Headless Vault CLI

Access Markdown notes on your personal computer from this VPS-hosted Moltbot via SSH tunnel.

Terminology: "Local machine" = your personal computer (macOS or Linux) where your notes live. This skill runs on the VPS and connects to your machine via a reverse SSH tunnel.

Available Commands

You have access to these commands ONLY. Do not attempt commands not listed here (no rename, delete, move, or edit commands exist).

How to Run Commands

All commands are executed via SSH:

ssh -4 -p ${VAULT_SSH_PORT:-2222} ${VAULT_SSH_USER}@${VAULT_SSH_HOST:-localhost} vaultctl <command> [args]

Always use -4 to force IPv4 (avoids IPv6 timeout issues).

Command Reference

tree - List vault structure

ssh -4 -p 2222 ${VAULT_SSH_USER}@localhost vaultctl tree
ssh -4 -p 2222 ${VAULT_SSH_USER}@localhost vaultctl tree --depth 2
ssh -4 -p 2222 ${VAULT_SSH_USER}@localhost vaultctl tree --all

Options:

• --depth N - Maximum depth to traverse
• --all - Include all files, not just .md

resolve - Find note by path or title

ssh -4 -p 2222 ${VAULT_SSH_USER}@localhost vaultctl resolve --title "Meeting Notes"
ssh -4 -p 2222 ${VAULT_SSH_USER}@localhost vaultctl resolve --path "Projects/Plan.md"

For paths/titles with spaces, use --base64:

# echo -n "My Meeting Notes" | base64 → TXkgTWVldGluZyBOb3Rlcw==
ssh -4 -p 2222 ${VAULT_SSH_USER}@localhost vaultctl resolve --title TXkgTWVldGluZyBOb3Rlcw== --base64

info - Get file metadata

ssh -4 -p 2222 ${VAULT_SSH_USER}@localhost vaultctl info "Projects/Plan.md"

Returns JSON: {"path": "...", "lines": N, "bytes": N, "sha256": "...", "mtime": N}

For paths with spaces, use --base64:

# echo -n "Notes/My File.md" | base64 → Tm90ZXMvTXkgRmlsZS5tZA==
ssh -4 -p 2222 ${VAULT_SSH_USER}@localhost vaultctl info Tm90ZXMvTXkgRmlsZS5tZA== --base64

read - Read note content

ssh -4 -p 2222 ${VAULT_SSH_USER}@localhost vaultctl read "Projects/Plan.md"

Returns JSON: {"path": "...", "content": "..."}

For paths with spaces, use --base64:

# echo -n "Notes/My File.md" | base64 → Tm90ZXMvTXkgRmlsZS5tZA==
ssh -4 -p 2222 ${VAULT_SSH_USER}@localhost vaultctl read Tm90ZXMvTXkgRmlsZS5tZA== --base64

create - Create a NEW note

IMPORTANT: Use --base64 flag with BOTH path AND content base64 encoded. This is required for paths/content with spaces or special characters.

ssh -4 -p 2222 ${VAULT_SSH_USER}@localhost vaultctl create <base64_path> <base64_content> --base64

Example to create "Notes/Morning Brief.md" with content "# Hello\n\nWorld":

# Encode path: echo -n "Notes/Morning Brief.md" | base64 → Tm90ZXMvTW9ybmluZyBCcmllZi5tZA==
# Encode content: echo -n "# Hello\n\nWorld" | base64 → IyBIZWxsbwoKV29ybGQ=
ssh -4 -p 2222 ${VAULT_SSH_USER}@localhost vaultctl create Tm90ZXMvTW9ybmluZyBCcmllZi5tZA== IyBIZWxsbwoKV29ybGQ= --base64

• Creates parent directories automatically
• Fails if file already exists (use append to add to existing files)
• File must have .md extension
• NEVER duplicate the title as a heading inside the note content (e.g., for "My Note.md", don't start content with "# My Note")

append - Append to EXISTING note

ssh -4 -p 2222 ${VAULT_SSH_USER}@localhost vaultctl append <base64_path> <base64_content> --base64

• Fails if file does not exist (use create for new files)

set-root - Set vault root directory

ssh -4 -p 2222 ${VAULT_SSH_USER}@localhost vaultctl set-root /path/to/vault

What You CANNOT Do

These operations are NOT supported:

• Rename files or folders
• Delete files or folders
• Move files between folders
• Edit specific parts of a file (only append to end)
• Create folders without a file (folders are created automatically with create)

Environment Variables

Auto-configured by tunnel-setup.sh:

• VAULT_SSH_USER - Local machine username (auto-detected)
• VAULT_SSH_PORT - Tunnel port (default: 2222)
• VAULT_SSH_HOST - Tunnel host (default: localhost)

Tips

• Always run vaultctl tree first to see what notes exist
• Use vaultctl resolve --title "..." to find a note by name
• All output is JSON
• The local machine must be online with tunnel running
• For paths with spaces: Use --base64 flag with base64-encoded path (works for read, info, create, append)

Examples

Important: Always run tree first if you're unsure what notes exist. This prevents errors from wrong paths or duplicate names.

