Obsidian Official CLI

Official Obsidian CLI (v1.12+). Complete command-line interface for Obsidian notes, tasks, search, tags, properties, links, and more.

Official command-line interface for Obsidian (v1.12+). 115 commands.

Prerequisites

• Obsidian 1.12+ (free, public release since v1.12)
• Obsidian must be running (CLI connects via IPC)
• Enable CLI: Settings → General → Enable CLI

Setup

Add Obsidian to PATH:

macOS:

bash

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

Windows:

powershell

$env:PATH += ";$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Obsidian"

Linux:

• Snap: Already in PATH
• Flatpak: alias obsidian='flatpak run md.obsidian.Obsidian'
• AppImage: Move to ~/.local/bin and chmod +x

Test: obsidian version

Syntax

• Parameters: name=value or name="value with spaces"
• Flags: just the name, e.g. open, overwrite
• Newlines: use \n in content strings
• Target vault: obsidian vault="My Vault" <command> (must be first)
• Target file: file=<name> (wikilink-style) or path=<folder/file.md> (exact)
• Copy output: append --copy to any command

Common Commands (with examples)

Daily Notes

bash

obsidian daily                                    # Open today
obsidian daily:append content="- [ ] Buy milk"    # Add to today
obsidian daily:prepend content="# Important"      # Add to top
obsidian daily:read                               # Read today's content
obsidian daily:path                               # Get daily note path

Files

bash

obsidian create name="Note" content="# Hello"     # Create note
obsidian create name="Note" template=Meeting       # Create from template
obsidian read file="Note"                          # Read note
obsidian append file="Note" content="More text"    # Append to note
obsidian prepend file="Note" content="Top text"    # Prepend to note
obsidian move file="Note" to="Archive/Note.md"     # Move note
obsidian rename file="Note" name="New Name"        # Rename note
obsidian delete file="Note"                        # Delete note
obsidian open file="Note"                          # Open note

Search

bash

obsidian search query="meeting notes"              # Search vault
obsidian search:context query="TODO"               # Search with context
obsidian search:open query="project"               # Open search view

Tasks

bash

obsidian tasks daily todo                          # Incomplete tasks in daily
obsidian tasks todo                                # All incomplete tasks
obsidian task daily line=3 toggle                  # Toggle task at line 3

Tags & Properties

bash

obsidian tags counts                               # List all tags
obsidian tags counts sort=count                    # Sort by frequency
obsidian property:set name="status" value="done" file="Note"
obsidian property:read name="status" file="Note"
obsidian property:remove name="status" file="Note"
obsidian properties file="Note"                    # List all properties

Links

bash

obsidian backlinks file="Note"                     # Incoming links
obsidian links file="Note"                         # Outgoing links
obsidian orphans                                   # No incoming links
obsidian deadends                                  # No outgoing links
obsidian unresolved                                # Broken links

Developer

bash

obsidian devtools                                  # Open dev tools
obsidian eval code="app.vault.getFiles().length"   # Run JavaScript
obsidian dev:screenshot path=screenshot.png         # Screenshot
obsidian plugin:reload id=my-plugin                # Reload plugin

All Commands (115 total)

General (4)

• help - Show help / help for specific command
• version - Show Obsidian version
• reload - Reload the app window
• restart - Restart the app

Daily Notes (5)

• daily - Open daily note
• daily:path - Get daily note path
• daily:read - Read daily note contents
• daily:append - Append content to daily note
• daily:prepend - Prepend content to daily note

Files & Folders (12)

• file - Show file info
• files - List files in vault
• folder - Show folder info
• folders - List folders in vault
• open - Open a file
• create - Create a new file
• read - Read file contents
• append - Append content to a file
• prepend - Prepend content to a file
• move - Move or rename a file
• rename - Rename a file
• delete - Delete a file

Search (3)

• search - Search vault for text
• search:context - Search with matching line context
• search:open - Open search view

Tasks (2)

• tasks - List tasks in the vault
• task - Show or update a task

Tags (2)

• tags - List tags in the vault
• tag - Get tag info

Properties (4)

• properties - List properties in the vault
• property:set - Set a property on a file
• property:remove - Remove a property from a file
• property:read - Read a property value

