obsidian-cli

Obsidian CLI

Obsidian CLI (obsidian) is a command line interface for controlling Obsidian from the terminal. It enables scripting, automation, and integration with external tools. The Obsidian desktop app must be running for CLI commands to work.

Prerequisites

• Obsidian installer v1.12+ with CLI enabled in Settings > General > Command line interface
• The Obsidian desktop app must be running (the first CLI command will launch it if not)

Command Syntax

# Single command mode
obsidian <command> [parameters] [flags]

# Interactive TUI mode (autocomplete, history, Ctrl+R search)
obsidian

Parameters and Flags

• Parameter: takes a value as param=value. Quote values with spaces: content="Hello world"
• Flag: boolean switch with no value. Include to enable: open, overwrite, verbose
• Multiline content: use \n for newline, \t for tab
• Copy output: append --copy to any command to copy output to clipboard

Vault Targeting

If the terminal's cwd is inside a vault, that vault is used. Otherwise the active vault is used.

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

File Targeting

Many commands accept file=<name> (wikilink-style resolution) or path=<path> (exact path from vault root). If neither is provided, the active file is used.

obsidian read file=Recipe
obsidian read path="Templates/Recipe.md"

Common Workflows

Reading and Writing Notes

obsidian read                                    # read active file
obsidian read file=Recipe                        # read by name
obsidian create name="Trip to Paris" template=Travel open  # create from template
obsidian append file=TODO content="- [ ] Buy milk"         # append to file
obsidian prepend path="journal.md" content="---"           # prepend after frontmatter

Daily Notes

obsidian daily                                              # open today's daily note
obsidian daily:read                                         # read daily note contents
obsidian daily:append content="- [ ] Buy groceries"         # add to daily note
obsidian daily:path                                         # get daily note path

Search

obsidian search query="meeting notes"                       # search vault
obsidian search query="TODO" path=Projects limit=10         # scoped search
obsidian search:context query="meeting" format=json         # search with line context

Tasks

obsidian tasks                          # list all tasks
obsidian tasks todo                     # incomplete tasks only
obsidian tasks daily                    # tasks from daily note
obsidian task ref="Recipe.md:8" toggle  # toggle task status
obsidian task daily line=3 done         # mark daily task done

Properties and Tags

obsidian tags counts                                        # list tags with counts
obsidian properties file=Note format=yaml                   # show file properties
obsidian property:set name=status value=draft file=Note     # set property
obsidian property:read name=tags file=Note                  # read property

Vault Analysis

obsidian files                          # list all files
obsidian files folder=Projects ext=md   # filter by folder/extension
obsidian backlinks file=Note            # find what links to a file
obsidian links file=Note                # outgoing links
obsidian orphans                        # files with no incoming links
obsidian unresolved                     # broken links
obsidian outline file=Note              # show heading structure

Plugins

obsidian plugins                        # list installed plugins
obsidian plugins:enabled filter=community  # list enabled community plugins
obsidian plugin:install id=my-plugin enable # install and enable
obsidian plugin:reload id=my-plugin     # reload (for development)

Developer Commands

obsidian devtools                                    # toggle dev tools
obsidian dev:screenshot path=screenshot.png          # take screenshot
obsidian eval code="app.vault.getFiles().length"     # run JavaScript
obsidian dev:console level=error                     # show error logs
obsidian dev:css selector=".workspace" prop=background  # inspect CSS
obsidian dev:dom selector=".nav-file-title" text all    # query DOM

Output Formats

Many commands support format=json|tsv|csv|md for structured output. Default varies by command. Use total flag to get counts only.

Command Categories

For the complete command reference with all parameters and flags, consult references/commands.md. Commands are organized into these categories:

• General: help, version, reload, restart
• Bases: bases, base:views, base:create, base:query
• Bookmarks: bookmarks, bookmark
• Command palette: commands, command, hotkeys, hotkey
• Daily notes: daily, daily:path, daily:read, daily:append, daily:prepend
• File history: diff, history, history:list, history:read, history:restore, history:open
• Files and folders: file, files, folder, folders, open, create, read, append, prepend, move, rename, delete
• Links: backlinks, links, unresolved, orphans, deadends
• Outline: outline
• Plugins: plugins, plugins:enabled, plugins:restrict, plugin, plugin:enable, plugin:disable, plugin:install, plugin:uninstall, plugin:reload
• Properties: aliases, properties, property:set, property:remove, property:read
• Publish: publish:site, publish:list, publish:status, publish:add, publish:remove, publish:open
• Random notes: random, random:read
• Search: search, search:context, search:open
• Sync: sync, sync:status, sync:history, sync:read, sync:restore, sync:open, sync:deleted
• Tags: tags, tag
• Tasks: tasks, task
• Templates: templates, template:read, template:insert
• Themes and snippets: themes, theme, theme:set, theme:install, theme:uninstall, snippets, snippets:enabled, snippet:enable, snippet:disable
• Unique notes: unique
• Vault: vault, vaults, vault:open
• Web viewer: web
• Wordcount: wordcount
• Workspace: workspace, workspaces, workspace:save, workspace:load, workspace:delete, tabs, tab:open, recents
• Developer: devtools, dev:debug, dev:cdp, dev:errors, dev:screenshot, dev:console, dev:css, dev:dom, dev:mobile, eval

Validation

Confirm the CLI is available and connected before relying on command output: run obsidian version. A successful version string means the desktop app is running with the CLI enabled; an error means the app is not running or the CLI is disabled (see Prerequisites).

Additional Resources

Reference Files

• references/commands.md - Complete command reference with all parameters, flags, and descriptions for every Obsidian CLI command