obsidian

name

obsidian

description

Create and edit Obsidian Flavored Markdown with wikilinks, embeds, callouts, properties, and other Obsidian-specific syntax. Create and edit Obsidian Bases (.base files) with views, filters, formulas, and summaries. Interact with Obsidian vaults using the Obsidian CLI to read, create, search, and manage notes, tasks, properties, and more. Also supports plugin and theme development with commands to reload plugins, run JavaScript, capture errors, take screenshots, and inspect the DOM. Use when working with .md files in Obsidian, .base files, or when the user mentions wikilinks, callouts, frontmatter, tags, embeds, Obsidian notes, Bases, table views, card views, filters, formulas, or Obsidian CLI vault operations.

Obsidian Skill

Comprehensive skill for Obsidian: Markdown authoring, Bases (database views), and CLI operations.

---

Part 1: Obsidian Flavored Markdown

Create and edit valid Obsidian Flavored Markdown. Obsidian extends CommonMark and GFM with wikilinks, embeds, callouts, properties, comments, and other syntax. This covers only Obsidian-specific extensions — standard Markdown is assumed knowledge.

Workflow: Creating an Obsidian Note

1. Add frontmatter with properties (title, tags, aliases) at the top of the file. See PROPERTIES.md for all property types.
2. Write content using standard Markdown for structure, plus Obsidian-specific syntax below.
3. Link related notes using wikilinks ([[Note]]) for internal vault connections, or standard Markdown links for external URLs.
4. Embed content from other notes, images, or PDFs using the ![[embed]] syntax. See EMBEDS.md for all embed types.
5. Add callouts for highlighted information using > [!type] syntax. See CALLOUTS.md for all callout types.
6. Verify the note renders correctly in Obsidian's reading view.

When choosing between wikilinks and Markdown links: use [[wikilinks]] for notes within the vault (Obsidian tracks renames automatically) and [text](url) for external URLs only.

Internal Links (Wikilinks)

[[Note Name]]                          Link to note
[[Note Name|Display Text]]             Custom display text
[[Note Name#Heading]]                  Link to heading
[[Note Name#^block-id]]                Link to block
[[#Heading in same note]]              Same-note heading link

Define a block ID by appending ^block-id to any paragraph:

This paragraph can be linked to. ^my-block-id

Embeds

Prefix any wikilink with ! to embed its content inline:

![[Note Name]]                         Embed full note
![[Note Name#Heading]]                 Embed section
![[image.png]]                         Embed image
![[image.png|300]]                     Embed image with width
![[document.pdf#page=3]]               Embed PDF page

See EMBEDS.md for audio, video, search embeds, and external images.

Callouts

> [!note]
> Basic callout.

> [!warning] Custom Title
> Callout with a custom title.

> [!faq]- Collapsed by default
> Foldable callout (- collapsed, + expanded).

Common types: note, tip, warning, info, example, quote, bug, danger, success, failure, question, abstract, todo.

See CALLOUTS.md for the full list with aliases, nesting, and custom CSS callouts.

Properties (Frontmatter)

---
title: My Note
date: 2024-01-15
tags:
  - project
  - active
aliases:
  - Alternative Name
cssclasses:
  - custom-class
---

See PROPERTIES.md for all property types, tag syntax rules, and advanced usage.

Tags

#tag                    Inline tag
#nested/tag             Nested tag with hierarchy

Tags can contain letters, numbers (not first character), underscores, hyphens, and forward slashes.

Comments

This is visible %%but this is hidden%% text.

%%
This entire block is hidden in reading view.
%%

Obsidian-Specific Formatting

==Highlighted text==                   Highlight syntax

Math (LaTeX)

Inline: $e^{i\pi} + 1 = 0$

Block:
$$
\frac{a}{b} = c
$$

Diagrams (Mermaid)

```mermaid
graph TD
    A[Start] --> B{Decision}
    B -->|Yes| C[Do this]
    B -->|No| D[Do that]
```

Footnotes

Text with a footnote[^1].

[^1]: Footnote content.

Inline footnote.^[This is inline.]

---

Part 2: Obsidian Bases

Create and edit .base files — database-like views of vault notes with filters, formulas, and multiple view types.

