Delete Note

Delete a markdown note, moving it to the vault's .trash/ folder or removing it for good as the vault's Obsidian "Deleted files" setting directs.

Example: vault_delete_note({ path: "Scratch/temp.md" }) Example: vault_delete_note({ path: "Archive/2024/old.md", prune_empty_folders: true }) — also remove "Archive/2024" (and "Archive") if deleting the note empties them.

When to use: Removing a note you no longer need. Prefer vault_delete_memory for removing individual dated entries from About Me/ memory files. To relocate a note, use vault_move_note instead. To replace a note's content, use vault_write_note with overwrite: true instead.

Behavior:

• The "Deleted files" setting (trashOption in .obsidian/app.json) decides the outcome:

  • "Move to system trash" (system, also what an absent setting means) moves the note to .trash/, since the server has no system trash. Notes this server moved there are deleted after its retention period (TRASH_RETENTION_DAYS: 30 days by default, never when set to none); notes Obsidian itself trashed are never touched.

  • "Move to Obsidian trash" (local) moves the note to .trash/ and keeps it forever.

  • "Permanently delete" (none) removes the note for good.

• The caller can't choose or see the outcome in advance; the returned message says which happened.

• Links to the note from other notes become broken; list them first with vault_get_backlinks. Protected paths are refused: About Me/ and the daily notes folder (read from DAILY_NOTES_FOLDER or .obsidian/daily-notes.json, defaulting to Daily Notes/; not protected when it is the vault root or blank).

Parameters:

• prune_empty_folders removes each parent folder the delete leaves with zero entries, up to but never including the vault root; a folder holding any file, even a hidden .DS_Store, is kept. Pruning runs after the delete or trash move and is best-effort: a folder that can't be removed never fails the call. Without it, empty folders stay, matching Obsidian.

Errors:

• "cannot delete protected path" — the path sits under a protected folder; use vault_delete_memory for memory entries

• "path must end in …" — add the .md extension

• "absolute path blocked" / "path traversal blocked" / "hidden path blocked" — use a vault-relative path with no hidden (dot-prefixed) file or folder in it

• "concurrent write in progress" — another write to this note is in flight; retry

• "note not found: …" — verify path with vault_list_notes

• "cannot move to trash … — 100 collisions in .trash/" — .trash/ holds this name and 100 numbered copies ("Plan 1.md" … "Plan 100.md"); ask the vault owner to clear old copies, then retry

• any other "cannot move to trash …" — the note stays put; ask the vault owner to fix .trash/ (e.g. a plain file blocks a needed folder), then retry

• "cannot delete …" (other than a protected path), "EACCES: …" or another filesystem error code — the note stays put; ask the vault owner to fix the cause (e.g. permissions), then retry

• "ENAMETOOLONG: …" — the path, or a name in it, is longer than the filesystem allows; check the path

• "cannot read trash config from .obsidian/app.json" — the file exists but can't be read or parsed, and guessing the setting could let the server's trash cleanup delete a note Obsidian keeps forever; ask the vault owner to repair it, then retry

• "cannot read daily notes config from .obsidian/daily-notes.json" — the file exists but is unreadable, so the daily notes folder to protect is unknown; ask the vault owner to repair it, or the server operator to set DAILY_NOTES_FOLDER or PROTECTED_PATHS, then retry

Returns: Confirmation message naming the outcome — "Deleted " for permanent removal, "Moved to trash (<.trash/ path>)" when the note landed in .trash/. Notes how many empty folders were pruned when any were.