Zettelkasten Template

What a zettelkasten is

Niklas Luhmann kept a slip box of small paper notes and linked them by hand. A zettelkasten, German for slip box, is that idea: one thought per card, an address so you can find it, and a link when two thoughts belong together. This zettelkasten template is the same box in the browser. You do not start from an outline. You write the card, give it an ID, and point it at the cards it depends on.

The address matters as much as the sentence. Luhmann used branching numbers. A digital box can use the time instead: the second you created the card is an ID that never needs renumbering. The link is a [[wikilink]] to that ID. Follow it later and you are back at the source, not searching a folder by memory.

Fleeting, literature, and permanent notes

Three kinds of card are enough to keep the box from turning into a diary.

• Fleeting. A scratch capture: a sentence from a meeting, a line you do not want to lose. It can be rough, and it can be thrown away once you have written the real note.
• Literature. One idea from a source, in your words. The title names the book or the article. The card does not paste the paragraph.
• Permanent. One claim for your future self, in full sentences. It links to the literature note or the older permanent note that led there.

How to use this zettelkasten template

1. Add a card. Choose fleeting, literature, or permanent. The template stamps a time-based ID.
2. Write one idea. Add a title, the note, and a few tags.
3. Link cards. Point this card at another with a wikilink.
4. Keep a copy. Download this card as Obsidian Markdown, download every card as a zip with frontmatter, or export a PDF.

The draft is saved in this browser as you type, using localStorage. Come back to the same address on the same device and the box is still there. Clear draft removes it. Another browser, or a private window, starts with one empty card.

An Obsidian zettelkasten template

Obsidian Markdown is one note. The YAML frontmatter carries the id, the title, the note type, the tags, and an alias. The file is named with the time ID, so a wikilink such as [[20261114192301]] opens that card. The note body is your text, unchanged, including any [[wikilink]] you typed. A links list at the bottom points at the other cards you ticked.

Obsidian ZIP is the whole box: one markdown file per card, with the same frontmatter. Unzip it into a folder and open that folder as a vault. That folder is the Obsidian zettelkasten template. IDs are filenames, [[links]] connect the notes, and the tags fleeting, literature, and permanent are already on the cards.

PDF

PDF (A4) and PDF (Letter) print the box one card at a time: the type, the time ID, the title, the tags, the note, and the links. A long note continues on the next page. Print uses the card on screen. Nothing is sent to a server to build the file.

For a lecture page with a cue column and a summary, use the Cornell notes template. The slip box is the other shape: many small notes, linked, instead of one sheet.