DeveloPassion's Newsletter #219 - Six Obsidian Search Tips

Edition 219 of my newsletter, discussing Knowledge Work, AI, Knowledge Management, Zen Productivity, Personal Organization, and more!

Hello everyone! I'm Sébastien Dubois, your host. You're receiving this email because you signed up for DeveloPassion's Newsletter, or bought one of my products. Thank you for being here with me ✨

If you enjoy this, please forward it to your friends ❤️. If this email was forwarded to you, then don't forget to subscribe and become a supporter

Welcome

Welcome to all the new readers ❤️

This one is short, and it's all practical.

Yesterday, I released The Obsidian Search Handbook. Today, part 1 of the free series behind it went live. So instead of pitching the book again, I'd rather show you what's inside.

I picked six tips from my free Obsidian search series, starting with the easiest. If you downloaded the Obsidian Search Cheat Sheet, you'll recognize a few of them.

Alright, let's gooooo 🚀

Before You Go Any Further

Help me reach more people; share the link with someone in your circle who'd benefit from joining us. And don't forget to mention the Knowii Community ❤️

And if you bought some of my products or courses? Please leave a rating/review. It really helps ❤️

🔍 Six Obsidian Search Tips

1. Rename a note after a failed search. Next time you can't find a note, rename it with the words you typed, or add those words as an alias. It's the cheapest findability fix there is, and it targets the searches you ACTUALLY do.

2. Put acronyms in parentheses. Name the note "Artificial Intelligence (AI)". Type "AI" or "Artificial Intelligence" in the quick switcher, and it shows up either way. No alias to maintain.

3. Match the tool to what you remember. The title? Use the quick switcher (Ctrl/Cmd+O). A word or a phrase? Search (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+F). A date, a link or a property calls for Bases. A related note? Start from its backlinks and the local graph. Only the idea? Semantic search or an AI agent. And don't bother with heading:, created: or modified:. Those operators don't exist. Use section:, a regex or a Base instead.

4. Navigate first, search last. In a small 2004 MIT diary study, people used keyword search in only 39% of their searches, even when they knew details about the target. In a 2008 study, people estimated that 56 to 68% of their file retrievals happened through navigation, and only 4 to 15% through search. So when you can't name a note, open one you can name (a project, a person, a Map of Content) and follow its links.

5. Climb the ladder in order. Name first, then an exact phrase in quotes, then filters. Here's an example from the series: "weekly review" in the quick switcher gives you dozens of weekly notes. In Search, "weekly review" -path:"40 Journal" tag:#type/permanent_note gives you three, and the note you want is one of them. Too many results is a reason to move to the next step, just like zero results.

6. Test your search with 20 real queries. Write down 20 searches you've actually had and, before running them, the note you expect each one to find. Then check whether that note shows up in the top 5. Run the list again after every change. Often, the fix is in the notes themselves: an alias, a better title, a one-line summary.

Pick one and try it today 💪

📘 The Book Behind Them

All six tips come from my new book, The Obsidian Search Handbook. Its text is free on my blog, as a 12-part series. The book is out now: that same text in one place, plus a foreword, a "Try this" exercise at the end of each of its 12 chapters, the merged FAQ and the cheat sheet appendix, as a 254-page PDF and an EPUB. The method comes from my own vault, the one I use every day (about 30,000 notes).

➤ Complete (the one I recommend): €49, or €39 with the code LAUNCH until Thursday, October 29 (23:59 CET). You get the book, plus the Findability Starter Pack (note templates, Bases, saved searches, scripts, an AGENTS.md snippet for your AI assistant) and 6 worksheets (20-query test, 30-day makeover tracker, LATCH audit and more). https://www.store.dsebastien.net/product/obsidian-search-handbook/ ➤ Book: €29, or €19 with the code LAUNCH. https://www.store.dsebastien.net/product/obsidian-search-handbook/

One code per order. Updates are free for the whole 2026 edition, and there's a 30-day money-back guarantee: reply to your receipt email to ask for it.

Would you rather read it for free? Go ahead 😉 The same text is a 12-part series on dsebastien.net. Part 1 is out today, then one new part every weekday until Monday, November 9: https://www.dsebastien.net/the-complete-guide-to-obsidian-search/

Until Next Time

Which search can you never get right? Hit reply and tell me. I read everything.

That's it for today! ✨

Want more?

• 🔍 Grab the free Obsidian Search Cheat Sheet: https://www.dsebastien.net/free-obsidian-search-cheat-sheet/
• 🚀 Get the Obsidian Starter Kit: https://www.store.dsebastien.net/product/obsidian-starter-kit/
• 🧠 Join Knowii: https://www.store.dsebastien.net/product/knowii-community/
• 📺 Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dSebastien
• 🔌 All my free tools: https://tools.dsebastien.net
• 📰 More content at https://dsebastien.net

Talk to you again soon ❤️

— Sébastien

About Sébastien

Ready to get to the next level?