Obsidian has a reputation for being the ultimate note-taking app. And that’s fair enough, it’s what it was built for. But after a long time of using it, it started to feel like calling Obsidian a notes app was underselling it. Once you stop thinking of it as only a digital notebook, it transforms into a flexible multi-tool that can assist with various aspects of your digital life. The app is customizable and powered by community plugins that add a whole new dimension to what it can do. By taking advantage of the non-writing features, you can build entire systems for how you create and organize.

I’ve started treating Obsidian less like a notebook and more like a creative sandbox to push it into other areas of my life that I’d normally need separate apps for. Now, it’s my one-stop shop for mapping out visuals, organizing my files, and quick data retrieval from my own sources. It’s pretty much become a digital workspace that bends to whatever I need it to be.

A hub for local files

Access whatever I need instantly

Before I got into plugins, I started doing this in the most basic way possible: Manually linking my files and folders from Windows Explorer into Obsidian. I’d locate my file, copy its path, and paste it straight into an Obsidian document after the “file:///” identifier. This turns a local file path into a web-style link. This alone turned Obsidian into a hub for everything local. I’ve been using it for design projects, invoices, learning guides, screenshots – pretty much all the files I access regularly on my PC. The cool thing is that I can sprinkle them across the relevant Obsidian documents; for example, design projects get placed at the bottom of my design-related notes. I also created a separate note that serves as a hub for all my local file links. Very basic, but very effective for keeping all my essentials accessible from one place.

Then I discovered there’s an actual way to build a proper command center using plugins like Buttons and Templater. This setup lets you automate folder creation, project templates, and workflows. So instead of manually adding links or starting from scratch every time, you can spin a full project structure with a click or hotkey. It basically takes that same manual method and scales it.

A media library

With Obsidian Canvas

Canvas is one of my favorite tools in Obsidian. I’m a visual thinker, so having a whiteboard space to visually structure my notes and files is top tier. Canvas basically turns your vault into a zoomable workspace, and you can also create custom layouts and connections. The purpose of Canvas is to visually lay out and connect your Obsidian notes, and I do use it that way. But I also discovered another use case for it – a media library.

Canvas allows you to drag in image, video, and audio files, so I started using it as a flexible and lightweight library for my media files. Instead of losing track of my project assets in endless folders, I can drop them on the Canvas and they’ll embed as cards. The coolest thing about Canvas is that it’s boundaryless, so you can shift cards around however you please. And you can also draw connections between them, which is perfect for clustering media files next to certain projects that I’m tracking in Obsidian. I don’t need fancy design tools here; the arrows and custom colors are more than enough to create an interconnected library.

Over time, I got a live map of things like UI patterns, gradients, animations, and voiceovers. This is also a great way to get an overview of my aesthetic because I can zoom out on a project’s evolution.

Retrieving and contextualizing information with AI

Obsidian Copilot in action

One of my top Obsidian plugins is the Copilot assistant; it has become a surprisingly useful addition to my workflow. It’s built on the Retrieval-Augmented Generation framework, which basically means it can pull content directly from your vault to generate relevant responses. So instead of feeding my notes into a generic AI and hoping it understands me, I have Copilot read all the content I already have stored, then draft summaries, overviews, and suggestions.

I use it in several ways. Firstly, when revisiting older projects I had forgotten about; Copilot can give me the quick rundown so I’m caught up to speed. I also like asking it for perspective shifts on my novel drafts. All I have to do is give it the right prompt and it gives me context-aware answers from the contents in my vault. It’s a bit like how I use NotebookLM to improve my writing skills.

Making the most of Obsidian

Obsidian is one of my most-used apps, and while I’m not setting up complex automations or building super technical workflows, I want to get the most out of the app in a way that makes sense to me. Having a place to access my local files, drag around my visual assets, and an AI sparring partner helps me extend the app’s use and get things done more quickly.