ObsidianCLI

Files (3)

• SKILL.md
• SKILL.yaml
• sample.md

SKILL.md (first lines)

# ObsidianCLI

Reference for the official Obsidian CLI (1.12+). Communicates with the running Obsidian desktop app via named pipe. Returns structured data to stdout.

Falls back to file-system operations (Glob, Grep, safe-read, safe-write) when unavailable.

## Setup

The CLI ships inside Obsidian 1.12+. Add to PATH (one-time):

```bash
export PATH="$PATH:/Applications/Obsidian.app/Contents/MacOS"
```

Or use the full path directly. Verify with `make check` in the module root.

## Parameter Syntax

- Key-value pairs: `key=value`
- Spaces in values: `content="Hello world"`
- File targeting: `file=<name>` (wikilink resolution) or `path=<exact/path.md>`
- Vault targeting: `vault=<name>` or inferred from CWD or active vault

## Output Formats

All commands support: `format=json|csv|tsv|md|paths|text|tree|yaml`

Default is `text`. For programmatic consumption use `format=json` or `format=paths`.

## File Operations

### List files

```bash
obsidian files                              # all files
obsidian files folder=Resources ext=md      # filter by directory and extension
obsidian files format=paths                 # file paths only (one per line)
obsidian files format=json                  # structured JSON
```

### Read file content

```bash
obsidian read file="Security"               # by wikilink name
obsidian read path="Topics/Security.md"     # by exact path
```

### Create a note

```bash
obsidian create name="New Note" content="---\ntitle: New Note\n---\n\nContent here."
obsidian create name="From Template" template=Daily
```

### Append / Prepend

```bash
obsidian append file="Daily" content="- New item"
obsidian prepend path="Topics/Security.md" content="## Update\n\nNew section."
```

`prepend` inserts after frontmatter.

### Move / Rename

```bash
obsidian move file=Recipe to=Archive/
obsidian rename file="Old Name" to="New Name"
```

`rename` updates all wikilinks and markdown links across the vault. This is the only reliable way to rename with backlink tracking — file-system `mv` breaks links.

### Delete

```bash
obsidian delete file=OldNote                # to Obsidian trash
obsidian delete file=OldNote permanent      # permanent
```

## Properties (Frontmatter)

### Set property

```bash
obsidian property:set file="Note" property=status value=active
```

Atomic update — avoids the Obsidian Linter race condition that affects read-modify-write cycles with `safe-write edit`.

**Scalar values only.** Cannot set arrays (`tags`, `comments`, `sources`) or nested objects. For complex field types, use `eval` with `processFrontMatter` (see Developer section).

### Remove property

```bash
obsidian property:remove file="Note" property=obsolete_key
```

### Read property

```bash
obsidian property:read file="Note" property=status
obsidian property:read file="Note" property=status format=json
```

**Stdout contamination.** Like `base:query`, `property:read` can mix extraneous output into stdout. Redirect to temp file for reliable parsing, or use `eval` with `processFrontMatter` for programmatic reads.

### Rename property key (vault-wide)

```bash
obsidian property:rename old=old_key new=new_key
```

## Search

### Full-text search

```bash
obsidian search query="forge-tlp"
obsidian search query="forge-tlp" format=json

From N4M3Z/forge-obsidian, EUPL-1.2.

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