File History

Obsidian File History & Recovery

When to Use This Skill

Obsidian keeps two parallel version stores:

• File Recovery — local snapshots, configurable in Settings → File Recovery (history:*).
• Sync history — server-side versions, available with Obsidian Sync (sync:history, sync:read, sync:restore).

diff unifies both: by default it lists every available version (newest = 1) across both stores. filter=local|sync narrows the source.

Prerequisites

• Obsidian desktop v1.12.4+ with CLI enabled
• Obsidian must be running
• File Recovery enabled (Settings → File Recovery) for local history
• Active Obsidian Sync subscription for sync:* commands

Diff Versions

# List all available versions of the active file
obsidian diff

# List versions of a specific file
obsidian diff file=Recipe

# Compare the latest version (1) to current state
obsidian diff file=Recipe from=1

# Compare two specific versions (newest = 1)
obsidian diff file=Recipe from=2 to=1

# Restrict to one source
obsidian diff file=Recipe filter=local
obsidian diff file=Recipe filter=sync

Local File Recovery

# History entries for a file
obsidian history file=Recipe

# Every file that has local history
obsidian history:list

# Read a specific version (default: version=1, newest)
obsidian history:read file=Recipe version=3

# Open the File Recovery view in the GUI
obsidian history:open file=Recipe

# Restore a previous version (overwrites current)
obsidian history:restore file=Recipe version=3

Sync Version History

# Sync versions for a file
obsidian sync:history file=Recipe
obsidian sync:history file=Recipe total

# Read a specific sync version
obsidian sync:read file=Recipe version=2

# Restore a sync version (overwrites current)
obsidian sync:restore file=Recipe version=2

# Open the sync history view in the GUI
obsidian sync:open file=Recipe

# Files deleted via sync (recoverable)
obsidian sync:deleted

Common Patterns

"Show me what an agent changed since I last reviewed"

# Diff the most recent saved version against the current state
obsidian diff file="Notes/Project" from=1

"Restore yesterday's version after a bad edit"

# 1. List versions to identify the right one (newest = 1)
obsidian history file=Daily/2026-04-29
# 2. Read it to confirm
obsidian history:read file=Daily/2026-04-29 version=2
# 3. Restore
obsidian history:restore file=Daily/2026-04-29 version=2

"Audit history for every file an agent touched in this session"

# Given a list of changed paths in $changed_files
while read -r path; do
  echo "=== $path ==="
  obsidian diff path="$path" filter=local
done <<< "$changed_files"

Pre-flight before destructive edits

For agentic workflows that overwrite or delete notes, capture the version number first so a restore is one command away:

# Snapshot the current version
obsidian history file="Notes/Important" | head -2
# … perform edit …
# If something breaks:
obsidian history:restore file="Notes/Important" version=2

Agentic Optimizations

Related Skills

• vault-files — Read or write the current state of a note
• publish-sync — Sync service status (pause/resume) and published-file workflows
• vault-management — Switch vaults before inspecting their history