Obsidian CLI

Obsidian CLI

Thin adapter: route to the official CLI executable and let its help command supply command details. Do not duplicate CLI docs here.

When to use

• User explicitly asks for Obsidian CLI, or needs capabilities that fs_* / js_eval do not cover (Obsidian semantics: backlinks, frontmatter properties, daily notes, command palette, plugin reload, link graph, tasks/tags, file history, etc.).
• Otherwise prefer native tools (bash, fs_write, fs_edit, …). Do not round-trip through terminal_command for simple vault file work — bash already covers it.

Workflow

1. Resolve executable (first use in the conversation): prefer the real CLI binary over the app launcher. On macOS, first check /Applications/Obsidian.app/Contents/MacOS/obsidian-cli; if executable, use that absolute path for all later commands. Otherwise use command -v obsidian. If the resolved path is /Applications/Obsidian.app/Contents/MacOS/obsidian, treat it as invalid because it is the app executable.
2. Probe: run <resolved-cli> version.
3. Discover: run <resolved-cli> help or <resolved-cli> help <command> — CLI documents parameters; read on demand.
4. Execute: run <resolved-cli> <subcommand> …. Add format=json when you need structured output to parse.

Rules:

• Never launch the interactive TUI (do not run the resolved CLI with no subcommand).
• Do not use /Applications/Obsidian.app/Contents/MacOS/obsidian as the CLI on macOS; that is the app executable, not the preferred CLI binary.
• Mutating CLI commands may require user approval like any other shell command.
• Desktop only (terminal_command is not available on mobile).

Probe failure

If <resolved-cli> version fails (command not found or CLI error), tell the user to enable Settings → General → Command line interface, then retry. Do not guess command syntax — use <resolved-cli> help after probe succeeds.