Build an AI Wiki with Claude + Obsidian

A step-by-step guide to creating a self-organizing knowledge base

Introduction

Imagine having a personal wiki that writes and maintains itself — with help from Claude. This guide shows you how to build an AI-powered knowledge base using two tools:

  • Obsidian — a powerful note-taking app that stores your notes as plain markdown files
  • Claude Code — an AI assistant that can read, write, and organize your files

The core principle is simple: you never write the wiki yourself — Claude writes and maintains it for you.You just drop in source documents, and Claude transforms them into connected, searchable notes.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

  • Claude Code CLI — Install by following the official guide
  • Obsidian — Download from obsidian.md
  • Terminal — macOS Terminal or Windows Terminal

Step 1: Set Up Obsidian

Create a new vault where your wiki will live:

  1. Open Obsidian
  2. Click Create New Vault
  3. Give it a name like my-wiki
  4. Choose a location on your computer
  5. Keep the defaults and click Create

Your vault is now a folder on your computer. You can open this folder in your terminal to work with Claude.

Step 2: Create the Folder Structure

You'll create two main folders inside your vault:

  • raw/ — for source documents you want to ingest
  • wiki/ — for Claude-generated wiki pages

Open your terminal and run:

cd path/to/your-vault mkdir -p raw wiki

Tip: You can also create these folders directly in Obsidian by right-clicking in the file explorer and selecting New Folder.

Step 3: Create CLAUDE.md

CLAUDE.md is a special file that tells Claude how to work with your wiki. Create this file in the root of your vault:

cd path/to/your-vault touch CLAUDE.md

Add these instructions to CLAUDE.md:

# Wiki Schema

## Project Overview
This is a personal knowledge wiki. Claude helps maintain and query it.

## Structure
- raw/ - source documents for ingestion
- wiki/ - generated wiki pages
- index.md - main index with all wiki topics

## Workflows

### Ingest Sources
When a new document is added to raw/:
1. Read and understand the document
2. Create a new page in wiki/ with key concepts
3. Add the topic to index.md
4. Add wikilinks [[like this]] to connect related topics

### Answer Queries
When asked about a topic:
1. Find relevant wiki pages
2. Read the content
3. Synthesize an answer with citations like [[topic-name]]

### Maintenance
Periodically check for:
- Broken links
- Orphan pages (no incoming links)
- Stale content that needs updating

Important: CLAUDE.md tells Claude how your wiki works. Change these instructions to match your preferences.

Step 4: Ingest Sources

Now you're ready to add content. Here's how to ingest documents:

  1. Drop a document (PDF, text file, article) into the raw/ folder
  2. Open your terminal, navigate to your vault
  3. Run Claude and ask it to process the file

Example prompt to Claude:

Please process the new document in raw/ and create wiki pages for it.

- Create a new page in wiki/ with the key concepts
- Add the topic to index.md
- Link to any related existing wiki pages
- Add wikilinks [[like this]] for cross-references

Claude will read the document, extract key ideas, and create organized notes automatically.

Step 5: Query Your Wiki

Want to find information? Just ask Claude:

What do I know about [topic]? Search the wiki and give me a summary with citations.

Claude will:

  • Search through your wiki pages
  • Find relevant information
  • Give you a summary with links to the source notes

Step 6: Maintenance

Keep your wiki healthy with regular maintenance. Ask Claude to run these checks:

Check for broken links

Run a link audit: find all [[wikilinks]] that point to non-existent pages.

Find orphan pages

Find pages in wiki/ that have no incoming links from other pages.

Check for stale content

Review wiki pages and flag any that contain outdated information or need updates.

Summary

Here's the core workflow:

  • Add sources → drop documents into raw/
  • Claude processes → reads docs, creates wiki pages, adds links
  • Query anytime → ask Claude questions about your knowledge
  • Maintain regularly → run link audits and updates

Remember: You rarely write the wiki yourself. Let Claude do the work — you just read and ask questions.

Next Steps

Want to go further? Explore these resources: