Graph Colorize

Graph Colorize — Color-code the Obsidian Graph View

You are rewriting $OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH/.obsidian/graph.json so Obsidian's graph view tints nodes by tag, folder, or visibility.

Obsidian stores graph settings in <vault>/.obsidian/graph.json. The colorGroups array is a list of {query, color} pairs; the first matching query wins per node. Queries use Obsidian's search syntax: tag:#foo, path:"concepts", file:foo, etc. Color is {"a": 1, "rgb": <packed-int>} where the int is (R << 16) | (G << 8) | B.

Before You Start

1. Resolve config — follow the Config Resolution Protocol in llm-wiki/SKILL.md (inline @name override → walk up CWD for .env → global config → prompt setup). This gives OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH.
2. Confirm $OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH/.obsidian/ exists. If it doesn't, the vault has never been opened in Obsidian — tell the user to open the vault once in Obsidian, then re-run.
3. Warn the user if Obsidian is likely open: Obsidian overwrites graph.json on close. Tell them to close the vault first, or be ready to reload (Cmd/Ctrl+R) and not touch the graph settings until they reload.

Step 1: Pick a Mode

Infer the mode from the user's phrasing. If ambiguous, default to by-tag.

Step 2: Build the colorGroups Array

Palette (10 distinct, colorblind-friendly colors)

Use in order. If more groups than colors, cycle and add a lightness shift by dividing brightness ~20% via a second pass — or just cap at 10 and tell the user the remaining tags share the "other" color.

Every color is wrapped as {"a": 1, "rgb": <int>}.

Mode: by-tag

1. Glob $VAULT_PATH/**/*.md excluding _archives/, _raw/, .obsidian/, node_modules/, index.md, log.md, _insights.md.
2. Parse frontmatter tags from each page. Count usage per tag.
3. Drop visibility/* tags from the frequency list — they are reserved system tags, handled only in by-visibility or combined mode.
4. Take the top 10 tags by usage. If there are fewer than 10 unique tags, use all of them.
5. For each tag T at index i: emit {"query": "tag:#T", "color": palette[i]}.
6. Optionally, append a final catch-all entry for untagged pages at the end: {"query": "-[\"tag\":]", "color": palette[9]} — skip if color slot 9 is already taken by a real tag.

Mode: by-category

Use the seven vault top-level folders in this fixed order so colors are stable across runs:

Emit one entry per folder that exists AND contains at least one .md file. Each entry is:

{"query": "path:\"<folder>\"", "color": {"a": 1, "rgb": <int>}}

Mode: by-visibility

Emit exactly three entries, in this order (first-match wins, so most restrictive comes first):

1. visibility/pii → #E15759 (red, rgb 14767961)
2. visibility/internal → #F28E2B (orange, rgb 15896107)
3. visibility/public → #59A14F (green, rgb 5873999)

{"query": "tag:#visibility/pii", "color": {"a": 1, "rgb": 14767961}}

Pages with no visibility/ tag remain Obsidian's default color — do not add a catch-all.

Mode: combined

Emit by-visibility entries first, then by-tag entries. Visibility wins on conflict because it appears first in the list.