Obsidian Cli

Parameters vs Flags

• Parameter: takes a value — name=Note content="Hello world"
• Flag: boolean switch, no value — open, overwrite, newtab
• Multiline content: use \n for newline, \t for tab
• Spaces in values: wrap in quotes — content="Hello world"

Vault Targeting

• Default: current working directory if it's a vault, otherwise the active vault
• Explicit: vault=<name> or vault=<id> as FIRST parameter before the command

obsidian vault=PraxVault daily
obsidian vault="My Vault" search query="test"

File Targeting

Many commands accept file and path:

• file=<name> — wikilink-style resolution (name only, no path/extension needed)
• path=<path> — exact path from vault root, e.g. 100xDevBootcamp/03_Web3/SelfStudy/classes/SS-W01.md
• If neither provided, defaults to active file

Copy Output

Add --copy to any command to copy output to clipboard:

obsidian read --copy
obsidian search query="TODO" --copy

File Operations

create — Create or overwrite a file

obsidian create name=<name> path=<path> content=<text> template=<name>
# Flags: overwrite, open, newtab

Examples:

# Create with content
obsidian create name="SS-W01 - Blockchains" content="# SS-W01\n\nStudy notes"

# Create from template
obsidian create name="New Note" template=Travel

# Create at specific path and open it
obsidian create path="Projects/idea.md" content="# Idea" open

# Overwrite existing
obsidian create name=Note content="Fresh start" overwrite

read — Read file contents

obsidian read                          # active file
obsidian read file=Recipe              # by name
obsidian read path="folder/note.md"    # by path

append — Append content to end of file

obsidian append content=<text>         # active file
obsidian append file=<name> content=<text>
obsidian append path=<path> content=<text>
# Flag: inline (no newline before appended content)

Examples:

# Append to specific file
obsidian append file="SS-W01 - Blockchains" content="\n## New Section\nContent here"

# Inline append (no preceding newline)
obsidian append file=Note content=" more text" inline

prepend — Prepend content after frontmatter

obsidian prepend content=<text>
obsidian prepend file=<name> content=<text>
# Flag: inline

[!important] Prepend inserts AFTER frontmatter, not at the very top of the file.

move — Move or rename a file

obsidian move file=<name> to=<path>       # move to folder
obsidian move path=<path> to=<new-path>   # move with new path

Automatically updates internal links if enabled in vault settings.

rename — Rename a file

obsidian rename file=<name> name=<new-name>
obsidian rename path=<path> name=<new-name>

Extension preserved automatically if omitted.

delete — Delete a file

obsidian delete file=<name>       # to trash (default)
obsidian delete file=<name> permanent  # skip trash

open — Open a file

obsidian open file=<name>
obsidian open path=<path> newtab

File & Folder Info

file — Show file metadata

obsidian file                    # active file
obsidian file file=<name>

Returns: path, name, extension, size, created, modified timestamps.

files — List vault files

obsidian files                   # all files
obsidian files folder=<path>     # filter by folder
obsidian files ext=md            # filter by extension
obsidian files total             # just the count

folder — Show folder info

obsidian folder path=<path>
obsidian folder path=<path> info=files    # file count only
obsidian folder path=<path> info=size     # size only

folders — List vault folders

obsidian folders                       # all folders
obsidian folders folder=<path>         # filter by parent
obsidian folders total                 # just the count

Properties (Frontmatter)

properties — List properties

obsidian properties                           # all vault properties
obsidian properties active                    # active file's properties
obsidian properties file=<name>               # specific file
obsidian properties name=status               # specific property count
obsidian properties counts sort=count         # sorted by frequency
obsidian properties format=yaml               # yaml|json|tsv

property:set — Set a property

obsidian property:set name=<prop> value=<val>
obsidian property:set name=<prop> value=<val> file=<name>
obsidian property:set name=<prop> value=<val> type=<type>
# Types: text, list, number, checkbox, date, datetime

Examples:

# Set status on active file
obsidian property:set name=status value=in-progress

# Set status on specific file
obsidian property:set name=status value=complete file="SS-W01 - Blockchains"

# Set a date property
obsidian property:set name=date value=2026-03-02 type=date

# Set a list property
obsidian property:set name=tags value="[100xdev, web3]" type=list

property:read — Read a property value

obsidian property:read name=status
obsidian property:read name=status file=<name>

property:remove — Remove a property

obsidian property:remove name=<prop>
obsidian property:remove name=<prop> file=<name>

Search

search — Search vault text (returns file paths)

obsidian search query=<text>
obsidian search query=<text> path=<folder>    # limit to folder
obsidian search query=<text> limit=10         # max results
obsidian search query=<text> case             # case sensitive
obsidian search query=<text> total            # count only
obsidian search query=<text> format=json      # text|json

search:context — Search with line context

Returns grep-style path:line: text output.

obsidian search:context query=<text>
obsidian search:context query=<text> path=<folder>
obsidian search:context query="TODO" format=json

search:open — Open search view in Obsidian

obsidian search:open query="meeting notes"

