obsidian-yanxin/VAULT_MAP.md

# Vault Map

Personal knowledge base and document archive for Yanxin Lu and family.

If you are an LLM or agent working with this vault, read this file first.

## People

| Name         | Relation      | Aliases      |
| ------------ | ------------- | ------------ |
| Yanxin Lu    | Primary owner | lu           |
| Xuewei Jiang | Spouse        | jiang, Erica |
| Fengqin Xue  | Mother-in-law | xue          |
| Xianlu Jiang | Father-in-law |              |
| Argo         | Family cat    |              |

## Vault Structure

```
home.md              — Personal dashboard (Obsidian Tasks widget)
VAULT_MAP.md         — This file. Vault guide for humans and LLMs.
README.md            — Git repo description.

agent_skills/        — Runbooks and workflows for LLM/agent tasks (see below)
copilot/             — Obsidian Copilot plugin data. Do not modify.
Readwise/            — Readwise sync plugin data. Do not modify.
templates/           — Note templates for journals, book notes, etc.

journals/            — Daily journal entries (2022-present)
notes/               — Personal notes: books, martial arts, tech setup
trip_plans/          — Trip itineraries and travel planning
writing/             — Long-form writing projects

documents/           — Document archive (see below)
```

## Adding Content to This Vault

If you are an LLM or agent adding content to this vault, follow the guide for the relevant section.

The entire vault (not just `documents/`) is indexed by the notesearch skill (LlamaIndex + Ollama vector search).

### Agent Skills (`agent_skills/`)

Step-by-step runbooks for LLM/agent tasks. If you are an agent about to perform a task, check this folder first — there may already be a workflow written for it.

- Files are freeform markdown with CLI commands, rules, and tips
- One file per workflow (e.g., `calibre_import_workflow.md`)
- These are living documents — update them when the process changes

### Journals (`journals/`)

- One file per day, named `YYYY-MM-DD.md`
- Use the template at `templates/daily_journal.md` if it exists
- Free-form daily notes, reflections, logs

### Notes (`notes/`)

- Personal notes organized by topic (e.g., `notes/books/`, `notes/martial_arts/`, `notes/tech/`)
- Use descriptive filenames in snake_case (e.g., `brazilian_jiu_jitsu_log.md`)
- No required frontmatter — these are freeform markdown notes

### Trip Plans (`trip_plans/`)

- One file or folder per trip
- Include itinerary, bookings, logistics
- Name by destination and date (e.g., `japan_2025.md`, `iceland_2024/`)

### Writing (`writing/`)

- Long-form writing projects
- Organize by project in subfolders if needed

### Documents (`documents/`)

Archive of personal documents (PDFs, images, etc.) with markdown transcriptions alongside each file. This is the most structured section.

#### Folder Map

| Folder | Contents |
|--------|----------|
| `academic/` | PhD thesis, conference presentations, coursework, papers |
| `argo/` | Vet records for family cat |
| `car/` | Vehicle purchase documents |
| `dmv/` | DMV applications and supporting docs |
| `employment/` | Job offers, onboarding docs (subfolders by employer) |
| `finance/` | Brokerage accounts, banking |
| `house/` | Home purchase (grant deed, inspection, renovation, quotes) |
| `id/` | Identity documents: DLs, passports, SSNs, China IDs, marriage certs (subfolders by person) |
| `immigration/` | H-1B petitions, green card, visa stamping, travel visas, passport renewal |
| `insurance/` | Auto and medical insurance |
| `lease/` | Rental leases, addenda, vacate notices |
| `medical/` | Medical records, lab results, prescriptions (subfolders by provider or condition) |
| `receipts/` | Purchase receipts, service receipts |
| `tax/` | Tax returns, W-2s, 1099s, 1098s, property tax (subfolders by year) |
| `travel/` | Flight itineraries, customs forms, EVUS, family visit docs |
| `wedding/` | Wedding-related documents |

#### File Naming Convention

```
{person}_{doctype}_{year}.{ext}
```

- **person**: `lu`, `jiang`, `xue`, or omit if joint/obvious
- **doctype**: descriptive snake_case (e.g., `w2_meta`, `dl_ca`, `eye_exam`)
- **year**: 4-digit year, or `YYYY_MM` if needed for disambiguation
- **ext**: always lowercase

#### Transcription

Each original file has a matching `.md` transcription alongside it (e.g., `lu_w2_meta_2025.pdf` + `lu_w2_meta_2025.md`). The `.md` file is a **faithful full transcription** of the source — every data point preserved, not a summary.

**Exception**: `immigration/` subfolders use a single `summary.md` per subfolder instead of per-file transcriptions, because immigration petitions reuse many of the same supporting docs.

