obsidian-clis

# Obsidian CLIs **CLIs** here means two terminal interfaces: the **Obsidian app CLI** (`obsidian`, primary) and **notesmd-cli** (filesystem fallback when `obsidian` is not available). There is no separate invocation mode—pick the binary that exists in the environment. ## Which binary to use 1. If `obsidian` is on PATH, use it for all workflows below (richer surface: links, Bases, tasks, plugin dev). 2. If `obsidian` is missing but `notesmd-cli` is on PATH, follow [notesmd-fallback.md](notesmd-fallback.md) for headless vault operations. 3. If neither is available, say so and fall back to direct file edits, MCP, or other vault tools the user provides. ## CLI availability Before relying on either tool, confirm install with `command -v obsidian` and `command -v notesmd-cli` (or `which`) when the environment is unknown. Do not assume either binary is present. If sandboxed `obsidian` cannot find the running app, retry outside the sandbox before falling back. --- ## Obsidian app CLI Run `obsidian <command>` to control a running Obsidian instance from the terminal. The app must be running for most commands; the first command will launch Obsidian if not open. Run `obsidian help` or `obsidian help <command>` for the canonical, always-up-to-date command reference. This skill documents common patterns and non-obvious behaviors. ### Targeting vaults and files - **Vault**: `vault=<name>` as first parameter. Default: cwd if it's a vault folder, else the active vault. - **File**: `file=<name>` resolves like a wikilink (name only, no path or extension needed). `path=<path>` for exact path from vault root. - **TUI**: Run `obsidian` with no args for interactive mode; omit the `obsidian` prefix inside. ### Parameters and flags - **Parameters**: `param=value`. Quote values with spaces: `content="Hello world"`. - **Flags**: Boolean, no value: `silent`, `overwrite`, `newtab`. - **Multiline content**: Use `\n` for newlines, `\t` for tabs in `content=`. ### Search, links, and structure ```bash obsidian search query="text" [path=folder] [limit=n] [format=text|json] [total] [case] obsidian search:context query="text" [path=folder] [limit=n] # includes surrounding context obsidian links [file=Note] [total] obsidian backlinks [file=Note] [counts] [total] obsidian outline [file=Note] [format=tree|md] obsidian orphans [total] [active] # notes with no links to or from them obsidian deadends [total] [active] # notes with no outgoing links obsidian unresolved [total] [counts] [verbose] # broken wikilinks obsidian tags [active] [file=Note] [total] [counts] [sort=count] obsidian tag name=project [total] [verbose] ``` ### Common patterns #### Notes and content To peek at a note without reading its full content, use `property:read` or `properties file=Note`. ```bash obsidian read file="Note" # Use this to read the content of a wikilink obsidian create name="Note" content="# Title\n\nBody" [template=Name] [overwrite] [silent] obsidian append file="Note" content="- [ ] Task" obsidian prepend file="Note" content="# Header\n" obsidian move file="Note" to=folder/newpath.md obsidian rename file="Note" name="New file name" obsidian delete file="Note" ``` #### Daily notes (Daily notes plugin) ```bash obsidian daily:read obsidian daily [paneType=tab|split|window] [open] obsidian daily:append content="- [ ] Buy groceries" [inline] [open] obsidian daily:prepend content="- [ ] Morning routine" [inline] # goes after frontmatter obsidian daily:path # returns expected path even if file doesn't exist yet ``` #### Tasks ```bash obsidian tasks [daily] [file=Note] [todo] [done] [status="x"] [total] [verbose] obsidian task ref=path:line [toggle] [done] [todo] [daily] ``` #### Properties and frontmatter ```bash obsidian properties [active] [file=Note] [total] [counts] [format=yaml|json|tsv] obsidian property:read name=status [file=Note] obsidian property:set name=status value=done [file=Note] obsidian property:remove name=status [file=Note] ``` #### Bases (Bases plugin) ```bash obsidian bases obsidian base:views [file=base.base] obsidian base:query [file=base.base] [view=name] [format=json|csv|tsv|md|paths] obsidian base:create name="Item" content="..." [open] [newtab] ``` ### Plugin development #### Develop/test cycle After making code changes to a plugin or theme, follow this workflow: 1. **Reload** the plugin to pick up changes: ```bash obsidian plugin:reload id=my-plugin ``` 2. **Check for errors** — if errors appear, fix and repeat from step 1: ```bash obsidian dev:errors ``` 3. **Verify visually** with a screenshot or DOM inspection: ```bash obsidian dev:screenshot path=screenshot.png obsidian dev:dom selector=".workspace-leaf" text ``` 4. **Check console output** for warnings or unexpected logs: ```bash obsidian dev:console level=error ``` #### Additional developer commands Run JavaScript in the app context: ```bash obsidian eval code="app.vault.getFiles().length" ``` Inspect CSS values: ```bash obsidian dev:css selector=".workspace-leaf" prop=background-color ``` Toggle mobile emulation: ```bash obsidian dev:mobile on ``` ### Quick reference (Obsidian app CLI) | Task | Command | |------|---------| | List commands | `obsidian help` | | Open daily note | `obsidian daily` | | Append to daily | `obsidian daily:append content="- [ ] Task"` | | Search vault | `obsidian search query="text"` | | Read active/specified file | `obsidian read` or `obsidian read file=Note` | | Create from template | `obsidian create name="Title" template=Name` | | List tags with counts | `obsidian tags counts` | | List tasks from daily | `obsidian tasks daily` | | Find broken wikilinks | `obsidian unresolved counts` | | Find orphan notes | `obsidian orphans` | For **notesmd-cli**, see [notesmd-fallback.md](notesmd-fallback.md). ### References - `obsidian help` — full command list (always up to date) - `obsidian help <command>` — help for a specific command