Ivo’s Log

Introducing ProjectO26: A Type-Driven Note-Taking System in Obsidian

Three months ago, I wrote about how I finally stopped switching note-taking apps. Today, I need to be honest with you: I failed.

Yes, I kept switching. And before you close this tab, let me explain why this failure led to something better — a system that finally clicked with how my brain actually works.

The Problem With "Just Notes"

When I started using Obsidian as my daily driver, something felt off. The workflow wasn't fluid. I kept hitting resistance, like trying to fit square pegs into round holes. After weeks of frustration, I finally sat down to figure out why.

The breakthrough came when I realized: I think in objects, not notes.

For me, a note can't just be "a note." That's like calling everything in your house "a thing." A glass is a glass. A knife is a knife. Each has its own properties, its own purpose. When everything is just "a note," my brain gets confused. I need structure. I need types. With types, I don't need to think about where the note needs to go, since it's already a thing and can be grouped with other things of the same type. Like sorting laundry — socks go with socks, shirts with shirts. You don't decide where things go, and you immediately know what each item is for just by looking at it.

For example, a Meeting type automatically has attendees, date/time, and maybe a URL for a Zoom call. A Person type has contact info, relationships, and organizations. The structure guides what information belongs there and makes everything self-organizing and queryable. So I don't need folders.

The Search for Object-Based Thinking

This realization sent me on another journey through the app ecosystem:

Capacities: The European Solution

First, I discovered Capacities, a German app that immediately made sense. Every entry is an object. A daily note is a Daily. A meeting note is a Meeting. A place note is a Place. Simple, elegant, and exactly what I needed.

Starting with Capacities felt natural. But then...

Tana: The Power of Supertags

I found Tana and its supertags feature — a way to turn any node into a structured object. Plus, I genuinely love outliners. Tana felt like the perfect app. Until the familiar questions crept back: What about privacy? Local-first? Freedom from "the cloud"?

Back to Obsidian (But Different This Time)

If you have ADHD, you're probably nodding along right now. If you don't, you're probably wondering how anyone can switch apps this many times. Both reactions are valid.

But here's where it gets interesting: I started connecting dots.

What if I could replicate the object-based system in Obsidian? The app I already own, that stores files locally, that's private by default and based on Markdown that will work decades from now?

I wasn't the first person to think this way. I discovered that Kepano (Obsidian's CEO) uses a similar approach in his own vault.

The turning point came when I realized: thinking in objects instead of folders just feels easy to me. After experiencing how Tana's outliner and object system worked, I couldn't unsee it. I didn't need a complex folder hierarchy. I needed types that naturally organize themselves. That's when I knew I had to build this.

Introducing ProjectO26

In the last days of 2025, I had an idea. I started building what I'm calling ProjectO26 — an Obsidian vault built around object-based thinking that I'll use as a year-long experiment throughout all of 2026. The name was created with the help of my friend Vlad Campos.

The core concept is simple: every note has a type. That type determines:

ProjectO26 draws inspiration from:

The Journey Continues

Was switching apps multiple times wasteful? Maybe. But each app taught me something about what I actually needed. Capacities showed me the power of objects. Tana demonstrated the flexibility of structured data. And Obsidian gave me the foundation to build it all myself.

So no, I didn't stop switching apps. But this year, I'm committing to something different: a full year with ProjectO26. No switching. No new apps. Just building, refining, and documenting what works.

ProjectO26 isn't just another note-taking system. It's a year-long experiment to build the system I've been trying to find by jumping between apps. Follow along to see if it actually works.

Curious how it works? Next post I'll break down the architecture. Throughout 2026, I'll share the templates, structures, and lessons learned as they evolve.