PARA-ZK

PARA Workflows

3 min read

PARA-ZK gives projects, areas, resources, tasks, references, retros, and dashboards a consistent Obsidian workflow.

Create PARA Notes

Use the command palette:

PARA-ZK: Create project
PARA-ZK: Create area
PARA-ZK: Create resource
PARA-ZK: Create subnote
PARA-ZK: Create subarea
PARA-ZK: Create retro

The left ribbon also includes shortcuts for new projects, areas, resources, ZK notes, the daily note, and quick memo capture.

Automation can use the matching CLI commands:

optsidian para-zk:create-project title="Model Evaluation" area_titles='["AI","Software"]' status=in_progress priority=high
optsidian para-zk:create-area title="Software"
optsidian para-zk:create-resource title="Source Paper"

Nested Areas

An area can live under another area. Nested areas are still type: area; the parent field is what makes them nested.

optsidian para-zk:create-child type=area root_type=area root_title="AI" title="Robot"

For deeper nesting, use relpath as the ancestor chain from the root area to the immediate parent:

optsidian para-zk:create-child type=area root_type=area root_title="AI" relpath='["Generation"]' title="Vision"

This nests Vision inside AI/Generation/. Existing child notes are read, updated, renamed, and deleted with the matching read-child, update-child, rename-child, and delete-child commands. Top-level parent CRUD commands do not accept child=.

Props Block

PARA-ZK notes render an inline props block for frontmatter fields. You can edit status, priority, areas, dates, resource provenance, and ZK maturity from a compact control grid instead of editing raw YAML.

Project props include fields such as:

  • status
  • priority
  • areas
  • start_date
  • due_date
  • done_date

Tip

The CLI uses the same stable keys, for example key=frontmatter/status or key=frontmatter/areas.

Alias / Call-Name

Projects, resources, and permanent ZK notes can show a single editable alias in the props header.

This is backed by Obsidian’s native aliases frontmatter as a one-item list. A short code such as NF-MTE can resolve through [[NF-MTE]], the quick switcher, and search without renaming the file.

References Registry

PARA-ZK stores references in a note’s frontmatter references array and renders them through the references block.

You can:

  • Add an existing note, file, URL, wikilink, markdown link, or text reference.
  • Reorder references.
  • Edit a link or description.
  • Delete a reference.
  • Create a resource note from the reference workflow when the source deserves its own note.

CLI example:

optsidian para-zk:update-project title="Model Evaluation" key=references op=insert value_json='{"link":"https://example.com/paper","description":"Source paper"}'

Reference items have stable ids used by inline body citations such as `PZ[<id>]`. If imported references are id-less, run key=references op=backfill before citing them.

Tasks Block

Tasks live in PARA-ZK’s managed task registry and render back into the root note.

The task block supports:

  • Add task
  • Filter by status and priority
  • Change order
  • Drag-reorder
  • Edit and delete tasks

CLI task reads and updates use stable task IDs:

optsidian para-zk:read-project title="Model Evaluation" key=tasks priority=high
optsidian para-zk:update-project title="Model Evaluation" key=tasks op=insert value_json='{"name":"Review evaluation set","priority":"high"}'

Retros

Retros are weekly notes, optionally scoped to a project or area.

optsidian para-zk:create-retro source_type=project source_title="Model Evaluation"

Project notes surface the latest retrospective summary with a native para-zk-latest-retro-summary block, so current project context stays close to recent review notes.

Home Dashboard

Setup creates a Home dashboard under Dashboard/HomePage. It gives quick access to PARA-ZK actions, summary metrics, and the main project, area, resource, task, and ZK views.

The Homepage dependency can open this dashboard on startup and when the workspace is empty.

Graph View

Backlinks