Obsidian CLI Skill
Control the running Obsidian app from the terminal. Supplementary tool alongside Read/Write/Edit, Glob, Grep, QMD, and Neo4j.
Prerequisites
- Obsidian 1.12+ running (early access, Catalyst license)
- CLI registered: Settings > General > Command line interface
- Templates plugin: Settings > Core Plugins > Templates > Template folder →
_templates - PATH:
/Applications/Obsidian.app/Contents/MacOS(in~/.zprofile)
Important: Noisy Output
The CLI outputs Loading updated app package... to stdout on every invocation. Always filter with grep -v:
bashobsidian orphans total 2>/dev/null | grep -v "Loading updated" # correct — clean output obsidian orphans total # noisy output in agent context
Shorthand for all examples below: 2>/dev/null | grep -v "Loading updated" is abbreviated as 2>/dev/null for readability, but always include the full filter in practice.
When to Use CLI vs File Tools
| Scenario | Use CLI | Use File Tools |
|---|---|---|
| Open a note in Obsidian UI | obsidian open | No equivalent |
| Read/write file content | Either works | Prefer Read/Write/Edit |
| Search vault content | obsidian search | Prefer Grep/QMD |
| Open today's daily note in Obsidian | obsidian daily | No equivalent |
| Append task to daily note | obsidian daily:append | Either |
| Create note from template | obsidian create template=X | Manual template apply |
| Check backlinks/orphans/unresolved | obsidian backlinks/orphans | Manual grep |
| Set/read properties (frontmatter) | obsidian property:set | Edit tool |
| Query a Base view | obsidian base:query | No equivalent |
| Execute Obsidian commands | obsidian command | No equivalent |
Rule of thumb: CLI for Obsidian-app-specific actions (open files, trigger commands, query Bases, graph relationships). File tools for direct file manipulation.
Agent Integration Patterns
Keeper — Supplementary Health Checks
bash# Quick vault health stats (supplement Python/Neo4j checks) obsidian unresolved verbose 2>/dev/null | grep -v "Loading updated" obsidian orphans total 2>/dev/null | grep -v "Loading updated" obsidian deadends total 2>/dev/null | grep -v "Loading updated"
Scribe — Quick Capture
bash# Fast append to daily note (no file path needed) obsidian daily:append content="- [ ] Review TPM progress" silent 2>/dev/null # Atomic frontmatter update obsidian property:set name=status value=shipped path="prd/xmarket/checkout.md" 2>/dev/null # Template-based note creation obsidian create name="New PRD" template=prd silent 2>/dev/null # Surface created note in Obsidian obsidian open path="decisions/xmarket/2026-02-11-payment-provider.md" newtab 2>/dev/null
Scout — Fallback Search
bash# Backlinks via Obsidian's graph (alternative to Neo4j) obsidian backlinks file=Note 2>/dev/null # Quick text search (alternative to QMD) obsidian search query="payment provider" 2>/dev/null
Today — Workflow Touchpoints
bash# Phase 0: Ensure daily note visible in Obsidian obsidian daily silent 2>/dev/null # Phase 3: Quick health stats obsidian unresolved total 2>/dev/null obsidian orphans total 2>/dev/null # Phase 5: Surface daily note obsidian open path="daily/2026-02-11.md" 2>/dev/null
Command Reference
Vault & File Targeting
bash# Auto-detects vault from CWD obsidian daily 2>/dev/null # Target specific vault obsidian vault=Notes daily 2>/dev/null # By name (wikilink resolution) obsidian read file=Recipe 2>/dev/null # By exact path obsidian read path="prd/xmarket/checkout.md" 2>/dev/null
Daily Notes
bashobsidian daily 2>/dev/null # Open today's daily note obsidian daily:read 2>/dev/null # Read daily note contents obsidian daily:append content="- [ ] Task" 2>/dev/null # Append to daily note obsidian daily:prepend content="## Morning" 2>/dev/null # Prepend after frontmatter obsidian daily:append content="text" silent 2>/dev/null # Append without opening
Files & Folders
