/archive Skill

Soft archive a note by adding archive metadata and moving to the +Archive folder.

Usage

code

/archive <note-name>
/archive "Project - Old Initiative"
/archive [[Task - Completed thing]]

Can use note title, filename, or wiki-link format.

Supported Note Types

Type	Archive Location	Trigger
Project	`+Archive/Projects/`	Completed 6+ months ago
Task	`+Archive/Tasks/`	Completed 3+ months ago
Page	`+Archive/Pages/`	Outdated, superseded
Person	`+Archive/People/`	Left organisation 3+ months ago

Not supported (leave as-is):

•DailyNote — Year folders are the archive
•Meeting — Already temporal records
•ADR — Historical decisions must stay visible
•Organisation — Reference material
•AtomicNote — Update instead of archive
•Zettel — Permanent by design
•Incubator/IncubatorNote — Status field handles lifecycle

Instructions

•
Find the note
- •Search for the note by name/title
- •If not found, inform user and stop
- •If multiple matches, ask user to clarify
•
Check note type
- •Read the frontmatter type field
- •If type is not supported for archiving, inform user:
  
  "This note type ({{type}}) doesn't need archiving. [Explain why based on type]"
- •Stop if not supported
•
Confirm with user
- •Show current note location and type
- •Ask: "Archive this note? (Y/n)"
- •If user declines, stop
•
Ask for archive reason (optional)
- •"Reason for archiving? (or skip)"
- •
  Common reasons:
  - •Project: "Project completed"
  - •Task: "Task completed"
  - •Page: "Content outdated" / "Superseded by [[New Page]]"
  - •Person: "Left organisation"
•
Update frontmatter Add these fields:
yaml
```
archived: true
archivedDate: YYYY-MM-DD  # Today's date
archivedReason: "<reason>"  # If provided
```
For Pages, also ask:
- •"Is this superseded by another page? (enter link or skip)"
- •If yes, add: supersededBy: "[[Page Name]]"
•
Add archived tag Add archived to the tags array:
yaml
```
tags:
  - existing-tag
  - archived
```
•
Determine destination folder

Type Destination
Project +Archive/Projects/
Task +Archive/Tasks/
Page +Archive/Pages/
Person +Archive/People/
•
Create archive folder if needed
- •Check if destination folder exists
- •Create if missing (e.g., mkdir -p "+Archive/Projects")
•
Move the file
- •
  Use git mv to preserve history:
  bash
  git mv "original/path/Note.md" "+Archive/Type/Note.md"
- •Obsidian will auto-update wiki-links pointing to this note

•

Confirm to user

code

Archived: Note Name
From: original/path/
To: +Archive/Type/
Reason: <reason>

Wiki-links to this note will continue to work.

Examples

Archive a completed project

code

User: /archive "Project - Legacy Migration"

Claude:
- Finds: Project - Legacy Migration.md
- Type: Project
- Status: completed
- Last modified: 2025-06-15 (7 months ago)

"Archive 'Project - Legacy Migration'? (Y/n)"
User: Y

"Reason for archiving? (or skip)"
User: Project completed, in production

Claude:
- Adds archived: true, archivedDate: 2026-01-10, archivedReason: "Project completed, in production"
- Adds 'archived' tag
- Moves to +Archive/Projects/Project - Legacy Migration.md

"Archived: Project - Legacy Migration
From: root
To: +Archive/Projects/
Reason: Project completed, in production"

Archive an outdated page

code

User: /archive "Page - Old API Guide"

Claude:
- Finds: Page - Old API Guide.md
- Type: Page

"Archive 'Page - Old API Guide'? (Y/n)"
User: Y

"Reason for archiving? (or skip)"
User: Superseded

"Is this superseded by another page? (enter link or skip)"
User: Page - New API Guide v2

Claude:
- Adds archived: true, archivedDate, archivedReason
- Adds supersededBy: "[[Page - New API Guide v2]]"
- Moves to +Archive/Pages/

"Archived: Page - Old API Guide
Superseded by: [[Page - New API Guide v2]]"

Archive a departed colleague

code

User: /archive "Sarah Chen"

Claude:
- Finds: +People/Sarah Chen.md
- Type: Person

"Archive 'Sarah Chen'? This is typically for people who have left the organisation. (Y/n)"
User: Y

"Reason for archiving? (or skip)"
User: Left YourOrg June 2025

Claude:
- Adds archived: true, archivedDate, archivedReason: "Left YourOrg June 2025"
- Moves to +Archive/People/Sarah Chen.md

"Archived: Sarah Chen
From: +People/
To: +Archive/People/
Reason: Left YourOrg June 2025

Note: Links like [[Sarah Chen]] in meeting notes will continue to work."

Batch Archive

For batch archiving (e.g., all completed tasks older than 3 months):

code

/archive batch tasks

This will:

•Find all tasks where completed: true and modified > 3 months ago
•List them for review
•Ask for confirmation
•Archive all in one operation

Reversing an Archive

To unarchive, manually:

•Move file back to original location
•Remove archived: true from frontmatter
•Remove archived tag
•Optionally remove archivedDate and archivedReason

Or create an /unarchive skill if this becomes common.

Dataview Integration

After archiving, update MOC queries to exclude archived content:

dataview

TABLE status, priority
FROM ""
WHERE type = "Project" AND archived != true
SORT modified DESC

Notes

•Links preserved: Obsidian updates wiki-links when files move
•Git history preserved: Using git mv maintains file history
•Reversible: Can always move back and remove flags
•Searchable: Archived content still searchable when needed