obsidian-official-cli

Work with Obsidian vaults using the official Obsidian CLI (v1.12+). Open, search, create, move, and manage notes from the terminal. Use when working with Obsidian vaults for note management, file operations, searching content, managing tasks, properties, links, plugins, themes, sync operations, or any command-line interaction with Obsidian.

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Install skill "obsidian-official-cli" with this command: npx skills add slmoloch/obsidian-official-cli

Obsidian CLI

Official command-line interface for Obsidian. Anything you can do in Obsidian can be done from the command line — including developer commands for debugging, screenshots, and plugin reloading.

Prerequisites

  • Obsidian 1.12+ and Catalyst license required
  • Settings → General → Command line interface → Enable
  • Follow prompt to register the obsidian command
  • Restart terminal or source ~/.zprofile (macOS)
  • Note: Obsidian must be running for CLI to work

Test setup: obsidian version

Core Patterns

Command Structure

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

# TUI mode (interactive)
obsidian  # Enter TUI with autocomplete and history

# Vault targeting
obsidian vault=Notes <command>
obsidian vault="My Vault" <command>

Parameter Types

  • Parameters: name=value (quote values with spaces)
  • Flags: Boolean switches (just include to enable)
  • Multiline: Use for newlines, \t for tabs
  • Copy output: Add --copy to copy to clipboard

File Operations

Basic File Management

# Info and listing
obsidian file                          # Active file info
obsidian file file=Recipe              # Specific file info
obsidian files                         # List all files
obsidian files folder=Projects/        # Filter by folder
obsidian folders                       # List folders

# Open and read
obsidian open file=Recipe              # Open file
obsidian open path="Inbox/Note.md" newtab
obsidian read                          # Read active file
obsidian read file=Recipe --copy       # Read and copy to clipboard

# Create new notes
obsidian create name="New Note"
obsidian create name="Note" content="# Title Body"
obsidian create path="Inbox/Idea.md" template=Daily
obsidian create name="Note" silent overwrite

# Modify content
obsidian append file=Note content="New line"
obsidian append file=Note content="Same line" inline
obsidian prepend file=Note content="After frontmatter"

# Move and delete
obsidian move file=Note to=Archive/
obsidian move path="Inbox/Old.md" to="Projects/New.md"
obsidian delete file=Note              # To trash
obsidian delete file=Note permanent

File Targeting

  • file=<name> — Wikilink resolution (matches by name)
  • path=<path> — Exact path from vault root

Search and Discovery

Text Search

obsidian search query="meeting notes"
obsidian search query="TODO" matches    # Show context
obsidian search query="project" path=Projects/
obsidian search query="urgent" limit=10 case
obsidian search query="API" format=json
obsidian search:open query="search term"  # Open in Obsidian

Tags and Properties

# Tags
obsidian tags                          # Active file tags
obsidian tags all                      # All vault tags
obsidian tags all counts sort=count    # By frequency
obsidian tag name=project              # Tag info

# Properties (frontmatter)
obsidian properties file=Note
obsidian property:read name=status file=Note
obsidian property:set name=status value=done file=Note
obsidian property:set name=tags value="a,b,c" type=list file=Note
obsidian property:remove name=draft file=Note

Links and Structure

# Backlinks and outgoing links
obsidian backlinks file=Note           # What links to this
obsidian links file=Note               # Outgoing links

# Vault analysis
obsidian orphans                       # No incoming links
obsidian deadends                      # No outgoing links
obsidian unresolved                    # Broken links
obsidian unresolved verbose counts

Daily Notes and Tasks

Daily Notes

obsidian daily                         # Open today's note
obsidian daily paneType=split          # Open in split
obsidian daily:read                    # Print contents
obsidian daily:append content="- [ ] New task"
obsidian daily:prepend content="## Morning"

Task Management

# List tasks
obsidian tasks                         # Active file
obsidian tasks all                     # All vault tasks
obsidian tasks all todo                # Incomplete only
obsidian tasks file=Recipe             # Specific file
obsidian tasks daily                   # Daily note tasks

# Update tasks
obsidian task ref="Recipe.md:8" toggle
obsidian task file=Recipe line=8 done
obsidian task file=Recipe line=8 todo
obsidian task file=Note line=5 status="-"  # Custom [-]

