Our review

This skill enables interacting with an Obsidian vault via the command-line interface, allowing you to read, create, search, and manage notes, properties, tasks, and backlinks, as well as develop and debug plugins and themes.

Strengths

Directly manipulates Obsidian notes and metadata from the command line.
Supports both basic note operations and advanced plugin development workflows.
Allows targeting specific vaults and files with flexible naming.
Includes developer commands for reloading plugins, inspecting DOM, and running JavaScript.

Limitations

Requires Obsidian to be running with the local REST API enabled.
The CLI is read-write, so accidental data loss is possible if commands are misused.
Some commands may depend on specific plugins or additional configuration.

When to use it

Use when you need to programmatically or from an AI agent manage notes, search vault content, or develop Obsidian plugins without opening the Obsidian UI.

When not to use it

Do not use if Obsidian is not running or if the user prefers GUI-based note management, as the CLI offers a limited representation of the vault.

Examples

Read a note

Read the content of my Obsidian note 'Meeting Notes' and summarize it.

Search vault for a term

Search my Obsidian vault for notes containing 'project roadmap' and list the file names.

Plugin development: reload and check errors

I just updated my Obsidian plugin 'my-plugin', reload it and check for any errors.

name: obsidian-cli description: 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 the user asks to interact with their Obsidian vault, manage notes, search vault content, perform vault operations from the command line, 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. This is always up to date. 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

Run obsidian help to see additional developer commands including CDP and debugger controls.

Obsidian CLI - Vault Management

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