obsidian-bases

# Obsidian Bases Expert knowledge for creating and managing Obsidian Bases - the interactive database feature introduced in Obsidian v1.9.10 that transforms notes into filterable, sortable views using YAML frontmatter properties. ## Core Concepts **What is Bases?** - Native core plugin (no community plugins required) - Creates interactive database views from any set of notes - Uses `.base` file extension (plain-text YAML format) - **Only reads YAML frontmatter** - does not parse note content - Faster performance than Dataview with inline editing support **Key Distinction from Dataview:** - Bases: User-friendly, visual, inline editable, YAML frontmatter only - Dataview: More powerful queries, inline properties, content parsing ## File Structure ```yaml # example.base filters: # Global filters (apply to all views) and: - 'status != "done"' - taggedWith(file.file, "project") formulas: # Computed properties days_left: '(dueDate - today()).days()' status_icon: 'if(done, "✅", "⬜")' views: - type: table name: "Active Tasks" filters: 'dueDate > now()' # View-specific filter properties: - name: title displayName: "Task" - name: status - name: dueDate sort: - property: dueDate direction: asc - type: card name: "Visual View" properties: - name: cover - name: title ``` ## Property Access Patterns ### Note Properties (Frontmatter) ```yaml # Shorthand access price status tags # Explicit prefix note.price note.status # Bracket notation (for spaces) note["property name"] ``` ### File Properties (Implicit) ```yaml file.path # Full file path file.name # File name only file.folder # Parent folder file.size # File size in bytes file.ctime # Creation time file.mtime # Modification time file.ext # Extension file.file # File object (for filter functions) file.links # Outgoing links file.inlinks # Incoming backlinks ``` ### Formula Properties ```yaml formula.my_formula formula["formula name"] ``` ## Filter Syntax ### Basic Operators ```yaml # Comparison (must have spaces around operators) price > 10 status == "done" age >= 18 # Logical operators and: - condition1 - condition2 or: - condition1 - condition2 not: - condition ``` ### Filter Functions ```yaml # Tag filtering taggedWith(file.file, "project") taggedWith(file.file, "project/web") # Nested tags # Link filtering linksTo(file.file, "Note Name") file.hasLink(this.file) # Backlinks to current note # Folder filtering inFolder(file.file, "Projects") inFolder(file.file, "Projects/Web") # Nested folders # Date filtering file.mtime > now() - "1 week" # Modified recently dueDate < today() # Overdue createdDate >= "2025-01-01" # This year # Regex matching /\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}/.matches(file.name) # Daily note format ``` ### The `this` Variable Context-aware reference to the active note: ```yaml # In sidebar: references active note in main pane file.hasLink(this.file) # Find backlinks # In embedded base: references containing note file.folder == this.file.folder # Same folder # Exclude current note file.path != this.file.path ``` ## Formula Syntax ### Basic Formulas ```yaml formulas: # Arithmetic total: "price * quantity" discounted: "total * 0.9" # String manipulation full_name: 'firstName + " " + lastName' # Conditional logic status_emoji: 'if(status == "done", "✅", if(status == "in-progress", "🔄", "⬜"))' # Date calculations days_until: '(dueDate - today()).days()' overdue: 'dueDate < today()' # Link analysis backlink_count: 'file.inlinks.length' has_backlinks: 'file.inlinks.length > 0' ``` ### Built-in Functions **Global:** - `today()` - Current date - `now()` - Current date and time - `link(target, displayText?)` - Create link - `image(url)` - Create image object - `list(value)` - Ensure value is a list - `if(condition, trueResult, falseResult?)