Tag Manager

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A powerful CLI tool and MCP server for managing tags in Obsidian vaults. Provides Claude Code with precise tag management capabilities while also offering a comprehensive command-line interface for direct use.

Features

• 🏷️ Comprehensive Tag Support: Hashtags (#tag) and YAML frontmatter (arrays and lists)
• 🧠 Advanced Filtering: Intelligent filtering of hex colors, IDs, URLs, and noise
• ⚡ Memory Efficient: Streaming file processing using Go 1.23 iterators
• 🔄 Batch Operations: Batch tag replacement with individual error reporting
• 🔌 Dual Mode: CLI tool + MCP server for Claude Code integration

Installation

go install github.com/thrawn01/tag-manager/cmd/tag-manager@latest

Verify installation

$ tag-manager --help

Quick Start

List all tags in your Obsidian vault

$ tag-manager list

Found 652 tags:
  #daily-notes                    814 files
  #people                         49 files
  #blog                           17 files
  #startups                       17 files
  #book                           16 files
-- snip --

Find files with specific tags

$ tag-manager find --tags="golang,programming"

#golang (6 files):
  Interests/Technology/Concepts/Programming/Language/Golang.md
  Interests/Technology/Concepts/Programming/Patterns/Logging Guide.md
  Interests/Technology/Language/Golang Trace Profile Example.md
  Interests/Technology/Latency.md
  Calendar Notes/2022/07 July/2022-07-25.md

#programming (11 files):
  Projects/Writing/Published/Mastering HTTP REST Design.md
  Things/Education/Education.md
  Interests/Software Development.md
  Interests/Technology/Algorithms and Protocols/Binary Tree.md
  Interests/Technology/Algorithms and Protocols/Ring Buffer.md
  Interests/Technology/Concepts/Cognitive Load.md
  Interests/Technology/Programming/Language/Golang.md
  Interests/Technology/Programming/Patterns/Object Oriented Programming.md
  Interests/Technology/Latency.md
-- snip --

Replace a tag across your vault (dry run first!)

tag-manager replace --old="old-tag" --new="new-tag" --root="/vault" --dry-run
DRY RUN MODE - No files will be modified

Modified files: 6

Claude MCP Server

claude mcp add -s project tag-manager -- tag-manager -mcp

CLI Usage Guide

📋 Command Reference

Command	Purpose	Example
list	Show all tags with usage counts	tag-manager list
find	Find files containing specific tags	tag-manager find --tags="golang,python"
replace	Rename/replace tags across files	tag-manager replace --old="old" --new="new"
untagged	Find files without any tags	tag-manager untagged
validate	Check tag syntax and get suggestions	tag-manager validate --tags="test-tag,invalid!"
file-tags	Show tags for specific files	tag-manager file-tags --files="file1.md,file2.md"
info	Get detailed tag information	tag-manager info --tags="golang,python"

🔍 Finding Files by Tags

# Find files with single tag
tag-manager find --tags="golang" --root="/vault"

# Find files with multiple tags (OR logic)
tag-manager find --tags="golang,python,programming" --root="/vault"

# Limit results and output as JSON
tag-manager find --tags="golang" --root="/vault" --max-results=10 --json

# Find with hashtag prefix (both work the same)
tag-manager find --tags="#golang" --root="/vault"
tag-manager find --tags="golang" --root="/vault"

📊 Listing All Tags

# List all tags with usage counts
tag-manager list --root="/vault"

# Filter tags by minimum usage count
tag-manager list --root="/vault" --min-count=5

# Filter tags by pattern (contains "dev")
tag-manager list --root="/vault" --pattern="dev"

# Combine filters and output as JSON
tag-manager list --root="/vault" --min-count=2 --pattern="programming" --json

🔄 Replacing/Renaming Tags

# Single tag replacement (always dry-run first!)
tag-manager replace --old="javascript" --new="js" --root="/vault" --dry-run