Example 1: User asks to read a note (check first)

User: "Show me my project plan"

Step 1 - Check what exists:

ssh -4 -p 2222 ${VAULT_SSH_USER}@localhost vaultctl tree

Output:

{"tree": [{"path": "Projects", "type": "dir"}, {"path": "Projects/Plan.md", "type": "file"}]}

Step 2 - Now read the correct path:

ssh -4 -p 2222 ${VAULT_SSH_USER}@localhost vaultctl read "Projects/Plan.md"

Output:

{"path": "Projects/Plan.md", "content": "# Project Plan\n\n## Goals\n..."}

Example 2: User asks to create a note (check first to avoid duplicates)

User: "Create a meeting notes file"

Step 1 - Check what already exists:

ssh -4 -p 2222 ${VAULT_SSH_USER}@localhost vaultctl tree

Output:

{"tree": [{"path": "Projects", "type": "dir"}, {"path": "Projects/Plan.md", "type": "file"}]}

Step 2 - No "Meeting Notes" exists, safe to create (do NOT duplicate title as heading):

# echo -n "Meeting Notes.md" | base64 → TWVldGluZyBOb3Rlcy5tZA==
# echo -n "## Agenda\n\n- Item 1\n- Item 2\n" | base64 → IyMgQWdlbmRhCgotIEl0ZW0gMQotIEl0ZW0gMgo=
ssh -4 -p 2222 ${VAULT_SSH_USER}@localhost vaultctl create TWVldGluZyBOb3Rlcy5tZA== IyMgQWdlbmRhCgotIEl0ZW0gMQotIEl0ZW0gMgo= --base64

Output:

{"status": "ok", "path": "Meeting Notes.md"}

Example 3: User asks about vault contents

User: "What's in my notes?"

ssh -4 -p 2222 ${VAULT_SSH_USER}@localhost vaultctl tree --depth 2

Output:

{"tree": [{"path": "Projects", "type": "dir"}, {"path": "Projects/Plan.md", "type": "file"}, {"path": "Ideas.md", "type": "file"}]}

Then summarize for user: "You have a Projects folder with Plan.md, and an Ideas.md file at the root."

Example 4: Complex workflow with source and output notes

User: "According to the source note 'AI Digest Sources.md', browse the sources and output the digest to 'digest/2025-01-28-digest.md'"

Step 1 - Check what exists:

ssh -4 -p 2222 ${VAULT_SSH_USER}@localhost vaultctl tree

Output:

{"tree": [{"path": "AI Digest Sources.md", "type": "file"}, {"path": "digest", "type": "dir"}, {"path": "digest/2025-01-27-digest.md", "type": "file"}]}

Step 2 - Validate:

• Source "AI Digest Sources.md" exists ✓
• Output "digest/2025-01-28-digest.md" does NOT exist → will use create

(If source didn't exist: STOP and ask user "I couldn't find 'AI Digest Sources.md'. Did you mean one of these: [list alternatives]?")

(If output already existed: use append instead of create)

Step 3 - Read the source note:

ssh -4 -p 2222 ${VAULT_SSH_USER}@localhost vaultctl read "AI Digest Sources.md"

Output:

{"path": "AI Digest Sources.md", "content": "# AI Digest Sources\n\n- https://example.com/article1\n- https://example.com/article2\n"}

Step 4 - Browse sources and generate digest content (done by bot outside this skill)

Step 5 - Write output to vault (do NOT duplicate title as heading):

# echo -n "digest/2025-01-28-digest.md" | base64 → ZGlnZXN0LzIwMjUtMDEtMjgtZGlnZXN0Lm1k
# echo -n "## Summary\n\nKey points from today's sources...\n" | base64 → IyMgU3VtbWFyeQoKS2V5IHBvaW50cyBmcm9tIHRvZGF5J3Mgc291cmNlcy4uLgo=
ssh -4 -p 2222 ${VAULT_SSH_USER}@localhost vaultctl create ZGlnZXN0LzIwMjUtMDEtMjgtZGlnZXN0Lm1k IyMgU3VtbWFyeQoKS2V5IHBvaW50cyBmcm9tIHRvZGF5J3Mgc291cmNlcy4uLgo= --base64

(If output already existed, use append instead:)

ssh -4 -p 2222 ${VAULT_SSH_USER}@localhost vaultctl append ZGlnZXN0LzIwMjUtMDEtMjgtZGlnZXN0Lm1k IyMgVXBkYXRlCi4uLg== --base64