` - Conditional **String methods:** - `.toUpperCase()`, `.toLowerCase()` - `.trim()`, `.split(separator)` - `.startsWith(prefix)`, `.endsWith(suffix)` - `.replace(search, replacement)` **Number methods:** - `.toFixed(decimals)` - Format decimal places - `.round()`, `.floor()`, `.ceil()` **Date methods:** - `.date()` - Convert to date - `.startOf(unit)`, `.endOf(unit)` - `.format(pattern)` - `.days()`, `.months()`, `.years()` - Duration extraction **List methods:** - `.length` - Count elements - `[index]` - Access element (0-based) - `.filter(condition)` - Filter elements - `.map(transformation)` - Transform elements - `.join(separator)` - Concatenate to string ### Duration Units ```yaml now() + "1 week" now() - "30 days" file.mtime > now() - "1 month" # Available units y, year, years M, month, months w, week, weeks d, day, days h, hour, hours m, minute, minutes s, second, seconds ``` ## View Types ### Table View ```yaml views: - type: table name: "Tasks" properties: - name: title displayName: "Task Name" # Column header width: 200 # Optional width - name: status - name: dueDate sort: - property: dueDate direction: asc # or desc ``` ### Card View ```yaml views: - type: card name: "Projects" properties: - name: cover # Cover image - name: title - name: status ``` ## Common Patterns ### Task Management ```yaml filters: taggedWith(file.file, "task") formulas: overdue: 'dueDate < today()' priority_icon: 'if(priority == "high", "🔴", if(priority == "medium", "🟡", "🟢"))' views: - type: table name: "Active" filters: 'status != "done"' sort: - property: dueDate direction: asc ``` ### Enhanced Backlinks ```yaml # Drag to sidebar for context-aware backlinks filters: file.hasLink(this.file) views: - type: table name: "Backlinks" properties: - name: file.name displayName: "Note" - name: file.mtime displayName: "Modified" ``` ### Book/Media Library ```yaml filters: taggedWith(file.file, "book") formulas: year_read: 'dateFinished.date().year()' views: - type: card name: "Library" properties: - name: cover - name: title - name: author - type: table name: "Reading List" filters: 'status == "to-read"' ``` ### Weekly Review ```yaml filters: file.mtime > now() - "1 week" formulas: days_ago: '(today() - file.mtime.date()).days()' views: - type: table name: "Recent Activity" sort: - property: file.mtime direction: desc ``` ## Embedding Bases ```markdown ![[MyBase.base]] # Embed entire base ![[MyBase.base#ViewName]] # Embed specific view ``` ## Best Practices **Filter Organization:** - Use global filters for the broadest scope (lowest common denominator) - Refine with view-level filters for specific subsets - Global + view filters combine with AND **Formula Reusability:** - Create formula properties for repeated logic - Reference as `formula.name` in views - No circular references allowed **Robust List Handling:** ```yaml # Always wrap in list() for mixed single/array values list(tags).length list(tags).filter(value.startsWith("project")) ``` **Date Validation:** ```yaml valid_date: 'if(dueDate, dueDate, "No date")' ``` ## Common Gotchas **1. Arithmetic operator spacing:** ```yaml # ✅ Correct price * 2 # ❌ Wrong (parser error) price*2 ``` **2. Quote nesting in YAML:** ```yaml # ✅ Correct - single outer, double inner formulas: message: 'Hello "world"' # ❌ Wrong formulas: message: "Hello "world"" ``` **3. Link properties in frontmatter:** ```yaml # ✅ Correct - must quote related: "[[Other Note]]" # ❌ Wrong related: [[Other Note]] ``` **4. File extension required:** ```markdown <!-- ✅ Correct --> ![[MyBase.base]] <!-- ❌ Wrong (looks for .md) --> ![[MyBase]] ``` **5. Global vs view filter scope:** - Cannot override global filter at view level - Make global permissive, refine in views ## Current Limitations - **View types:** Only table and card (no board, calendar, gallery yet) - **Images:** Display as text, not rendered in cards - **Inline properties:** Only YAML frontmatter (no Dataview inline fields) - **Content parsing:** Cannot query note body text - **Note creation:** Cannot create new notes from base - **Grouping:** No native group-by (use separate views instead) - **Aggregations:** No built-in sum/average/count ## Property Types | Type | Example | |------|---------| | Text | `"Project Alpha"` | | List | `["tag1", "tag2"]` | | Number | `42`, `3.14` | | Checkbox | `true`, `false` | | Date | `2025-11-26` | | Date & Time | `2025-11-26T14:30:00` | **Note:** Property types are vault-wide. If `priority` is Number in one note, it must be Number everywhere. ## Resources - **Official Docs:** https://help.obsidian.md/bases - **Syntax Reference:** https://help.obsidian.md/bases/syntax - **Functions:** https://help.obsidian.md/bases/functions - **Roadmap:** https://help.obsidian.md/bases/roadmap