tools-only Workflow: Search Vault
Search vault using DQL (Dataview Query Language), content search, or tag filtering.
Steps
- Determine search type based on intent:
- Structured query (table, list) -> DQL/Dataview
- Text content search -> Content (grep-like)
- Tag/property filter -> JsonLogic
- Build query using appropriate syntax
- Execute search via
Tools/SearchVault.py search - Format results as table, JSON, or text
Tool Usage
# Check if Obsidian REST API is available
python Tools/SearchVault.py status
# Dataview query
python Tools/SearchVault.py search --type dataview \
"TABLE status, tags FROM \"01 - Projects\" WHERE status != \"completed\""
# Content search (grep-like)
python Tools/SearchVault.py search --type content \
--query "kubernetes deployment" \
--folder "03 - Resources"
# JsonLogic search
python Tools/SearchVault.py search --type jsonlogic \
--filter '{"and": [{"glob": ["01 - Projects/**", {"var": "path"}]}]}'
# Output formats
python Tools/SearchVault.py search --type content --query "topic" --json
python Tools/SearchVault.py search --type content --query "topic" --table
Search Types
| Type | When to Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
dataview |
Structured queries with TABLE/LIST/TASK | TABLE status FROM "01 - Projects" |
content |
Full-text search across files | --query "search term" |
jsonlogic |
Complex property/path filtering | JSON filter object |
Options
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--type |
dataview, content, jsonlogic |
--query |
Search text (for content type) |
--folder |
Limit to folder |
--tags |
Filter by tags |
--json |
JSON output |
--table |
Table output |
--limit |
Max results |
Fallback Behavior
When Obsidian REST API is unavailable:
- Content search falls back to direct file grep via
pathlib+ regex - DQL queries are not available (requires Dataview plugin running)
- JsonLogic is not available (requires REST API)
Context Files
reference/rest-api.md- API endpoints, DQL syntaxreference/vault-organization.md- Folder structure for scoping searches