home / skills / ladderchaos / tora-skills / sync-github-to-obsidian

sync-github-to-obsidian skill

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This skill syncs markdown documentation from GitHub projects into an Obsidian vault, preserving structure for easy navigation and offline access.

npx playbooks add skill ladderchaos/tora-skills --skill sync-github-to-obsidian

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---
name: sync-github-to-obsidian
description: Syncs markdown documentation from GitHub projects to Obsidian vault. Use when user wants to sync, export, or copy .md files from their code repositories to Obsidian for documentation browsing.
---

# Sync GitHub to Obsidian

Automatically extract and organize markdown documentation from GitHub projects into Obsidian vaults.

## Configuration

Default paths (can be overridden by user):

- **GitHub folder**: `/Users/danieltang/GitHub`
- **Obsidian vault**: `~/Obsidian`

## Instructions

1. **Scan the GitHub folder** for project directories:
   ```bash
   ls -la /Users/danieltang/GitHub
   ```

2. **For each project**, find relevant .md files excluding:
   - `node_modules/`
   - `.git/`
   - `lib/` (dependency folders)
   - `target/` (Rust build)
   - `.changeset/` (auto-generated changesets)

3. **Create project folders** in the Obsidian vault:
   ```bash
   mkdir -p ~/Obsidian/PROJECT_NAME
   ```

4. **Copy .md files** preserving directory structure:
   ```bash
   find /Users/danieltang/GitHub/PROJECT_NAME -name "*.md" -type f \
     -not -path "*/node_modules/*" \
     -not -path "*/.git/*" \
     -not -path "*/lib/*" \
     -not -path "*/target/*" \
     -not -path "*/.changeset/*" \
     | while read f; do
       relpath="${f#/Users/danieltang/GitHub/PROJECT_NAME/}"
       dir=$(dirname "$relpath")
       mkdir -p ~/Obsidian/PROJECT_NAME/"$dir"
       cp "$f" ~/Obsidian/PROJECT_NAME/"$relpath"
     done
   ```

5. **Report summary** with file counts per project

## Options

When user requests sync, ask if they want to:
- Sync all projects or specific ones
- Clean existing folders first (full refresh) or merge
- Include or exclude `_legacy/` and `_archive/` folders

## Example Usage

User: "sync my github to obsidian"
User: "update obsidian with latest docs from github"
User: "export markdown from sooth-alpha to obsidian"

## Output Format

Provide a summary table:

| Project | Files | Description |
|---------|-------|-------------|
| project-name | 42 | Brief description from README |

Overview

This skill sync-github-to-obsidian automates extracting and organizing Markdown documentation from GitHub project folders into an Obsidian vault. It preserves directory structure, filters out dependency and build artifacts, and produces a concise sync summary per project. Use it to keep Obsidian-based documentation up to date with repository READMEs and docs.

How this skill works

The skill scans a configured GitHub root folder for project directories, discovers .md files while excluding common noise folders (node_modules, .git, lib, target, .changeset), and recreates the matching project tree inside the target Obsidian vault. It copies files while preserving relative paths and can either merge with existing vault content or perform a full refresh by cleaning target folders first. After the run it reports file counts and a brief README-derived description per project.

When to use it

When you want local, browsable project documentation inside an Obsidian vault
Before knowledge-sharing sessions or onboarding to ensure docs are consolidated
To export Markdown docs from selected repositories into Obsidian for linking and note-taking
When automating periodic documentation snapshots from multiple repos
To migrate repository READMEs and docs into a personal knowledge base

Best practices

Configure and review the GitHub root and Obsidian vault paths before running
Exclude large dependency or build folders to avoid clutter and reduce run time
Choose merge mode for incremental updates or cleanup mode for a complete refresh
Optionally exclude _legacy/ or _archive/ folders to avoid importing outdated content
Verify README summaries in repositories to get useful project descriptions in the final report

Example use cases

Sync all repositories nightly into an Obsidian vault for searchable offline docs
Export specific project docs before a release to assemble a changelog or release notes in Obsidian
Merge updated Markdown from active repos into an existing vault without overwriting user edits in other notes
Perform a one-time import of repository docs into a fresh Obsidian vault for onboarding new team members
Exclude legacy folders and do a clean sync to rebuild vault structure from current sources

FAQ

Can I restrict sync to specific projects?

Yes. The tool can target all projects or a user-specified subset to limit which repositories are exported.

Will it overwrite my existing Obsidian notes?

You can choose merge mode to preserve existing content or enable a clean refresh to remove and replace target project folders; choose carefully to avoid data loss.