Obsidian

Obsidian CLI

Use the official Obsidian CLI (help.obsidian.md/cli) to control Obsidian from the terminal. The CLI connects to a running Obsidian instance via IPC.

When to Use

• User asks about Obsidian or vaults.
• User wants to manage notes (open, create, read, append, move, delete).
• User wants daily notes, search, tasks, tags, or properties.
• User wants to automate templates, sync, publish, or workspaces.
• User asks for rich documentation with LaTeX, callouts, or diagrams (create content with Obsidian-flavored markdown).

Prerequisites

• Obsidian 1.12+ installed and running
• CLI enabled: Settings → General → Command line interface
• The obsidian binary in your PATH

Important: The CLI talks to the running app via IPC. Obsidian must be open for commands to work.

Platform Notes

• macOS/Windows: Installer usually adds the CLI to PATH.
• Linux: You may need a wrapper so Electron flags don’t break CLI args; ensure IPC socket is available (e.g. PrivateTmp=false for systemd).

Command Overview (from official docs)

Syntax: obsidian [vault=Name] <command> [params]. Use param=value; quote values with spaces. Use vault= as the first parameter to target a vault.

General

obsidian help                    # List commands or help for a command
obsidian version                 # Obsidian version
obsidian reload                  # Reload the app window
obsidian restart                 # Restart the app

Vault

obsidian vault                   # Current vault info (name, path, files, size)
obsidian vault info=name         # Vault name only
obsidian vault info=path         # Vault path only
obsidian vaults                  # List known vaults (desktop)
obsidian vault=MyVault <cmd>     # Run command in vault MyVault (must be first)

Files and Folders

obsidian read file=Recipe                # Read by name (wikilink resolution)
obsidian read path="Work/notes.md"       # Read by exact path
obsidian file file=Recipe               # File info (path, size, dates)
obsidian create name=Note               # Create empty note (prefer path + write_file for content)
obsidian create name=Note template=Travel   # Create from template
obsidian create path="Work/note.md"     # Create empty at path
obsidian create name=Note overwrite     # Overwrite if exists
obsidian open file=Recipe               # Open in Obsidian
obsidian open file=Recipe newtab        # Open in new tab
obsidian append file=Log content="Line" # Append to file
obsidian prepend file=Log content="# H"  # Prepend (after frontmatter)
obsidian move file=Old to="Archive/Old.md"  # Move/rename (include .md)
obsidian delete file=Old                # Delete to trash
obsidian delete file=Old permanent      # Delete permanently
obsidian files total                    # File count
obsidian files folder="Work" ext=md     # Filter by folder/extension
obsidian folders                        # List folders
obsidian folder path="Work" info=size   # Folder size

Daily Notes

obsidian daily                      # Open today's daily note
obsidian daily silent               # Open without focusing
obsidian daily:read                 # Read daily note contents
obsidian daily:path                 # Get daily note path
obsidian daily:append content="- [ ] Task"
obsidian daily:prepend content="# Header"

Search

obsidian search query="meeting notes"
obsidian search query="TODO" matches    # With context
obsidian search query="x" path="Work" limit=10
obsidian search:open query="TODO"       # Open search in app

Tasks

obsidian tasks daily                  # Tasks in daily note
obsidian tasks daily todo             # Incomplete
obsidian tasks all todo               # All incomplete in vault
obsidian task daily line=3 toggle     # Toggle completion
obsidian task daily line=3 done       # Mark done
obsidian task ref="path/to.md:5" toggle

Tags and Properties

obsidian tags all counts
obsidian tags file=Note
obsidian tag name=project total
obsidian properties file=Note
obsidian property:read name=status file=Note
obsidian property:set name=status value=done file=Note
obsidian property:remove name=status file=Note
obsidian aliases

Links and Outline

obsidian backlinks file=Note
obsidian links file=Note
obsidian unresolved
obsidian orphans
obsidian deadends
obsidian outline file=Note

Templates

obsidian templates
obsidian template:read name=Daily
obsidian template:read name=Daily resolve title="My Note"
obsidian template:insert name=Daily    # Into active file

History and Sync

obsidian history file=Note
obsidian history:list
obsidian history:read file=Note version=3
obsidian history:restore file=Note version=3
obsidian diff file=Note from=1 to=3
obsidian sync:status
obsidian sync:history file=Note
obsidian sync:restore file=Note version=2

Other

obsidian random
obsidian random:read
obsidian wordcount file=Note
obsidian bookmarks
obsidian bookmark file="note.md" title="My Note"
obsidian bases
obsidian base:query file=MyBase format=json
obsidian workspace:save name="coding"
obsidian workspace:load name="coding"
obsidian plugins
obsidian plugin:enable id=dataview
obsidian theme:set name="Minimal"
obsidian publish:add file=Note
obsidian web url="https://example.com"

Best Practices

1. Vault: Always specify vault=Name. If CWD is inside a vault, that vault is used; otherwise confirm vault to use.
2. Ask first: For big or structured notes, confirm depth, visuals (images, LaTeX, Mermaid), and organization (single note, folder, canvas).
3. File vs path: file= uses wikilink-style resolution (name only). Use path= for an exact path from vault root.
4. Quoting: Use quotes for values with spaces: content="Hello world".
5. Rich content: Use Obsidian Advanced Syntax and Obsidian Flavored Markdown for callouts, LaTeX, Mermaid. Add YAML frontmatter (tags, status, dates) for discoverability.
6. Canvas: For .canvas files, use colors "1"–"6" as strings; text nodes support full markdown. See references/canvas-format.md for structure.

Writing note content: use path + write_file

The CLI can create empty notes or notes with very small content via create, but for any real note content always use the CLI only to get the path, then write with write_file:

1. Get the full path with the Obsidian CLI:
   • Vault root: obsidian vault info=path (then join with your relative path, e.g. Research/MyNote.md).
   • Daily note: obsidian daily:path.
   • Existing note path: obsidian file file=NoteName (or build path from vault root).
   • New note: obsidian vault info=path then path_from_vault_root/NoteName.md.
2. Write the content using the write_file skill (or your environment’s file write tool) to that absolute path.

Use obsidian create name=Note (no content) only when you need an empty file; for any content, get the path and use write_file. This avoids quoting/escaping, length limits, and fragile CLI argument handling.

Troubleshooting

• "Cannot connect": Obsidian must be running and CLI enabled in Settings → General.
• "Command not found": Ensure obsidian is in PATH.
• Linux: Use a wrapper that doesn’t inject Electron flags; for systemd, set PrivateTmp=false so IPC works.

References

• Obsidian CLI — Official CLI docs
• Obsidian Advanced Syntax
• Obsidian Flavored Markdown
• references/canvas-format.md — Canvas JSON
• references/markdown-features.md — LaTeX, callouts, Mermaid

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