bashobsidian files 2>/dev/null # List all files obsidian files folder=prd 2>/dev/null # List files in folder obsidian files ext=md total 2>/dev/null # Count .md files obsidian open file=Note 2>/dev/null # Open a file obsidian open file=Note newtab 2>/dev/null # Open in new tab obsidian create name="New Note" 2>/dev/null # Create file obsidian create name=Note template=prd 2>/dev/null # Create from template obsidian create name=Note content="text" silent overwrite 2>/dev/null obsidian read file=Note 2>/dev/null # Read file contents obsidian append file=Note content="new line" 2>/dev/null obsidian prepend file=Note content="top line" 2>/dev/null obsidian move file=Note to="archive/" 2>/dev/null obsidian delete file=Note 2>/dev/null # Trash (recoverable)
Search
bashobsidian search query="meeting notes" 2>/dev/null # Search vault obsidian search query="TODO" path=daily 2>/dev/null # Search in folder obsidian search query="bug" total 2>/dev/null # Count matches obsidian search query="fix" matches 2>/dev/null # Show match context obsidian search query="test" format=json 2>/dev/null # JSON output
Links & Graph
bashobsidian backlinks file=Note 2>/dev/null # Backlinks to a file obsidian backlinks file=Note counts 2>/dev/null # With link counts obsidian links file=Note 2>/dev/null # Outgoing links from a file obsidian unresolved 2>/dev/null # Broken/unresolved links obsidian unresolved verbose 2>/dev/null # Include source files obsidian orphans 2>/dev/null # Files with no incoming links obsidian orphans total 2>/dev/null # Count orphans obsidian deadends 2>/dev/null # Files with no outgoing links
Properties (Frontmatter)
bashobsidian properties file=Note 2>/dev/null # List properties obsidian properties all counts 2>/dev/null # All vault properties obsidian property:read name=status file=Note 2>/dev/null # Read a property obsidian property:set name=status value=done file=Note 2>/dev/null # Set a property obsidian property:set name=tags value="[a,b]" type=list file=Note 2>/dev/null obsidian property:remove name=old_prop file=Note 2>/dev/null
Tags
bashobsidian tags all counts 2>/dev/null # All tags with counts obsidian tags file=Note 2>/dev/null # Tags in a file obsidian tag name=project verbose 2>/dev/null # Tag info with file list
Tasks
bashobsidian tasks 2>/dev/null # Tasks in active file obsidian tasks daily 2>/dev/null # Tasks from daily note obsidian tasks daily todo 2>/dev/null # Incomplete daily tasks obsidian tasks all todo 2>/dev/null # All incomplete tasks obsidian task daily line=3 toggle 2>/dev/null # Toggle a daily task
Bases
bashobsidian bases 2>/dev/null # List all .base files obsidian base:query file=MyBase format=json 2>/dev/null # Query base obsidian base:query file=MyBase view=TableView format=csv 2>/dev/null
Templates
bashobsidian templates 2>/dev/null # List templates obsidian template:read name=prd 2>/dev/null # Read template obsidian template:insert name=prd 2>/dev/null # Insert into active file
Workspace & Tabs
bashobsidian tabs 2>/dev/null # List open tabs obsidian workspace 2>/dev/null # Show workspace tree obsidian workspace:load name=Writing 2>/dev/null # Load workspace
Commands
bashobsidian commands 2>/dev/null # List all command IDs obsidian command id=editor:toggle-bold 2>/dev/null # Execute a command
Common Patterns for This Vault
Quick daily task capture
bashobsidian daily:append content="- [ ] Review TPM progress" silent 2>/dev/null
Check vault health via CLI
bashobsidian orphans total 2>/dev/null obsidian unresolved verbose 2>/dev/null obsidian deadends total 2>/dev/null
Open a PRD in Obsidian
bashobsidian open path="prd/tpm/private-market-mvp-phases.md" 2>/dev/null
Find all notes tagged with a project
bashobsidian tag name=xmarket verbose 2>/dev/null
Query a Base for structured data
bashobsidian base:query file=Projects format=json 2>/dev/null
