| name | obsidian-cli |
| description | Interact with Obsidian vaults using the Obsidian CLI to read, create, search, and manage notes, tasks, and properties. Also supports plugin and theme development. Use when the user asks to interact with their Obsidian vault from the command line, manage notes, search vault content, or develop and debug Obsidian plugins and themes. |
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
For multiline content use \n for newline and \t for tab.
File Targeting
Many commands accept file or path to target a file. Without either, the active file is used.
file=<name> — resolves like a wikilink (name only, no path or extension needed)path=<path> — exact path from vault root, e.g. folder/note.md
Vault Targeting
Commands target the most recently focused vault by default. 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 on any command to copy output to clipboard. Use silent to prevent files from opening. Use total on list commands to get a count.
Plugin Development
Develop/Test Cycle
After making code changes to a plugin or theme, follow this workflow:
- Reload the plugin to pick up changes:
obsidian plugin:reload id=my-plugin
- Check for errors — if errors appear, fix and repeat from step 1:
obsidian dev:errors
- Verify visually with a screenshot or DOM inspection:
obsidian dev:screenshot path=screenshot.png
obsidian dev:dom selector=".workspace-leaf" text
- Check console output for warnings or unexpected logs:
obsidian dev:console level=error
Additional Developer Commands
Run JavaScript in the app context:
obsidian eval code="app.vault.getFiles().length"
Inspect CSS values:
obsidian dev:css selector=".workspace-leaf" prop=background-color
Toggle mobile emulation:
obsidian dev:mobile on
