context
"ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-..." | Set-Content "$env:APPDATA\note-sorter\.env"

6. Copy filing preferences

Copy-Item filing-prompt.md -Destination "$env:APPDATA\note-sorter\"

# Edit to match your vault structure
notepad "$env:APPDATA\note-sorter\filing-prompt.md"

7. Test it

# Create a test note
"# Test note about strategy and planning" | Set-Content "$env:USERPROFILE\obsidian-drop\test.md"

# Wait a few seconds for the settle time, then run
Start-Sleep -Seconds 6
& "$env:APPDATA\note-sorter\note-sorter.ps1"

# Check the log
Get-Content "$env:APPDATA\note-sorter\note-sorter.log" -Tail 20

Start with "dry_run": true in your config to see what the sorter would do without making changes.

8. Set up the scheduled task

Important: This requires administrator privileges.

# Run PowerShell as Administrator, then:
& "$env:APPDATA\note-sorter\Setup-NotesorterSchedule.ps1"

This will create a Windows Task Scheduler task that runs note-sorter.ps1 every 5 minutes.

To verify the task was created:

Get-ScheduledTask -TaskName "Note Sorter"

To remove the task later:

# Run as Administrator
& "$env:APPDATA\note-sorter\Setup-NotesorterSchedule.ps1" -Remove

9. Running the sorter

Run the sorter from PowerShell 7 to file your notes:

# File notes into your vault
& "$env:APPDATA\note-sorter\note-sorter.ps1"

# File notes and have Claude summarize/reformat them for readability
& "$env:APPDATA\note-sorter\note-sorter.ps1" -Summarize

Or if you've copied it to a custom location:

& "C:\Tools\note-sorter\note-sorter.ps1"
& "C:\Tools\note-sorter\note-sorter.ps1" -Summarize

Workflow:

1. Create a markdown file in %USERPROFILE%\obsidian-drop\ (or your configured drop_dir)
2. Run the command above to file it into your vault
3. (Optional) Use -Summarize flag to have Claude improve readability and conciseness
4. (Optional) Set up a scheduled task to run this automatically every 5 minutes

Configuration

config.json

Field	Description	Default
vault_path	Absolute path to your Obsidian vault	(required)
drop_dir	Folder to watch for new notes	%USERPROFILE%\obsidian-drop
filed_dir	Where processed originals are backed up	%USERPROFILE%\obsidian-drop\Filed
config_dir	Where config/logs/cache live	%APPDATA%\note-sorter
model	Claude model to use	claude-haiku-4-5-20251001
max_output_tokens	Max tokens for Claude response	1024
api_key_env	Environment variable name for API key	ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
connectivity_timeout_seconds	Timeout for API reachability check	5
file_settle_seconds	Skip files modified less than N seconds ago	5
log_level	Logging verbosity (DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR)	INFO
excluded_dirs	Vault directories to exclude from indexing	[".trash", ".obsidian", "templates", ".space"]
dry_run	Log actions without modifying the vault	false

filing-prompt.md

This is your voice telling Claude how you organize things. Edit it to match your vault structure, folder conventions, and preferences. The contents are injected into every Claude API call.

File Structure

%APPDATA%\note-sorter\
    config.json              # Your configuration
    filing-prompt.md         # Your filing preferences
    .env                     # API key (optional, for Task Scheduler)
    vault-index.json         # Auto-generated cache
    note-sorter.log          # Activity log

%USERPROFILE%\obsidian-drop\
    Filed\                   # Backups of processed files

Logs

All activity is logged to %APPDATA%\note-sorter\note-sorter.log:

2026-02-14 11:51:55 INFO  Processing 1 file(s)
2026-02-14 11:51:55 INFO  Analyzing: security-thoughts.md
2026-02-14 11:52:01 INFO  Decision: new — Strategic note about data security
2026-02-14 11:52:01 INFO  Created: 030. Resources\Strategy\Data Security Strategy.md
2026-02-14 11:52:01 INFO  Moved original to: Filed\20260214-115201_security-thoughts.md

Set "log_level": "DEBUG" to see full Claude API decisions including wikilinks and tags.

Log Rotation

The log file automatically rotates when it exceeds 1 MB. The script keeps the last 10 rotated log files:

• note-sorter.log — Current log file
• note-sorter.1.log — Previous log file
• note-sorter.2.log — Older log file
• ... and so on up to note-sorter.10.log

Older logs are automatically deleted to prevent disk space issues.

How Notes Get Filed

When Claude analyzes a note, it returns a JSON decision:

• action: new (create a new note) or append (add to an existing note)
• folder: destination folder in the vault
• filename: what to name the new note
• wikilinks: related notes to link via [[wikilinks]]
• reasoning: why it made this decision

Appended content is added with a separator:

---

*Added by Note Sorter on 2026-02-14 at 10:35 AM*

Your appended content here...

Troubleshooting

"API key not found" error

Make sure you've set the ANTHROPIC_API_KEY environment variable:

# Check if it's set
$env:ANTHROPIC_API_KEY

# If empty, set it
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("ANTHROPIC_API_KEY", "sk-ant-...", "User")

# Restart PowerShell for the change to take effect

Alternatively, create a .env file in %APPDATA%\note-sorter\:

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...

"vault_path not set" error

Edit your config.json and make sure vault_path is set to the absolute path of your Obsidian vault:

{
  "vault_path": "C:\\Users\\YourName\\Documents\\My Obsidian Vault",
  ...
}

Task Scheduler task not running

1. Check that you ran Setup-NotesorterSchedule.ps1 as Administrator
2. Verify the task exists:

   Get-ScheduledTask -TaskName "Note Sorter"

3. Check the task's last run result in Task Scheduler:
   • Open Task Scheduler
   • Navigate to Task Scheduler Library
   • Look for "Note Sorter"
   • Check the "Last Run Result" column

Notes not being filed

1. Check the log file: %APPDATA%\note-sorter\note-sorter.log
2. Make sure dry_run is set to false in your config
3. Verify your filing-prompt.md is configured correctly
4. Check that your vault path is correct and accessible

Editor not opening

Make sure the editor value in your config is correct:

# Test if your editor is accessible
& "code" --version  # For VS Code
& "notepad++" --version  # For Notepad++

If the command doesn't work, use the full path:

{
  "editor": "C:\\Program Files\\Notepad++\\notepad++.exe"
}

Differences from macOS version

• Paths: Uses Windows environment variables (%APPDATA%, %USERPROFILE%) instead of Unix-style paths (~, ~/.config)
• Scheduling: Uses Windows Task Scheduler instead of launchd
• Scripts: All scripts are PowerShell instead of shell scripts
• Configuration: Same JSON format, but with Windows-style paths
• API key: Can be stored in environment variable or .env file (same as macOS)

License

MIT