Harness Noting

Harness Noting is an Obsidian plugin for checking note structure against scoped rules.

It is designed for AI-assisted note maintenance: rules can be edited in Obsidian, and the same rules can be checked from the command line so an AI agent can read failures and fix notes before finishing.

Features

• Match notes by exact file, folder, tag, filename text, and frontmatter property conditions
• Combine scope conditions with all or any
• Exclude files, folders, or tags from a rule
• Check required frontmatter properties
• Check property values, including equals, contains, and regex
• Check required headings and heading order
• Check filename patterns with regular expressions
• Check direct child folder structures, including required subfolders and file patterns
• Check vault root entries against a configurable whitelist
• Run all checks from an Obsidian ribbon button
• Copy a readable check conclusion from the results modal
• Show Obsidian notices after file changes
• Run checks from the command line with failure exit codes

CLI

Run from the vault root:

node .obsidian/plugins/harness-noting/harness-noting-cli.js

Check a single note:

node .obsidian/plugins/harness-noting/harness-noting-cli.js --file "path/to/note.md"

Print JSON:

node .obsidian/plugins/harness-noting/harness-noting-cli.js --json

Exit codes:

• 0: all matched notes passed
• 1: at least one matched note failed
• 2: the checker itself failed

Rule Syntax

Property conditions and property checks use one rule per line:

type equals project
tags contains planning
tags regex ^project/[A-Za-z0-9-]+$
updated exists

Supported operators:

• exists
• notExists
• equals
• notEquals
• contains
• regex

Folder Structure Rules

Folder structure rules check every direct child folder under a configured root folder.

Example:

{
  "name": "Project folder structure",
  "rootFolder": "Projects",
  "requiredSubfolders": "Assets",
  "requiredFiles": "Overview.md\n* Plan.md"
}

Required file patterns support:

• * wildcards
• regex: regular expressions
• {{folderName}} as the current folder name

Root Whitelist Rules

Root whitelist rules check only direct children of the vault root.

Example:

{
  "name": "Vault root whitelist",
  "allowedEntries": "Inbox\nProjects\nResources\nArchive\nHome.md",
  "ignoredEntries": ".git\n.obsidian\n.trash\n.DS_Store",
  "ignoreDotEntries": true
}

Installation

Install from Obsidian community plugins after approval, or install manually:

Copy this folder to:

<vault>/.obsidian/plugins/harness-noting

Then enable Harness Noting in Obsidian community plugins.

Release

Create a GitHub release with the same tag as manifest.json's version. Attach these files:

• main.js
• manifest.json
• styles.css