---
name: vault-cleanup-auditor
description: Audit your Obsidian vault in Claude Code — finds stale drafts, empty folders, duplicate filenames, and incomplete files. Saves a dated report.
---
# Vault Cleanup Auditor
Runs 4 targeted checks against your Obsidian vault and saves a prioritized audit report to `vault-audit/YYYY-MM-DD-audit.md`. Takes under 30 seconds. No APIs, no paid services.
Run it monthly or whenever the vault starts feeling messy.
---
## How to Use
Open Claude Code and say:
```
Run the Vault Cleanup Auditor skill against my vault at /path/to/vault.
```
---
## Skill Instructions (for Claude Code)
When this skill is invoked, follow these phases exactly.
---
### PHASE 1: INTAKE
Check whether the user has provided:
- `vault_path` — absolute path to their Obsidian vault root
**If missing, ask:**
```
What's the absolute path to your Obsidian vault? (e.g. /root/obsidian-vault)
```
Do not proceed until confirmed.
---
### PHASE 2: ANALYZE
Run all 4 checks. Capture raw output from each before writing the report.
**Check 1 — Stale drafts (30+ days, unposted):**
```bash
VAULT="VAULT_PATH_HERE"
echo "=== CHECK 1: STALE DRAFTS ==="
find "$VAULT/content/ready-to-post" -name "*.md" -mtime +30 2>/dev/null | while read f; do
if grep -q '\*\*Posted:\*\* ❌' "$f" 2>/dev/null; then
days=$(( ($(date +%s) - $(stat -c %Y "$f")) / 86400 ))
echo "${days}d|${f##$VAULT/}"
fi
done
echo "=== END CHECK 1 ==="
```
**Check 2 — Incomplete files (no headings, 5+ lines):**
```bash
VAULT="VAULT_PATH_HERE"
echo "=== CHECK 2: INCOMPLETE FILES ==="
find "$VAULT" -name "*.md" \
-not -path "*/.git/*" \
-not -path "*/.obsidian/*" \
-not -path "*/.openclaw/*" | while read f; do
if ! grep -qE '^#{1,6} ' "$f" 2>/dev/null; then
lines=$(wc -l < "$f")
if [ "$lines" -gt 5 ]; then
echo "${lines}lines|${f##$VAULT/}"
fi
fi
done
echo "=== END CHECK 2 ==="
```
**Check 3 — Duplicate filenames:**
```bash
VAULT="VAULT_PATH_HERE"
echo "=== CHECK 3: DUPLICATE FILENAMES ==="
find "$VAULT" -name "*.md" \
-not -path "*/.git/*" \
-not -path "*/.obsidian/*" \
-not -path "*/.openclaw/*" \
-printf "%f\n" | sort | uniq -d | while read name; do
echo "DUPE:$name"
find "$VAULT" -name "$name" \
-not -path "*/.git/*" \
-not -path "*/.obsidian/*" | while read f; do
echo " PATH:${f##$VAULT/}"
done
done
echo "=== END CHECK 3 ==="
```
**Check 4 — Empty folders:**
```bash
VAULT="VAULT_PATH_HERE"
echo "=== CHECK 4: EMPTY FOLDERS ==="
find "$VAULT" -type d -empty \
-not -path "*/.git/*" \
-not -path "*/.obsidian/*" \
-not -path "*/.openclaw/*" | while read d; do
echo "${d##$VAULT/}/"
done
echo "=== END CHECK 4 ==="
```
---
### PHASE 3: OUTPUT
**3a. Create the report directory and file:**
```bash
VAULT="VAULT_PATH_HERE"
DATE=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)
mkdir -p "$VAULT/vault-audit"
REPORT="$VAULT/vault-audit/${DATE}-audit.md"
echo "Report path: $REPORT"
```
**3b. Write the report** using this exact structure:
```markdown
# Vault Cleanup Audit — YYYY-MM-DD
Generated: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM
**Summary:** 🔴 [N] stale | 🟡 [N] incomplete | 🟡 [N] dupes | 🟢 [N] empty
---
## 🔴 Stale Drafts (30+ days, unposted)
- [Nd old] path/to/file.md
[cap at 15 items — add "...and N more" if over]
## 🟡 Incomplete Files (no headings, 5+ lines)
- path/to/file.md (N lines)
[cap at 15]
## 🟡 Duplicate Filenames
- **filename.md**
- path/one/filename.md
- path/two/filename.md
[cap at 15 duplicate names]
## 🟢 Empty Folders
- path/to/folder/
[cap at 15]
---
**What to do:**
- 🔴 Stale drafts: post them, delete them, or archive to `content/posted/`
- 🟡 Incomplete files: finish or trash
- 🟡 Duplicates: merge or rename the less important one
- 🟢 Empty folders: safe to delete (or keep if you're about to use them)
```
**3c. Print the summary to terminal:**
```
✅ Audit saved to: vault-audit/YYYY-MM-DD-audit.md
Summary:
🔴 [N] stale drafts
🟡 [N] incomplete files
🟡 [N] duplicate filenames
🟢 [N] empty folders
```
---
### PHASE 4: SELF-CRITIQUE
Before finalizing, check:
1. **All 4 checks ran** — Confirm output exists between each `=== CHECK N ===` / `=== END CHECK N ===` marker. If a check produced no output, note "0 issues found" in the report — do not skip the section.
2. **Counts are accurate** — The summary line counts must match the actual items listed in each section. Re-count if unsure.
3. **Report saved correctly** — Confirm the file exists at `vault-audit/YYYY-MM-DD-audit.md`. If the write failed, report the error and provide the report content inline.
4. **No blank sections** — Every section must either list items OR say "No issues found." Never leave a section header with nothing below it.
Fix any failures before delivering the final output.
---
## Example Report
```markdown
# Vault Cleanup Audit — 2026-03-01
Generated: 2026-03-01 08:14
**Summary:** 🔴 3 stale | 🟡 2 incomplete | 🟡 1 dupe | 🟢 2 empty
---
## 🔴 Stale Drafts (30+ days, unposted)
- [47d old] content/ready-to-post/linkedin/2026-01-12-ai-systems-post.md
- [38d old] content/ready-to-post/twitter/2026-01-21-founder-ops.md
- [31d old] content/ready-to-post/newsletter/2026-01-28-tools-roundup.md
## 🟡 Incomplete Files (no headings, 5+ lines)
- bambf/research/untitled-notes.md (23 lines)
- thinking/random-thoughts.md (11 lines)
## 🟡 Duplicate Filenames
- **README.md**
- bambf/brand/README.md
- bambf/tracking/README.md
## 🟢 Empty Folders
- content/queue/rejected/
- bambf/clients/archived/
---
**What to do:**
- 🔴 Stale drafts: post them, delete them, or archive to `content/posted/`
- 🟡 Incomplete files: finish or trash
- 🟡 Duplicates: merge or rename the less important one
- 🟢 Empty folders: safe to delete (or keep if you're about to use them)
```
---
## Requirements
- Claude Code with bash tool access
- Bash + standard Unix tools: `find`, `grep`, `wc`, `stat`, `date`, `awk`
- Read access to vault directory
- Write access to `vault-audit/` inside the vault (auto-created)
- No APIs, no paid services, no external dependencies