Tags

tags — List tags

obsidian tags                         # all vault tags
obsidian tags active                  # active file's tags
obsidian tags file=<name>             # specific file
obsidian tags counts                  # with occurrence counts
obsidian tags counts sort=count       # sorted by frequency
obsidian tags total                   # just the count
obsidian tags format=json             # json|tsv|csv

tag — Tag info

obsidian tag name=web3                # occurrence count
obsidian tag name=web3 total          # just the number
obsidian tag name=web3 verbose        # include file list

Tasks

tasks — List tasks

obsidian tasks                        # all tasks
obsidian tasks todo                   # incomplete only
obsidian tasks done                   # completed only
obsidian tasks file=<name>            # from specific file
obsidian tasks daily                  # from daily note
obsidian tasks active                 # from active file
obsidian tasks verbose                # group by file with line numbers
obsidian tasks total                  # just the count
obsidian tasks 'status=?'            # filter by custom status char
obsidian tasks format=json            # json|tsv|csv|text

task — Show or update a task

# Show task info
obsidian task file=Recipe line=8
obsidian task ref="Recipe.md:8"

# Toggle completion
obsidian task ref="Recipe.md:8" toggle

# Mark done/todo
obsidian task file=Recipe line=8 done
obsidian task file=Recipe line=8 todo
obsidian task daily line=3 toggle

# Set custom status
obsidian task file=Recipe line=8 status=-

Daily Notes

daily — Open daily note

obsidian daily
obsidian daily paneType=tab

daily:path — Get daily note path

Returns the expected path even if the file hasn't been created yet.

obsidian daily:path

daily:read — Read daily note

obsidian daily:read

daily:append — Append to daily note

obsidian daily:append content="- [ ] Buy groceries"
obsidian daily:append content="## Evening\nReflection" open
# Flags: inline, open

daily:prepend — Prepend to daily note

obsidian daily:prepend content="# Morning Priorities"
# Flags: inline, open

Templates

templates — List available templates

obsidian templates
obsidian templates total

template:read — Read template content

obsidian template:read name=<template>
obsidian template:read name=<template> resolve         # resolve variables
obsidian template:read name=<template> title="My Note" resolve

The resolve flag processes {{date}}, {{time}}, {{title}} variables.

template:insert — Insert template into active file

obsidian template:insert name=<template>

[!tip] Creating files from templates Use obsidian create path=<path> template=<name> to create a new file with a template applied.

Links Analysis

backlinks — Incoming links to a file

obsidian backlinks                     # active file
obsidian backlinks file=<name>
obsidian backlinks file=<name> counts  # include link counts
obsidian backlinks total               # just the count
obsidian backlinks format=json         # json|tsv|csv

links — Outgoing links from a file

obsidian links                         # active file
obsidian links file=<name>
obsidian links total

unresolved — Broken/unresolved links

obsidian unresolved                    # list all
obsidian unresolved total              # count
obsidian unresolved counts verbose     # with source files

orphans — Files with no incoming links

obsidian orphans
obsidian orphans total

deadends — Files with no outgoing links

obsidian deadends
obsidian deadends total

Bases

bases — List .base files

obsidian bases

base:views — List views in a base

obsidian base:views                    # active base

base:create — Create a new item in a base

obsidian base:create file=<base> name=<name> content=<text>
obsidian base:create file=<base> view=<view> name=<name>
# Flags: open, newtab

base:query — Query a base

obsidian base:query file=<base>
obsidian base:query file=<base> view=<view>
obsidian base:query file=<base> format=json    # json|csv|tsv|md|paths

Outline

outline — Show headings

obsidian outline                       # active file
obsidian outline file=<name>
obsidian outline format=tree           # tree|md|json
obsidian outline total                 # heading count

Plugins

plugins — List installed plugins

obsidian plugins
obsidian plugins filter=community versions
obsidian plugins filter=core
obsidian plugins format=json

plugin — Plugin info

obsidian plugin id=<plugin-id>

plugin:enable / plugin:disable

obsidian plugin:enable id=<id>
obsidian plugin:disable id=<id>

plugin:install / plugin:uninstall

obsidian plugin:install id=<id> enable
obsidian plugin:uninstall id=<id>

plugin:reload — Reload plugin (for developers)

obsidian plugin:reload id=my-plugin

Themes & Snippets

Themes

obsidian themes                        # list installed
obsidian theme                         # show active
obsidian theme:set name=<name>         # set active
obsidian theme:install name=<name> enable
obsidian theme:uninstall name=<name>

CSS Snippets

obsidian snippets                      # list all
obsidian snippets:enabled              # list enabled
obsidian snippet:enable name=<name>
obsidian snippet:disable name=<name>

Bookmarks

obsidian bookmarks                     # list bookmarks
obsidian bookmarks total verbose
obsidian bookmark file=<path>          # bookmark a file
obsidian bookmark file=<path> subpath="#Heading"
obsidian bookmark search="TODO"        # bookmark a search
obsidian bookmark url="https://..."    # bookmark a URL

Vault Info

vault — Show vault info

obsidian vault
obsidian vault info=name               # name|path|files|folders|size

vaults — List known vaults

obsidian vaults
obsidian vaults verbose                # include paths
obsidian vaults total

vault:open — Switch vault (TUI only)