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ZettelFlow

Draw your note workflow on a Canvas once — then think with every note it makes.

Get started See it in action

Why ZettelFlow? · FAQ

ZettelFlow at a glance: a Canvas flow, the wizard it drives for every new note, and the This note companion that helps you think with the result.

Most plugins help you write. ZettelFlow helps you think. It turns a native Obsidian Canvas into a guided note-creation wizard, then sits beside every note it makes: where the note stands, what argues with it, what it is missing, and the one next step. Offline, AI optional, and nothing is written to your vault that you did not decide.

New here? The README is the front door — it opens with the handful of things ZettelFlow asks you to do. This site is the map.

What you get

  • This note, docked in the right sidebar

    This note, beside every note

    Where the note stands, four plain counts, what argues with it, and the one next step — finished in place.

    This note

  • A guided Cultivate session on one idea

    Cultivate an idea

    A guided thinking session: connect, challenge, question, advance — one real move at a time.

    Cultivate

  • Explore narrows the vault by clicking

    Explore your graph

    Click to narrow your vault with facets, read the answer, and fly the 3D graph.

    Explore your graph

  • Health › Tend lists the notes that need you

    Tend your slip-box

    One list of the notes that need you, each one click from its fix.

    Health › Tend

  • A Base dashboard with stats, a bubble chart, tasks and a calendar

    Dashboards for your vault

    Chart any Obsidian Base — a local Grafana with no dataviewjs.

    Base dashboards

  • The community systems browser

    Ready-made systems

    Zettelkasten, PARA, GTD, research, writing — installed in one click, rehearsed first.

    Systems gallery

Three ways in

No setup, no Canvas, no AI.

  1. Install ZettelFlow from Settings → Community plugins.
  2. Click the ZettelFlow ribbon icon and choose Start with my own idea.
  3. State your question, look at what your vault already says, and write a provisional response.

→ Cultivate and purpose-led work

A complete workflow in one click.

  1. Run Browse systems from the ribbon menu.
  2. Pick a system — each shows its flow and difficulty — and rehearse it before installing.
  3. Install it into a role (create, edit, event) and create your first note.

→ Systems gallery

Full control over every step.

  1. Create a .canvas file and point Settings → ZettelFlow → New notes canvas at it.
  2. Add a note to the canvas, right-click → Create managed step, enable Root.
  3. Add steps, connect them with arrows, and run the wizard from the ribbon.

→ Get started · Actions · Conditional edges

How it works

Design the flow on a Canvas, configure each step's actions, run the wizard for every new note

Concept What it is
Canvas A native Obsidian .canvas file: each node is a step, arrows set the order.
Step A note on the canvas with a target folder, a body template and actions.
Action An interactive part of the wizard — prompt, calendar, selector, tags, script…
Conditional edge An arrow labelled if: <expression> that is skipped when false.

The map — where each area lives

For the complete, ranked list of every capability, see Everything it does.

Resources