# Apply the changes after reviewing
tag-manager replace --old="javascript" --new="js" --root="/vault"

# Multiple tag replacements in one command
tag-manager replace --replacements="js:javascript,py:python,ts:typescript" --root="/vault" --dry-run

# Global dry-run flag (affects all subcommands that modify files)
tag-manager --dry-run replace --old="test" --new="testing" --root="/vault"

🏷️ Tag Information

# Get detailed info about specific tags
tag-manager info --tags="golang,python" --root="/Users/john/vault"

# Limit files shown per tag
tag-manager info --tags="golang" --root="/Users/john/vault" --max-files-per-tag=5 --json

📝 Finding Untagged Files

# Find all files without any tags
tag-manager untagged --root="/Users/john/vault"

# Output as JSON for processing
tag-manager untagged --root="/Users/john/vault" --json | jq '.[] | .path'

✅ Validating Tags

# Validate tag syntax
tag-manager validate --tags="valid-tag,invalid!,toolong123456789"

# Get suggestions for invalid tags
tag-manager validate --tags="test-tag,123invalid,special@chars" --json

📄 Getting Tags from Specific Files

# Get tags from specific files
tag-manager file-tags --files="/vault/note1.md,/vault/note2.md"

# Process multiple files with JSON output
find /vault -name "*.md" -print0 | \
  xargs -0 -I {} tag-manager file-tags --files="{}" --json

Global Options

Option	Description	Example
-h, --help	Show help message	tag-manager -h
-v, --verbose	Enable verbose output	tag-manager -v list
--dry-run	Preview changes without modifying files	tag-manager --dry-run replace --old=test --new=testing
--config FILE	Use custom configuration file	tag-manager --config=custom.yaml list

Configuration

Default Configuration

The tool uses intelligent defaults optimized for Obsidian vaults:

# These directories are automatically excluded
exclude_dirs:
  - "100 Archive"      # Common archive folder
  - "Attachments"      # Media files
  - ".git"             # Version control
  - ".obsidian"        # Obsidian settings

# These file patterns are excluded
exclude_patterns:
  - "*.excalidraw.md"  # Excalidraw drawings
  - "*.canvas"         # Canvas files

# Tag extraction patterns (advanced users only)
hashtag_pattern: "#[a-zA-Z][\\w\\-]*"
yaml_tag_pattern: "(?m)^tags:\\s*\\[([^\\]]+)\\]"
yaml_list_pattern: "(?m)^tags:\\s*$\\n((?:\\s+-\\s+.+\\n?)+)"

# Tag validation rules
min_tag_length: 3        # Minimum characters
max_digit_ratio: 0.5     # Maximum 50% digits

# Keywords that are automatically filtered out
exclude_keywords:
  - "bibr"               # Bibliography references
  - "ftn"                # Footnotes
  - "issuecomment"       # GitHub issue comments
  - "discussion"         # GitHub discussions
  - "diff-"              # Git diff markers

Custom Configuration

Create a config.yaml file to override defaults:

# Example: config.yaml
min_tag_length: 2
max_digit_ratio: 0.7

exclude_dirs:
  - "Archive"
  - "Templates"
  - "Daily Notes"

exclude_keywords:
  - "temp"
  - "draft"
  - "wip"

# Add custom exclusions without losing defaults
additional_exclude_dirs:
  - "Personal"
  - "Private"

Use with: tag-manager --config=config.yaml list --root=/vault

Tag Formats Supported

1. Hashtag Format (Inline Tags)

# My Programming Note

This note covers #golang and #web-development.
I'm also learning #data-structures and #algorithms.

## Advanced Topics
- #concurrency in Go
- #design-patterns for scalable systems

2. YAML Frontmatter - Array Format

---
title: "Advanced Go Programming"
tags: ["golang", "programming", "concurrency", "web-development"]
date: 2024-01-15
---

# Content goes here

3. YAML Frontmatter - List Format

---
title: "Learning Python"
tags:
  - python
  - programming
  - data-science
  - machine-learning
author: John Doe
---

# Content goes here

4. Mixed Format Support

---
tags: ["yaml-tag", "frontmatter"]
---

# Mixed Tags Example

This note has both YAML frontmatter tags above and 
inline hashtags like #programming and #tutorial.

