LOS - Templates Module

4 min read

Get Started

Module selector tabs with Templates highlighted

  • Sign in to Lean Obsidian Studio (LOS - Getting Started)
  • Click the Templates module selector
  • Toggle between Core Templates and Templater at the top of the module

The toggle changes what syntax the output uses:

  • Core Templates - Obsidian’s built-in {{date}} and {{title}} variables
  • Templater - community plugin with <% tp.* %> syntax for prompts, dates, file operations, and more

How to Use

Starter Cards

Multi column

Core Plugin Six Core Templates starter cards for Book Notes, Daily Note, Meeting Notes, Project Brief, Quick Capture, and Weekly Review

Templater Plugin Same six starter cards with Templater plugin toggle active

Six pre-built templates, each with both a Core and Templater variant (no AI call, no credits used). Click any starter card and Generate to generate the output immediately. After the first generation, edit your prompt and click Update to refine the output without starting over.

StarterWhat It Creates
Daily NoteDate header, gratitude, tasks, and reflection sections
Meeting NotesAttendees, agenda, discussion, and action items
Project BriefGoals, scope, timeline, and stakeholder sections
Weekly ReviewWeek summary, wins, challenges, and next week planning
Book NotesBook metadata, key takeaways, quotes, and rating
Quick CaptureMinimal template for fast note entry with auto-date

The active plugin toggle (Core or Templater) determines which variant you get.

Chat

Type a plain-text description of the template you want. Example prompts:

  • “Meeting notes template with attendees, agenda, action items, and follow-up date”
  • “Templater daily note with mood prompt and automatic date in the title”
  • “Book review template with star rating property and favorite quotes section”
  • “Project kickoff template with RACI matrix and milestones”

After the first generation, edit your prompt and click Update to refine the output without starting over.

Guide (Wizard)

A five-step flow that builds your template interactively. Click the Guide toggle next to Chat to switch to wizard mode. Each step has a progress bar at the top.

The wizard generates the final .md file at the end. You can download the .md file or copy the output.

Step 1 - Plugin

Wizard step 1 showing two selectable buttons for Core Templates and Templater

Choose your template plugin. This determines the syntax used in the generated template.

  • Core Templates - Obsidian’s built-in template plugin. Uses {{date}}, {{title}}, and {{time}} variables
  • Templater - community plugin with richer syntax: tp.date, tp.system, tp.file for prompts, dates, file operations, and more

Step 2 - Purpose

Wizard step 2 showing six purpose icons: Book Notes, Daily Note, Meeting Notes, Project Brief, Quick Capture, Weekly Review

Pick the type of template you want to create. This determines the default structure and sections.

  • Book Notes - track title, author, rating, key takeaways, and favorite quotes
  • Daily Note - date header, gratitude, tasks, and end-of-day reflection
  • Meeting Notes - attendees, agenda, discussion points, and action items
  • Project Brief - objectives, scope, timeline, stakeholders, and success criteria
  • Quick Capture - minimal timestamped note for fast input and inbox processing
  • Weekly Review - accomplishments, priorities, lessons learned, and habits tracker

Step 3 - Frontmatter

Wizard step 3 showing chip input with suggestion buttons for common YAML properties

Choose which YAML frontmatter fields to include at the top of the template. Optional - skip if you do not need frontmatter.

  • Click suggestion buttons to add common fields: created, type, status, tags, aliases, author, rating, category, priority, due
  • Type a custom field name and press Enter to add it
  • Default pre-filled fields: created, type, tags

Step 4 - Body

Wizard step 4 showing a textarea for describing the template body structure

Describe the template body structure in free text. Optional - skip to use the default structure based on your selected purpose.

Example input:

## Tasks
- [ ]

## Notes

## Reflection

Step 5 - Dynamic (Templater only)

Wizard step 5 showing inputs for user prompts, date format, cursor positions, and Enhance with AI checkbox

Configure Templater-specific dynamic features. This step is skipped when Core Templates is selected in Step 1.

  • User Prompts - number of tp.system.prompt() dialogs the template shows when applied (0-10). Each prompt asks the user for input at creation time
  • Date Format - custom date format string (default: YYYY-MM-DD). Used in tp.date.now() calls
  • Cursor Positions - number of tp.file.cursor() positions (0-10). After the template is applied, press Tab to cycle through cursor positions
  • Enhance with AI - check this to use one AI credit for richer dynamic logic in the generated template

Result

Generated Templater template with Valid badge, Copy and Download buttons

The output is an .md file with frontmatter and body content. Each generation shows:

  • A validation badge confirming the template structure is valid
  • Copy and Download buttons

To install the template in your vault, see LOS - Installing Generated Files.

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