Workflow

1. Create the file: Create a .base file in the vault with valid YAML content
2. Define scope: Add filters to select which notes appear (by tag, folder, property, or date)
3. Add formulas (optional): Define computed properties in the formulas section
4. Configure views: Add one or more views (table, cards, list, or map) with order specifying which properties to display
5. Validate: Verify the file is valid YAML with no syntax errors

Schema

filters:
  and: []    # All conditions must match
  or: []     # Any condition matches
  not: []    # Exclude matches

formulas:
  formula_name: 'expression'

properties:
  property_name:
    displayName: "Display Name"

summaries:
  custom_summary_name: 'values.mean().round(3)'

views:
  - type: table | cards | list | map
    name: "View Name"
    limit: 10
    groupBy:
      property: property_name
      direction: ASC | DESC
    filters:
      and: []
    order:
      - file.name
      - property_name
      - formula.formula_name
    summaries:
      property_name: Average

Filter Syntax

# Single filter
filters: 'status == "done"'

# AND/OR/NOT
filters:
  and:
    - 'status == "done"'
    - 'priority > 3'

Operators: ==, !=, >, <, >=, <=, &&, ||, !

File Properties

Property	Type	Description
file.name	String	File name
file.path	String	Full path
file.folder	String	Parent folder
file.ctime	Date	Created time
file.mtime	Date	Modified time
file.tags	List	All tags
file.links	List	Internal links
file.backlinks	List	Files linking to this
file.size	Number	File size in bytes

Formula Syntax

formulas:
  total: "price * quantity"
  status_icon: 'if(done, "✅", "⏳")'
  days_old: '(now() - file.ctime).days'
  days_until_due: 'if(due_date, (date(due_date) - today()).days, "")'

Key functions: date(), now(), today(), if(), duration(), file(), link()

Duration: Subtracting dates returns Duration — access .days, .hours, etc. before using number functions.

Default Summaries

Average, Min, Max, Sum, Range, Median, Stddev, Earliest, Latest, Checked, Unchecked, Empty, Filled, Unique

Complete Example

filters:
  and:
    - file.hasTag("task")
    - 'file.ext == "md"'

formulas:
  days_until_due: 'if(due, (date(due) - today()).days, "")'
  priority_label: 'if(priority == 1, "🔴 High", if(priority == 2, "🟡 Medium", "🟢 Low"))'

views:
  - type: table
    name: "Active Tasks"
    filters:
      and:
        - 'status != "done"'
    order:
      - file.name
      - status
      - formula.priority_label
      - due
      - formula.days_until_due
    groupBy:
      property: status
      direction: ASC

Embedding Bases

![[MyBase.base]]
![[MyBase.base#View Name]]

YAML Quoting Rules

• Single quotes for formulas containing double quotes: 'if(done, "Yes", "No")'
• Double quotes for simple strings: "My View Name"

Troubleshooting

• Duration math: Always access .days/.hours before .round() — Duration is not a number
• Null checks: Use if() to guard properties that may not exist
• Undefined formulas: Every formula.X in order must have matching entry in formulas

See FUNCTIONS_REFERENCE.md for the complete reference of all types.

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Part 3: Obsidian CLI

Use the obsidian CLI to interact with a running Obsidian instance. Requires Obsidian to be open.

Command Reference

Run obsidian help to see all available commands. Full docs: https://help.obsidian.md/cli

Syntax

Parameters take a value with =. Quote values with spaces:

obsidian create name="My Note" content="Hello world"

Flags are boolean switches with no value:

obsidian create name="My Note" silent overwrite

File Targeting

• file=<name> — resolves like a wikilink (name only, no path or extension needed)
• path=<path> — exact path from vault root

Without either, the active file is used.

Vault Targeting

Use vault=<name> as the first parameter to target a specific vault:

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

Common Patterns

obsidian read file="My Note"
obsidian create name="New Note" content="# Hello" template="Template" silent
obsidian append file="My Note" content="New line"
obsidian search query="search term" limit=10
obsidian daily:read
obsidian daily:append content="- [ ] New task"
obsidian property:set name="status" value="done" file="My Note"
obsidian tasks daily todo
obsidian tags sort=count counts
obsidian backlinks file="My Note"

Use --copy to copy output to clipboard. Use silent to prevent files from opening. Use total on list commands to get a count.

Plugin Development

After making code changes to a plugin or theme:

1. Reload: obsidian plugin:reload id=my-plugin
2. Check errors: obsidian dev:errors
3. Verify visually: obsidian dev:screenshot path=screenshot.png
4. Check console: obsidian dev:console level=error

Additional: obsidian eval code="...", obsidian dev:css selector="..." prop=background-color, obsidian dev:mobile on

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References

• Obsidian Flavored Markdown
• Bases Syntax
• CLI Docs
• Properties Reference
• Embeds Reference
• Callouts Reference
• Functions Reference