**Frontmatter** — every `.md` transcription must have:

```yaml
---
category: tax
type: tax-form
person: Yanxin Lu
date: 2025
source: lu_w2_meta_2025.pdf
---
```

- `category`: must match the top-level folder name under `documents/` (see Categories below)
- `type`: must be one of the canonical types (see Types below)
- `person`: full name (Yanxin Lu, Xuewei Jiang, Fengqin Xue), or "Yanxin Lu & Xuewei Jiang" if joint
- `date`: year (YYYY) or year-month (YYYY-MM) if needed
- `source`: filename of the original document

#### Categories

Category always matches the top-level folder under `documents/`.

| Category | Folder |
|----------|--------|
| `academic` | `academic/` |
| `car` | `car/` |
| `dmv` | `dmv/` |
| `employment` | `employment/` |
| `finance` | `finance/` |
| `house` | `house/` |
| `id` | `id/` |
| `immigration` | `immigration/` |
| `insurance` | `insurance/` |
| `lease` | `lease/` |
| `medical` | `medical/` |
| `receipts` | `receipts/` |
| `tax` | `tax/` |
| `travel` | `travel/` |
| `wedding` | `wedding/` |

#### Types

| Type | Used for |
|------|----------|
| `id` | Driver's licenses, passports, SSNs, China IDs, visa stamps, EADs |
| `marriage-cert` | Marriage certificates and translations |
| `tax-return` | Federal and state tax returns (1040, 540, etc.) |
| `tax-form` | W-2, 1099, 1098, 1098-T, 1042, 1095-C, 8833, extensions, IRS transcripts |
| `property-tax` | Property tax receipts |
| `registration` | Vehicle registration |
| `lease` | Rental leases, addenda, vacate notices, credit checks |
| `deed` | Grant deeds, title reports |
| `contract` | Service contracts (remodel, DJ, etc.) |
| `inspection` | Home inspections, PID/NHD reports |
| `financial` | Bank statements, loan docs, preapprovals, brokerage applications |
| `offer-letter` | Job offers |
| `lab-results` | Blood work, semen analysis, exams, HSG, genetic screening |
| `prescription` | Eye prescriptions, medications |
| `vaccine` | Vaccine cards, declarations, COVID test results |
| `medical-form` | Intake forms, oral surgery forms |
| `immigration` | H-1B, I-140, I-485, PERM, passport renewal (in summary.md) |
| `travel-visa` | Visitor/Schengen visa applications (in summary.md) |
| `visa-stamping` | Consular H-1B visa stamping (in summary.md) |
| `academic` | Thesis, papers, presentations, posters, coursework |
| `receipt` | Payment receipts, invoices, shipping |
| `quote` | Price quotes |
| `blueprint` | Architectural drawings |
| `travel-doc` | Flight itineraries, customs forms, EVUS, invitation letters, Global Entry |
| `vet` | Vet medical records |

#### Disambiguation Rules

When a document could belong in multiple folders, file by **primary purpose**:

| Document | Goes in | Not in |
|----------|---------|--------|
| W-2, 1099, 1098 | `tax/{year}/` | `employment/` |
| Vehicle registration (for tax) | `tax/{year}/` | `dmv/` |
| Passport/visa copy (for immigration filing) | `immigration/` (as part of petition) | `id/` |
| Passport/visa copy (standalone) | `id/{person}/` | |
| Vaccine card (standalone) | `medical/covid/` | |
| Vaccine card (for travel) | `travel/` | |
| Insurance card | `insurance/medical/` | `medical/` |
| Supporting docs gathered for a specific application (DMV, immigration) | Stay with that application | Don't split out |

#### Verify

- [ ] File is in the correct `documents/{category}/` folder
- [ ] Filename follows `{person}_{doctype}_{year}.{ext}` convention
- [ ] `.md` transcription exists alongside the original
- [ ] Frontmatter has all 5 fields with valid category and type values
- [ ] Body is a faithful full transcription (not a summary)

### When Nothing Fits

If content doesn't clearly belong in any existing section, folder, category, or type, **do not force it**. Flag it for the vault owner to review and decide. Do not create new folders, categories, or types without approval.

### Do Not Modify

- `copilot/` — Obsidian Copilot plugin data
- `Readwise/` — Readwise sync plugin data
- `templates/` — Note templates (read them, but don't change without asking)

## Search

The vault is indexed by **notesearch** (LlamaIndex + Ollama embeddings). Search is semantic — query by meaning, not keywords. The index lives at `.index/` and is rebuilt on the blade server after `git pull`.

Only `.md` files are indexed. Original binary files (PDFs, images) are not directly searchable but their content is captured in the `.md` transcriptions.