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project type status tags created updated path
email-to-obsidian-automation project-plan active
pbs
n8n
automation
docker
traefik
production
2026-03-19 2026-03-19 PBS/Tech/Projects/

Email-to-Obsidian Automation — Project Plan

🎯 Project Goal

Automate the pipeline from Claude chat session → Obsidian vault. Currently, Claude drafts project notes as [PBS Project] emails to tjcherb@plantbasedsoutherner.com via Gmail draft or message_compose. Those emails are sitting unprocessed in Gmail. This project builds an n8n workflow that watches for those emails, parses the Obsidian-compatible markdown (including YAML frontmatter), commits the .md file to a Gitea repo, and lets the Obsidian Git plugin sync it down to the homelab vault.

Full pipeline: Claude drafts email → Gmail → n8n picks it up → parses frontmatter → writes .md to Gitea → Obsidian Git plugin pulls to homelab vault

📋 Prerequisites

  • Linode PBS server running (Docker, Traefik, n8n — already operational)
  • Google Workspace email (tjcherb@plantbasedsoutherner.com — already operational)
  • Obsidian vault on homelab (already exists)
  • Cloudflare DNS with wildcard (already configured)

🗓️ Phase 1: Gitea Setup on Linode

Goal

Deploy Gitea as a lightweight, self-hosted Git server on the PBS Linode server. Accessible via Traefik at git.plantbasedsoutherner.com (or similar subdomain). This becomes the central Git remote for the Obsidian vault and potentially other PBS projects (Ansible playbooks, PBS-API code, Content Hub, n8n workflow exports, dotfiles).

Step 1.1: Add Gitea to Docker Compose

  • Add Gitea service to compose stack (use gitea/gitea:latest image)
  • Provision a MySQL database (or SQLite if keeping it lean — decision point)
  • Mount persistent volume for Gitea data (/data)
  • Connect to the Traefik network
  • Add Traefik labels for routing (git.plantbasedsoutherner.com)
  • Deploy and verify Gitea web UI is accessible with valid SSL

Step 1.2: Configure Gitea

  • Complete initial setup wizard (admin account, settings)
  • Create a pbs-obsidian-vault repository
  • Generate an API token or SSH key for n8n to push commits
  • Store credentials in ansible-vault (consistent with existing secrets management)

Step 1.3: Initialize the Vault Repo

  • Clone the empty repo to homelab
  • Copy existing Obsidian vault contents into the repo
  • Initial commit and push to Gitea
  • Verify files visible in Gitea web UI

Step 1.4: Obsidian Git Plugin Setup (Homelab)

  • Install the Obsidian Git community plugin
  • Configure remote pointing to Gitea repo
  • Set auto-pull interval (every 10-15 minutes)
  • Enable auto-push for local edits (two-way sync)
  • Test: manually create a file in Gitea web UI → verify it appears in Obsidian after pull

Decision Points

  • Subdomain: git.plantbasedsoutherner.com vs gitea.plantbasedsoutherner.com?
  • Database: SQLite (simpler, fine for light use) vs MySQL (consistent with existing stack)?
  • Ansible: Add Gitea to existing Ansible playbook now, or manual deploy first then codify later?

🗓️ Phase 2: n8n Email-to-Vault Workflow

Goal

Build an n8n workflow that watches Gmail for [PBS Project] emails, extracts the markdown content, parses the YAML frontmatter to determine the file path and name, and commits the .md file to the correct location in the Gitea vault repo.

Step 2.1: Gmail Trigger Setup

  • Add a Gmail trigger node in n8n (poll-based or webhook)
  • Filter for emails with subject prefix [PBS Project]
  • Extract the email body (HTML — the markdown is wrapped in `` tags based on current format)
  • Mark or label processed emails to avoid re-processing (e.g., add a processed Gmail label)

Step 2.2: Parse Email Content

  • Strip HTML wrapper (`` tags) to get raw markdown
  • Extract YAML frontmatter block (content between --- delimiters)
  • Parse frontmatter fields:
    • project → used for filename (e.g., instagram-automation-session-notes.md)
    • path → target directory in vault (e.g., PBS/Tech/Sessions/)
    • type → informational, no routing logic needed yet
    • status → informational
    • tags → informational
    • created / updated → informational
  • Construct full file path: {path}/{project}.md
  • Handle edge cases:
    • Missing frontmatter → notify Travis via Google Chat, skip processing
    • Duplicate project slug → overwrite (update) existing file (desired behavior for status changes)

Step 2.3: Commit to Gitea via API

  • Use Gitea's REST API to create/update the file in the repo
    • POST /api/v1/repos/{owner}/{repo}/contents/{filepath} for new files
    • PUT with SHA for updates to existing files
  • Set commit message: [n8n] Add/Update: {project slug} ({type})
  • Authenticate using the API token from Phase 1

Step 2.4: Notification & Error Handling

  • On success: Google Chat notification — ✅ Vault updated: {project} → {path}
  • On failure (parse error, API error, missing frontmatter): Google Chat alert with details
  • Wire all dead-end branches to notifications (same pattern as Instagram workflow)

Step 2.5: Backfill Existing Emails

  • Run the workflow manually against existing [PBS Project] emails sitting in Gmail
  • Verify all files land in correct vault paths
  • Spot-check frontmatter parsing on a few files

🧪 Testing Strategy

  • Test on staging n8n instance first (consistent with existing workflow)
  • Use pinned execution data for safe testing
  • Send a test email with known frontmatter → verify file appears in Gitea
  • Verify Obsidian Git plugin picks up the new file on homelab
  • Test update scenario: send email with same project slug → verify file is overwritten
  • Test error scenario: send email with malformed/missing frontmatter → verify Google Chat alert

🔑 Key Architecture Decisions

  • Gitea on Linode (same server as n8n): Enables localhost communication, no external auth tokens needed for n8n → Gitea. Also useful for other PBS repos beyond just the vault.
  • Gitea REST API (not Git CLI from n8n): Cleaner than shelling out to git commands inside the n8n container. API is well-documented and n8n HTTP Request node handles it easily.
  • Obsidian Git plugin (not cron job): Simpler setup, two-way sync, only runs when Obsidian is open (which is when you need the files anyway). Can add cron later if needed.
  • Overwrite on duplicate slug: Treat the project field as a unique key. If Claude sends an updated version of a project plan, the new one replaces the old. Git history preserves all versions.
  • Gmail label for dedup: Processed emails get labeled so the trigger doesn't re-process them.

📊 Success Criteria

  • Gitea running at chosen subdomain with valid SSL
  • Obsidian vault repo syncing bidirectionally (Gitea ↔ homelab)
  • n8n workflow triggers on new [PBS Project] emails
  • Markdown files land in correct vault paths based on frontmatter
  • Existing backlog of Gmail project emails are processed
  • Error handling wired to Google Chat
  • End-to-end test: Claude drafts email → file appears in Obsidian vault within 15 minutes

🎯 Future Enhancements (Not in Scope)

  • Add Gitea to Ansible playbook for reproducible deploys
  • Authelia SSO for Gitea web UI (bundle with Portainer/Uptime Kuma SSO project)
  • n8n workflow version control — export workflow JSON to Gitea repo
  • PBS-API and Content Hub source code hosted on Gitea
  • Obsidian vault backup strategy (Gitea → offsite mirror)

Last Updated: March 19, 2026 Maintained by: Travis