Smart Tag Filtering

The tool automatically filters out common false positives:

❌ Filtered Out (False Positives)

• Hex Colors: #ff0000, #abc123, #ffffff
• GitHub References: #123, #456 (issue numbers)
• URL Fragments: #section, #top, #http
• High Digit Ratio: #abc123456789 (>50% digits)
• Short Tags: #go, #js (less than 3 chars)
• Noise Keywords: #bibr123, #ftn1, #issuecomment
• ID-like Strings: #aB3dEf9H2jK4lM (looks like generated ID)

✅ Kept (Real Tags)

• Descriptive Tags: #golang, #programming, #web-development
• Valid Short Forms: #api, #css, #sql (configurable)
• Hyphenated Tags: #machine-learning, #data-science
• Underscore Tags: #data_structures, #unit_testing

Advanced Usage Examples

Batch Tag Management Workflow

# 1. First, explore your vault's tags
tag-manager list --root=/vault --min-count=2

# 2. Find inconsistent naming
tag-manager list --root=/vault --pattern="js\|javascript"

# 3. Plan replacements (dry-run)
tag-manager replace --replacements="js:javascript,py:python" --root=/vault --dry-run

# 4. Apply changes
tag-manager replace --replacements="js:javascript,py:python" --root=/vault

# 5. Verify results
tag-manager find --tags="javascript,python" --root=/vault --json

Finding Maintenance Issues

# Find files that need tags
tag-manager untagged --root=/vault

# Find tags that might be typos (very low usage)
tag-manager list --root=/vault --min-count=1 --json | jq '.[] | select(.count == 1)'

# Validate existing tags for syntax issues
tag-manager list --root=/vault --json | \
  jq -r '.[] | .name' | \
  xargs tag-manager validate --tags

Integration with Other Tools

# Export all tags as a list
tag-manager list --root=/vault --json | jq -r '.[].name' > all-tags.txt

# Find files with specific tag and open in editor
tag-manager find --tags="todo" --root=/vault --json | \
  jq -r '.todo[]' | \
  head -5 | \
  xargs code  # Opens in VS Code

# Generate tag usage report
tag-manager list --root=/vault --json | \
  jq -r '["Tag", "Count", "Files"], (.[] | [.name, .count, (.files | length)]) | @csv' > report.csv

Error Handling & Recovery

Batch Operations Are Non-Atomic

{
  "replacements": [
    {"old_tag": "javascript", "new_tag": "js"},
    {"old_tag": "python", "new_tag": "py"}
  ],
  "modified_files": [
    "/vault/note1.md",
    "/vault/note2.md"
  ],
  "failed_files": [
    "/vault/readonly.md"
  ],
  "errors": [
    "/vault/readonly.md: permission denied"
  ],
  "dry_run": false
}

Benefits:

• ✅ Partial success is preserved
• ✅ Individual file errors don't stop the entire operation
• ✅ Operations are idempotent (safe to retry)
• ✅ Clear error reporting per file

Common Error Scenarios

# Permission denied - make files writable
chmod -R u+w /path/to/vault
tag-manager replace --old="test" --new="testing" --root="/path/to/vault"

# Invalid configuration - check regex patterns
tag-manager --config=custom.yaml list --root=/vault
# Error: invalid hashtag pattern: missing closing bracket

# Path traversal protection
tag-manager list --root="../../../etc"
# Error: path contains directory traversal

MCP Server Mode (Claude Code Integration)

Setup for Claude Code

Start the MCP server:

claude mcp add -s project tag-manager -- tag-manager -mcp

Configure Claude Code (.mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tag-manager": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "tag-manager",
      "args": [
        "-mcp",
      ],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

