Obsidian CLI Workspace and Navigation
Use this skill for Obsidian workspace and navigation operations through official desktop obsidian CLI commands.
Routing contract
Use this skill when:
- the user asks about vault metadata or vault listing
- the user asks to inspect or change workspace layout state
- the user asks about tabs, recent files, or opening views/files for navigation
- the user asks for random/unique note navigation helpers
- the user asks to open a URL in Obsidian web viewer
- the user asks for word/character counts
Do not use this skill when:
- the request is primarily note CRUD, tasks, properties, templates, links, or history/diff
- the request is plugin/theme/snippet administration
- the request is Sync or Publish management
- the request is explicitly a named one-command workflow ID (route to
obsidian-cli-workflows)
- the request is runtime diagnostics, DOM/CSS inspection, screenshot capture, eval, or CDP
Preconditions
Assume these must be true before relying on this skill:
obsidian command is installed and registered- Obsidian desktop app is available locally
- first command may launch Obsidian if it is not running
- in Codex Desktop on macOS, direct launches may crash; use the sanitized wrapper
Codex-safe launcher
In Codex Desktop on macOS, prefer this wrapper:
script -q /dev/null /usr/local/bin/zsh -ilc 'unset __CFBundleIdentifier LaunchInstanceID XPC_SERVICE_NAME CODEX_CI CODEX_SANDBOX CODEX_SHELL; export TERM=xterm-256color; obsidian ...'
Escalate the wrapped command only when required by sandbox boundaries.
Core operating policy
- Use only documented official workspace/navigation CLI commands.
- Prefer read-only inspection first for mixed flows:
vault, vaults, workspace, workspaces, tabs, recents, wordcount.
- Treat workspace layout mutations as high-impact operations (
workspace:save, workspace:load, workspace:delete).
- For
tab:open and open, require explicit target intent when both file and view options are plausible.
vault:open is not currently treated as part of this skill's owned command set in this plugin release.- For
web url=..., require explicit URL target and avoid silent URL construction.
- Summarize side effects before mutating workspace state.
- If a request is outside official workspace/navigation surface, say so and stop.
Risk levels
- low:
vault, vaults, workspace, workspaces, tabs, recents, random, random:read, wordcount
- medium:
open, tab:open, unique, web
- high:
workspace:save, workspace:load, workspace:delete
Response contract
Always return:
- capability used
- risk level (
low, medium, high)
- execution mode (
direct or escalated)
- exact command(s) run or proposed
- side-effect summary (for workspace mutations)
- files/views/workspaces affected, if any
- blocking reason, if any
Command families
Vault:
Workspace and tabs:
workspaceworkspacesworkspace:saveworkspace:loadworkspace:deletetabstab:openrecents
Navigation and utility:
openrandomrandom:readuniquewebwordcount
References
references/obsidian-cli-workspace-navigation-playbook.mdreferences/limitations-and-boundaries.mdreferences/validation.mdreferences/source-links.md
Source: hashgraph-online/awesome-codex-plugins → plugins/greg-asher/codex-obsidian/skills/obsidian-cli-workspace-and-navigation/SKILL.md
1---2name: obsidian-cli-workspace-and-navigation3description: Use this skill when the user needs official desktop Obsidian CLI workspace, vault, tab, navigation, and utility operations, including workspace save/load/delete, tab and recent-file handling, vault info/listing, random/unique note navigation helpers, web viewer, and wordcount. Keep this skill separate from note CRUD/tasks/properties/history, runtime admin, devtools diagnostics, and Sync/Publish operations.4---5
6
7# Obsidian CLI Workspace and Navigation
8
9Use this skill for Obsidian workspace and navigation operations through official desktop `obsidian` CLI commands.
10
11## Routing contract
12
13Use this skill when:
14- the user asks about vault metadata or vault listing
15- the user asks to inspect or change workspace layout state
16- the user asks about tabs, recent files, or opening views/files for navigation
17- the user asks for random/unique note navigation helpers
18- the user asks to open a URL in Obsidian web viewer
19- the user asks for word/character counts
20
21Do not use this skill when:
22- the request is primarily note CRUD, tasks, properties, templates, links, or history/diff
23- the request is plugin/theme/snippet administration
24- the request is Sync or Publish management
25- the request is explicitly a named one-command workflow ID (route to `obsidian-cli-workflows`)
26- the request is runtime diagnostics, DOM/CSS inspection, screenshot capture, eval, or CDP
27
28## Preconditions
29
30Assume these must be true before relying on this skill:
31- `obsidian` command is installed and registered
32- Obsidian desktop app is available locally
33- first command may launch Obsidian if it is not running
34- in Codex Desktop on macOS, direct launches may crash; use the sanitized wrapper
35
36## Codex-safe launcher
37
38In Codex Desktop on macOS, prefer this wrapper:
39
40```bash
41script -q /dev/null /usr/local/bin/zsh -ilc 'unset __CFBundleIdentifier LaunchInstanceID XPC_SERVICE_NAME CODEX_CI CODEX_SANDBOX CODEX_SHELL; export TERM=xterm-256color; obsidian ...'
42```
43
44Escalate the wrapped command only when required by sandbox boundaries.
45
46## Core operating policy
47
481. Use only documented official workspace/navigation CLI commands.
492. Prefer read-only inspection first for mixed flows: `vault`, `vaults`, `workspace`, `workspaces`, `tabs`, `recents`, `wordcount`.
503. Treat workspace layout mutations as high-impact operations (`workspace:save`, `workspace:load`, `workspace:delete`).
514. For `tab:open` and `open`, require explicit target intent when both file and view options are plausible.
525. `vault:open` is not currently treated as part of this skill's owned command set in this plugin release.
536. For `web url=...`, require explicit URL target and avoid silent URL construction.
547. Summarize side effects before mutating workspace state.
558. If a request is outside official workspace/navigation surface, say so and stop.
56
57## Risk levels
58
59- low: `vault`, `vaults`, `workspace`, `workspaces`, `tabs`, `recents`, `random`, `random:read`, `wordcount`
60- medium: `open`, `tab:open`, `unique`, `web`
61- high: `workspace:save`, `workspace:load`, `workspace:delete`
62
63## Response contract
64
65Always return:
66- capability used
67- risk level (`low`, `medium`, `high`)
68- execution mode (`direct` or `escalated`)
69- exact command(s) run or proposed
70- side-effect summary (for workspace mutations)
71- files/views/workspaces affected, if any
72- blocking reason, if any
73
74## Command families
75
76Vault:
77- `vault`
78- `vaults`
79
80Workspace and tabs:
81- `workspace`
82- `workspaces`
83- `workspace:save`
84- `workspace:load`
85- `workspace:delete`
86- `tabs`
87- `tab:open`
88- `recents`
89
90Navigation and utility:
91- `open`
92- `random`
93- `random:read`
94- `unique`
95- `web`
96- `wordcount`
97
98## References
99
100- `references/obsidian-cli-workspace-navigation-playbook.md`
101- `references/limitations-and-boundaries.md`
102- `references/validation.md`
103- `references/source-links.md`
104
105---
106
107**Source:** [`hashgraph-online/awesome-codex-plugins`](https://github.com/hashgraph-online/awesome-codex-plugins) → `plugins/greg-asher/codex-obsidian/skills/obsidian-cli-workspace-and-navigation/SKILL.md`
thedixitjain