Templates and Bookmarks

Templates

obsidian templates                     # List all templates
obsidian template:read name=Daily
obsidian template:read name=Daily resolve title="My Note"
obsidian template:insert name=Daily    # Insert into active file
obsidian create name="Meeting Notes" template=Meeting

Bookmarks

obsidian bookmarks                     # List all
obsidian bookmark file="Important.md"
obsidian bookmark file=Note subpath="#Section"
obsidian bookmark folder="Projects/"
obsidian bookmark search="TODO"
obsidian bookmark url="https://..." title="Reference"

Plugin and Theme Management

Plugins

# List and info
obsidian plugins                       # All installed
obsidian plugins:enabled               # Only enabled
obsidian plugin id=dataview            # Plugin info

# Manage plugins
obsidian plugin:enable id=dataview
obsidian plugin:disable id=dataview
obsidian plugin:install id=dataview enable
obsidian plugin:uninstall id=dataview
obsidian plugin:reload id=my-plugin    # Development

Themes and CSS

# Themes
obsidian themes                        # List installed
obsidian theme                         # Active theme
obsidian theme:set name=Minimal
obsidian theme:install name="Theme Name" enable

# CSS Snippets
obsidian snippets                      # List all
obsidian snippet:enable name=my-snippet
obsidian snippet:disable name=my-snippet

Advanced Features

Obsidian Sync

obsidian sync:status                   # Status and usage
obsidian sync on/off                   # Resume/pause
obsidian sync:history file=Note
obsidian sync:restore file=Note version=2
obsidian sync:deleted                  # Deleted files

File History

obsidian history file=Note             # List versions
obsidian history:read file=Note version=1
obsidian history:restore file=Note version=2
obsidian diff file=Note from=2 to=1   # Compare versions

Developer Tools

# Console and debugging
obsidian devtools                      # Toggle dev tools
obsidian dev:console                   # Show console
obsidian dev:errors                    # JS errors
obsidian eval code="app.vault.getFiles().length"

# Screenshots and DOM
obsidian dev:screenshot path=screenshot.png
obsidian dev:dom selector=".workspace-leaf"
obsidian dev:css selector=".mod-active" prop=background

# Mobile and debugging
obsidian dev:mobile on/off
obsidian dev:debug on/off

Utility Commands

Workspace and Navigation

# Workspace management
obsidian workspace                     # Current layout
obsidian workspace:save name="coding"
obsidian workspace:load name="coding"
obsidian tabs                          # Open tabs
obsidian tab:open file=Note

# Random and unique
obsidian random                        # Open random note
obsidian random folder=Inbox newtab
obsidian unique                        # Create unique name
obsidian wordcount file=Note           # Word count

Command Palette

obsidian commands                      # List all command IDs
obsidian commands filter=editor        # Filter commands
obsidian command id=editor:toggle-bold
obsidian hotkeys                       # List hotkeys

TUI Mode

Interactive terminal UI with enhanced features:

obsidian                               # Enter TUI mode

TUI Shortcuts:

  • Navigation: ←/→ (Ctrl+B/F), Home/End (Ctrl+A/E)
  • Editing: Ctrl+U (delete to start), Ctrl+K (delete to end)
  • Autocomplete: Tab/↓ (enter), Shift+Tab/Esc (exit)
  • History: ↑/↓ (Ctrl+P/N), Ctrl+R (reverse search)
  • Other: Enter (execute), Ctrl+L (clear), Ctrl+C/D (exit)

Troubleshooting

Setup Issues

  • Use latest installer (1.11.7+) with early access (1.12.x)
  • Restart terminal after CLI registration
  • Ensure Obsidian is running before using CLI

Platform-Specific

macOS: PATH added to ~/.zprofile

# For other shells, add manually:
export PATH="$PATH:/Applications/Obsidian.app/Contents/MacOS"

Linux: Symlink at /usr/local/bin/obsidian

# Manual creation if needed:
sudo ln -s /path/to/obsidian /usr/local/bin/obsidian

Windows: Requires Obsidian.com terminal redirector (Catalyst Discord)

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