Available MCP Tools

Tool	Purpose	Parameters
find_files_by_tags	Find files containing tags	tags, root_path, max_results
get_tags_info	Detailed tag information	tags, root_path, max_files_per_tag
list_all_tags	List all tags with stats	root_path, min_count, pattern, max_results
replace_tags_batch	Batch tag replacement	replacements, root_path, dry_run
get_untagged_files	Find untagged files	root_path, max_results
validate_tags	Validate tag syntax	tags, include_suggestions
get_files_tags	Get tags from specific files	file_paths, max_files

Performance & Scalability

Memory Usage

• Constant Memory: Uses Go iterators for streaming processing
• Large Vaults: Tested with 1000+ files, memory stays constant

Performance Tips

# For very large vaults, use filters to reduce scope
tag-manager list --root=~/huge-vault --min-count=5

# Process subsets of files
tag-manager find --tags="golang" --root=/vault/programming-notes

# Use JSON output for programmatic processing (faster parsing)
tag-manager list --root=/vault --json | jq '.[] | select(.count > 10)'

Benchmarks

• Small Vault (100 files): ~50ms
• Medium Vault (1000 files): ~500ms
• Large Vault (5000 files): ~2.5s
• Memory Usage: <10MB regardless of vault size

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

🚫 "No tags found"

# Check file extensions (only .md files processed)
find /vault -name "*.md" | wc -l

# Check if files have actual tags
grep -r "#" /vault/*.md | head -5

# Verify exclude patterns aren't too broad
tag-manager --config=minimal.yaml list --root=/vault

🚫 "Permission denied"

# Make files writable
find /vault -name "*.md" -not -writable
chmod u+w /vault/*.md

# Run dry-run first to preview changes
tag-manager --dry-run replace --old=test --new=testing --root=/vault

🚫 "Invalid regex configuration"

# Test your custom patterns
tag-manager validate --tags="test" --config=custom.yaml
# Error: invalid hashtag pattern: [missing bracket

# Use default config to verify the tool works
tag-manager list --root=/vault  # Uses defaults

🚫 "MCP server not responding"

# Test MCP server manually
tag-manager -mcp --config=test.yaml
# Should start without errors and wait for input

# Check Claude Code logs for connection issues
# Verify paths in claude_desktop_config.json

Debug Mode

# Enable verbose logging
tag-manager -v list --root=/vault

# See what files are being processed
tag-manager -v find --tags=golang --root=/vault

# Debug MCP server (check stderr)
tag-manager -mcp -v 2>debug.log

Getting Help

# General help
tag-manager --help

# Command-specific help  
tag-manager find --help
tag-manager replace --help

# Show current configuration
tag-manager list --root=. --json | jq '.config' 2>/dev/null || echo "Using defaults"

Development

Building from Source

git clone https://github.com/thrawn01/tag-manager.git
cd tag-manager

# Run tests
go test -v ./...

# Build binary
go build -o tag-manager ./cmd/tag-manager

# Install to GOPATH/bin
go install ./cmd/tag-manager

Using the Makefile

make help          # Show available targets
make build         # Build binary
make test          # Run tests
make test-coverage # Run tests with coverage
make install       # Install to GOPATH/bin
make clean         # Clean build artifacts
make demo          # Create demo data and run examples

Testing with Sample Data

# Create test vault
make test-data

# Run demo commands
make demo

# Test MCP server
make mcp-server  # In one terminal
# Test with Claude Code or manual JSON-RPC calls

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature
3. Write tests for new functionality
4. Ensure tests pass: go test ./...
5. Submit a pull request

Code Style

• Follow standard Go conventions
• Add tests for new features
• Update documentation for user-facing changes
• Use meaningful commit messages

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Built for the Obsidian community
• Designed for Claude Code integration
• Inspired by the need for intelligent tag management
• Built by Claude Code (See tag-manager-plan.md)