---
name: obsidian
description: Manage Harry's Obsidian vault notes and Popdog task tracking with the Obsidian CLI. Use when registering tasks, reading or updating Popdog notes, rolling completed work into daily roundup notes, or searching the vault.
---

# Obsidian

Use the registered `obsidian` CLI for vault operations. The important working area is `Work/Popdog`, with `Work/Popdog/_Todo.md` as the outstanding-work index.

Obsidian CLI requires the desktop app to be running; if it is not running, the first command may launch it. Target this vault explicitly if needed with `vault=<name>` as the first parameter.

## Popdog Task Rules

Use this format in `Work/Popdog/_Todo.md`:

```markdown
- [ ] ==**High**== Task Title
  - [ ] Sub task/portion of task
- [ ] **Medium** Task Title
  - [ ] Sub task/portion of task
```

Only High priority receives `== ==` highlighting.

When a task is verified complete:

- Mark it complete in `_Todo.md`.
- Roll it into the daily roundup note named `YYYY-MM-DD.md`.
- Include the PR and repo next to completed work when known.

```markdown
- [x] Task Title (PR# - Catwalk)
- [x] Task Title (PR# - Harvester)
```

## Agent Workflow

1. Read the relevant note before changing it: `obsidian read path="Work/Popdog/_Todo.md"`.
2. Use `obsidian tasks path="Work/Popdog/_Todo.md" verbose` when you need line numbers for task updates.
3. Prefer CLI mutations (`task`, `append`, `prepend`, `create`) over manual file editing when they fit.
4. Use exact `path=` values for Popdog files; use `file=` only when the name is unambiguous.
5. After updates, re-read the touched note to verify the result.

## Common Commands

```bash
obsidian read path="Work/Popdog/_Todo.md"
obsidian tasks path="Work/Popdog/_Todo.md" todo verbose
obsidian task path="Work/Popdog/_Todo.md" line=12 done
obsidian append path="Work/Popdog/2026-05-11.md" content="- [x] Task Title (PR# - Repo)"
obsidian create path="Work/Popdog/2026-05-11.md" content="# 2026-05-11" open
obsidian search query="billing" path="Work/Popdog"
```

## CLI Notes

- Parameters use `key=value`; quote values with spaces.
- Flags are bare words, for example `open`, `overwrite`, `todo`, `done`, `verbose`.
- Multiline content uses `\n` and tabs use `\t`.
- Add `--copy` to copy command output to the clipboard when useful.

See [the CLI reference](references/cli-reference.md) for agent-oriented command coverage from the official Obsidian CLI docs.