Obsidian MOC Template: A Map of Content Starter Kit

Maps of Content are the middle layer most vaults are missing — between one giant index nobody updates and a flat pile of notes nobody can navigate. This Obsidian MOC template ships that layer fully worked: a home MOC, three topic maps and fifteen interlinked notes underneath, so the graph view shows the three-level tree the moment you open it.

What's inside the MOC starter kit

• Home MOC — level one, the single front door. It links only to maps, never to individual notes: one screen, glanceable, boring on purpose.
• MOCs/ — level two: Productivity MOC, Learning MOC and Writing MOC, each arranging its notes with a line of context per link.
• Notes/ — level three: fifteen one-idea notes, from Spaced Repetition to Editing in Passes, living flat in a single folder. The maps carry the structure; the folder tree stays dumb.
• MOC Template — a new-map template with the linking conventions written into it.

How a map of content works in Obsidian

Three conventions do all the work here. The home MOC links only to MOCs. Each MOC links its notes with a phrase of commentary — which notes made the cut, in what order, with what context; that curation is what separates a map of content from a tag search. And every note carries an Up: link back to its map, so you can always climb out, while sideways links between notes give the graph its texture. The rule of thumb baked into the template: a topic earns its own MOC when seven to ten loose notes accumulate around it — not when the topic merely exists.

An Obsidian MOC setup with no plugins

The kit runs entirely on core plugins — keep restricted mode on if Obsidian asks. The core Templates plugin comes preconfigured for creating new maps. After installing, open the graph view: three clusters around three hubs, with the home MOC above them, is the method made visible.

Install the MOC template

Download the zip, unzip it, choose Open folder as vault — or clone the folder from GitHub. Your first own map is one template insertion away; core Templates vs Templater shows how. MOCs also slot into larger systems: our Obsidian second brain guide covers where maps sit next to PARA and the Zettelkasten, and the PARA starter vault ships two MOCs working inside a folder structure, if you want both patterns at once. More of the cluster lives in the second brain and PARA category.