name	vault-orphans
description	Find orphan notes (notes with no backlinks). Triggers on "orphans", "orphan notes", "disconnected notes", "isolated notes", "notes with no links".
auto_trigger	true
trigger_keywords	orphans, orphan notes, disconnected notes, isolated notes, unlinked notes, notes with no backlinks, notes with no links, find orphans, show orphans, lonely notes, notes nobody links to, floating notes, unconnected, no links to, stranded notes, unloved notes
allowed-tools	mcp__flywheel__find_orphan_notes, AskUserQuestion

Orphans Skill

Find orphan notes - notes that have no backlinks (no other notes link to them).

Purpose

Orphan notes represent disconnected knowledge that isn't integrated into your vault's knowledge graph. Finding orphans helps you:

Identify notes that may be forgotten or lost
Connect isolated knowledge to related concepts
Improve vault connectivity
Discover notes that might need better naming/tagging

When to Use

Invoke when you want to:

Find disconnected notes: "orphans" or "orphan notes"
Audit vault connectivity: "show orphans" or "find isolated notes"
Improve linking: "disconnected notes" before linking campaign
Vault maintenance: Part of quarterly vault gardening

Process

1. Call MCP Tool

Call: mcp__flywheel__find_orphan_notes
Parameters: { folder: optional }

2. Categorize Orphans

Group orphans by type for better analysis:

By Folder:

tech/: 50 orphans
work/: 80 orphans
personal/: 30 orphans
daily-notes/: 40 orphans
other: 50 orphans

By Age:

Recent (last 30 days): 20 orphans (may still need time)
Medium (30-90 days): 50 orphans (needs attention)
Old (90+ days): 180 orphans (likely forgotten)

3. Display Report

Orphan Notes Report
═══════════════════════════════════════════════

Found 250 orphan notes (25% of vault)
Total notes: 1,000

BREAKDOWN BY FOLDER:
  work/: 80 orphans (32%)
  tech/: 50 orphans (20%)
  daily-notes/: 40 orphans (16%)
  personal/: 30 orphans (12%)
  other: 50 orphans (20%)

BREAKDOWN BY AGE:
  Recent (<30 days): 20 (8%)
  Medium (30-90 days): 50 (20%)
  Old (90+ days): 180 (72%) ⚠️

HIGH-PRIORITY ORPHANS (20 shown):
📄 work/projects/data-platform.md
   Created: 2024-05-15 | Modified: 2024-05-15
   Tags: #work #project
   → CRITICAL: Major project with no links!

Options:
1. Show full list (all orphans)
2. Filter by folder/age/tags
3. Export to CSV for manual review
═══════════════════════════════════════════════

Implementation Details

Orphan Criteria

A note is an orphan if:

✅ It exists in the vault
✅ It has zero backlinks (no other notes link to it)
❌ Excluded: Template files
❌ Excluded: System files (.claude/, .obsidian/)

Priority Scoring

Score orphans by importance (0-100):

priority_score = 0

# Deduct for age (older = lower priority)
days_old = (today - created_date).days
if days_old < 30:
    priority_score += 30  # Recent
elif days_old < 90:
    priority_score += 20  # Medium
else:
    priority_score += 10  # Old

# Add for folder importance
if 'projects' in path:
    priority_score += 40
elif 'work' in path:
    priority_score += 30
elif 'tech' in path:
    priority_score += 20
else:
    priority_score += 10

# Add for tags
important_tags = ['project', 'goal', 'person', 'client']
priority_score += len([t for t in tags if t in important_tags]) * 10

Related Skills

backlinks: Shows existing backlinks (orphans have ZERO)
unlinked-mentions: Find mentions not yet linked (helps connect orphans)
health: Overall vault health (orphan % is key metric)
hubs: Opposite of orphans (highly connected notes)

Performance

MCP call: ~500ms-1s for large vaults
Categorization: ~200ms for 250 orphans
Total: Usually <2 seconds

vault-orphans

Install Skill

SKILL.md