--- name: obsidian-remote description: "Full remote control of a running Obsidian desktop app via the built-in obsidian CLI. Use INSTEAD of the older obsidian-cli skill packaged with OpenClaw — this skill covers the real, feature-complete CLI that ships with Obsidian itself. Handles reading/writing/searching notes, daily notes, tasks, properties/frontmatter, tags, backlinks, templates, plugins, sync, publish, bookmarks, bases, themes, CSS snippets, file history, and dev tools (CDP, DOM, eval JS, screenshots). Triggers on obsidian, vault, daily note, obsidian tasks, obsidian search, obsidian properties, obsidian plugins, obsidian sync, obsidian publish, obsidian bookmarks, obsidian bases, obsidian templates, obsidian tags. Requires Obsidian desktop app running. NOT the same as obsidian-cli (URI-based tool)." --- # Obsidian Remote > **This skill replaces the older `obsidian-cli`-based skill.** The `obsidian` binary is > Obsidian's own built-in CLI with full app control. Prefer it for everything. ## Prerequisites - Obsidian desktop app **running** (the CLI talks to the live app process) - `obsidian` binary on PATH (installed with the desktop app; on macOS it's a shell wrapper at `/opt/homebrew/bin/obsidian` → `Obsidian.app`) Quick check: `obsidian version` ## Core Concepts - **file=\** — resolves like wikilinks (fuzzy, by note name) - **path=\** — exact path relative to vault root (e.g. `Folder/Note.md`) - Most commands default to the **active file** when file/path is omitted - **vault=\** — target a specific vault (omit for default/only vault) - Quote values with spaces: `name="My Note"` - Use `\n` for newline, `\t` for tab in content values - Output formats available on many commands: `format=json|tsv|csv|text|md` ## Vault & File Discovery ```bash obsidian vaults # list known vaults obsidian vaults verbose # include vault paths obsidian vault # active vault info (name, path, files, folders, size) obsidian vault info=path # just the vault path obsidian files # list all files obsidian files folder="Projects" # filter by folder obsidian files ext=canvas # filter by extension obsidian files total # file count obsidian folders # list folders obsidian folder path="Projects" info=files # folder info obsidian recents # recently opened files ``` ## Reading & Writing Notes ```bash obsidian read file="Meeting Notes" # read by name obsidian read path="Projects/spec.md" # read by exact path obsidian create name="New Note" content="# Hello" open # create + open obsidian create path="Journal/idea.md" template="Default" overwrite obsidian append file="Log" content="- entry" # append obsidian append file="Log" content=" suffix" inline # append without newline obsidian prepend file="Log" content="# Header" # prepend obsidian delete file="Old Note" # trash obsidian delete path="tmp/scratch.md" permanent # permanent delete obsidian move file="Draft" to="Archive/Draft.md" # move/rename obsidian rename file="Draft" name="Final" # rename in place obsidian open file="Todo" newtab # open in new tab obsidian random # open random note obsidian random:read folder="Journal" # read random note from folder ``` ## Search ```bash obsidian search query="project plan" # file-name search obsidian search query="plan" path="Work" limit=5 # scoped, limited obsidian search:context query="API key" case # full-text with line context obsidian search:context query="bug" format=json # JSON output ``` ## Daily Notes ```bash obsidian daily # open today's daily note obsidian daily:path # get daily note path obsidian daily:read # read daily note contents obsidian daily:append content="- 3pm standup" # append to daily obsidian daily:prepend content="## Morning" # prepend to daily ``` ## Tasks ```bash obsidian tasks # all tasks obsidian tasks todo # incomplete only obsidian tasks done # completed only obsidian tasks todo verbose # grouped by file with line numbers obsidian tasks file="Project" todo # tasks in specific file obsidian tasks daily todo # tasks from daily note obsidian tasks status="/" format=json # custom status filter obsidian task file="Todo" line=5 toggle # toggle done/todo obsidian task file="Todo" line=5 done # mark done obsidian task file="Todo" line=5 todo # mark todo obsidian task daily line=3 toggle # toggle task in daily note ``` ## Properties / Frontmatter ```bash obsidian properties # all properties across vault obsidian properties file="Note" format=yaml # properties for a file obsidian properties counts sort=count # property usage stats obsidian property:read name="status" file="Task" # read property obsidian property:set name="status" value="done" file="Task" obsidian property:set name="tags" value="work,urgent" type=list file="Task" obsidian property:remove name="draft" file="Task" ``` ## Tags ```bash obsidian tags # all tags obsidian tags counts sort=count # tag usage sorted by count obsidian tags file="Note" # tags in specific file obsidian tag name="project" verbose # tag