Aliases (1)

• aliases - List aliases in the vault

Links (5)

• backlinks - List backlinks to a file
• links - List outgoing links from a file
• unresolved - List unresolved links
• orphans - Files with no incoming links
• deadends - Files with no outgoing links

Outline (1)

• outline - Show headings for a file

Bookmarks (2)

• bookmarks - List bookmarks
• bookmark - Add a bookmark

Bases / Database (4)

• bases - List all base files
• base:views - List views in a base
• base:create - Create a new item in a base
• base:query - Query a base and return results

Templates (3)

• templates - List templates
• template:read - Read template content
• template:insert - Insert template into active file

Commands & Hotkeys (4)

• commands - List available command IDs
• command - Execute an Obsidian command
• hotkeys - List hotkeys
• hotkey - Get hotkey for a command

Tabs & Workspaces (7)

• tabs - List open tabs
• tab:open - Open a new tab
• workspace - Show workspace tree
• workspaces - List saved workspaces
• workspace:load - Load a saved workspace
• workspace:save - Save current layout
• workspace:delete - Delete a saved workspace

File History & Diff (6)

• diff - List or diff local/sync versions
• history - List file history versions
• history:list - List files with history
• history:read - Read a file history version
• history:restore - Restore a file history version
• history:open - Open file recovery

Sync (7)

• sync - Pause or resume sync (on/off)
• sync:status - Show sync status
• sync:history - List sync version history
• sync:read - Read a sync version
• sync:restore - Restore a sync version
• sync:open - Open sync history
• sync:deleted - List deleted files in sync

Publish (6)

• publish:site - Show publish site info
• publish:list - List published files
• publish:status - Show publish status
• publish:add - Publish files
• publish:remove - Unpublish files
• publish:open - Open published site

Themes & Snippets (9)

• themes - List installed themes
• theme - Show active theme or get info
• theme:set - Set active theme
• theme:install - Install a community theme
• theme:uninstall - Uninstall a theme
• snippets - List installed CSS snippets
• snippets:enabled - List enabled CSS snippets
• snippet:enable - Enable a CSS snippet
• snippet:disable - Disable a CSS snippet

Plugins (9)

• plugins - List installed plugins
• plugins:enabled - List enabled plugins
• plugins:restrict - Toggle restricted mode
• plugin - Get plugin info
• plugin:enable - Enable a plugin
• plugin:disable - Disable a plugin
• plugin:install - Install a community plugin
• plugin:uninstall - Uninstall a community plugin
• plugin:reload - Reload a plugin

Vault (3)

• vault - Show vault info
• vaults - List known vaults
• vault:open - Open a vault (TUI only)

Random Notes (2)

• random - Open a random note
• random:read - Read a random note

Unique Notes (1)

• unique - Create unique note

Web Viewer (1)

• web - Open URL in web viewer

Word Count (1)

• wordcount - Count words and characters

Recently Opened (1)

• recents - List recently opened files

Developer (10)

• devtools - Toggle Electron dev tools
• eval - Execute JavaScript
• dev:screenshot - Take a screenshot
• dev:console - Show captured console messages
• dev:errors - Show captured errors
• dev:css - Inspect CSS with source locations
• dev:dom - Query DOM elements
• dev:cdp - Run Chrome DevTools Protocol command
• dev:debug - Attach/detach CDP debugger
• dev:mobile - Toggle mobile emulation

Troubleshooting

"Cannot connect to Obsidian"

• Ensure Obsidian is running
• Enable CLI in Settings → General → Enable CLI

"Command not found: obsidian"

• Add Obsidian to PATH (see Setup above)

"File not found"

• file=Name resolves like wikilinks (no path, no .md)
• path=folder/file.md for exact paths

中文说明

前置条件

• Obsidian 1.12+（免费公开版本）
• Obsidian 必须运行中
• 启用 CLI：设置 → 通用 → 启用 CLI

常用命令

bash

obsidian daily                    # 打开今日日记
obsidian create name="笔记"       # 创建笔记
obsidian search query="关键词"    # 搜索
obsidian tasks daily todo         # 列出未完成任务
obsidian tags counts              # 列出标签