info with file list ``` ## Links & Graph ```bash obsidian links file="Hub" # outgoing links obsidian backlinks file="API" # incoming links obsidian backlinks file="API" counts # with link counts obsidian orphans # files with no incoming links obsidian deadends # files with no outgoing links obsidian unresolved # broken links obsidian aliases # all aliases ``` ## Bookmarks ```bash obsidian bookmarks # list bookmarks obsidian bookmark file="Important.md" # bookmark a file obsidian bookmark file="Note.md" subpath="## Section" # bookmark heading obsidian bookmark search="todo" title="My Search" # bookmark a search obsidian bookmark url="https://example.com" title="Ref" # bookmark URL ``` ## Templates ```bash obsidian templates # list available templates obsidian template:read name="Meeting" # read template content obsidian template:read name="Meeting" resolve title="Q1 Review" # resolve vars obsidian template:insert name="Meeting" # insert into active file ``` ## Plugins ```bash obsidian plugins # installed plugins obsidian plugins filter=community versions # community with versions obsidian plugins:enabled # enabled plugins obsidian plugin id="dataview" # plugin info obsidian plugin:install id="dataview" enable # install + enable obsidian plugin:enable id="dataview" # enable obsidian plugin:disable id="dataview" # disable obsidian plugin:uninstall id="dataview" # uninstall obsidian plugins:restrict on # toggle restricted mode ``` ## Themes & Snippets ```bash obsidian theme # active theme obsidian themes versions # installed themes obsidian theme:install name="Minimal" enable # install + activate obsidian theme:set name="Minimal" # switch theme obsidian theme:uninstall name="Minimal" # remove obsidian snippets # CSS snippets obsidian snippets:enabled # enabled snippets obsidian snippet:enable name="custom" # enable obsidian snippet:disable name="custom" # disable ``` ## Sync ```bash obsidian sync:status # sync status obsidian sync on # resume sync obsidian sync off # pause sync obsidian sync:history file="Note" # version history obsidian sync:read file="Note" version=2 # read specific version obsidian sync:restore file="Note" version=2 # restore version obsidian sync:deleted # deleted files in sync ``` ## Publish ```bash obsidian publish:site # site info obsidian publish:list # published files obsidian publish:status # pending changes obsidian publish:add file="Guide" # publish file obsidian publish:add changed # publish all changed obsidian publish:remove file="Draft" # unpublish obsidian publish:open file="Guide" # open on published site ``` ## File History (Local) ```bash obsidian history:list # files with history obsidian history file="Note" # version list obsidian history:read file="Note" version=1 # read old version obsidian history:restore file="Note" version=1 # restore obsidian diff file="Note" from=1 to=3 # diff versions ``` ## Bases (Obsidian Databases) ```bash obsidian bases # list base files obsidian base:views # views in current base obsidian base:query file="Tracker" format=json # query base obsidian base:query file="Tracker" view="Active" format=md obsidian base:create file="Tracker" name="New Item" content="..." open ``` ## Outline & Word Count ```bash obsidian outline file="Report" # heading tree obsidian outline file="Report" format=md # markdown format obsidian wordcount file="Essay" # word + char count obsidian wordcount file="Essay" words # words only ``` ## Commands & Hotkeys ```bash obsidian commands # all available commands obsidian commands filter="editor" # filter by prefix obsidian command id="editor:toggle-bold" # execute command obsidian hotkeys # all hotkeys obsidian hotkey id="editor:toggle-bold" # hotkey for command ``` ## Tabs & Workspace ```bash obsidian tabs # open tabs obsidian tabs ids # with tab IDs obsidian tab:open file="Note.md" # open in new tab obsidian workspace # workspace tree obsidian workspace ids # with item IDs ``` ## Dev Tools For automation, debugging, or extending Obsidian: ```bash obsidian eval code="app.vault.getName()" # run JS obsidian dev:screenshot path="screenshot.png" # take screenshot obsidian dev:dom selector=".workspace" text # query DOM obsidian dev:dom selector="h1" all # all h1 elements obsidian dev:css selector=".nav-header" prop="color" # CSS inspection obsidian dev:console # console messages obsidian dev:console level=error # errors only obsidian dev:errors # captured errors obsidian dev:cdp method="Page.reload" # CDP command obsidian dev:debug on # attach debugger ``` ## Tips - Prefer `file=` for interactive lookups (fuzzy, like wikilinks). Use `path=` when you know the exact location. - Pipe to `jq` or `grep` for filtering JSON output. - For bulk operations, prefer `format=json` and parse programmatically. - `obsidian reload` reloads the vault; `obsidian restart` restarts the app. - The CLI may hang or timeout if Obsidian is not running — always verify with `obsidian version` first.