Obsidian CLI Reference

This is a compact agent-facing reference derived from the official Obsidian CLI docs. Use it when SKILL.md does not include enough command detail.

Invocation Rules

Run one command as obsidian <command> key=value flag.
Use vault=<name> or vault=<id> as the first parameter to target a specific vault.
If the current working directory is a vault, that vault is used; otherwise the active Obsidian vault is used.
Use path=<vault-relative/path.md> for exact paths and file=<name> for wikilink-style name resolution.
Use \n for multiline content and quote values containing spaces.
Use --copy with any command to copy output to the clipboard.

Discovery

obsidian help
obsidian version
obsidian vault
obsidian vaults verbose
obsidian files folder="Work/Popdog"
obsidian folders folder="Work"
obsidian search query="text" path="Work/Popdog"
obsidian search:context query="text" path="Work/Popdog"

Files

obsidian read path="Work/Popdog/_Todo.md"
obsidian open path="Work/Popdog/_Todo.md" newtab
obsidian create path="Work/Popdog/New Note.md" content="# Title" open
obsidian append path="Work/Popdog/_Todo.md" content="- [ ] Task"
obsidian prepend path="Work/Popdog/_Todo.md" content="Intro"
obsidian move path="Old.md" to="Archive/Old.md"
obsidian rename path="Old.md" name="New"
obsidian delete path="Scratch.md"

Use overwrite with create only when intentionally replacing an existing note.

Daily Notes

obsidian daily
obsidian daily:path
obsidian daily:read
obsidian daily:append content="- [x] Finished task (PR# - Repo)"
obsidian daily:prepend content="# Roundup"

Use daily commands for the active daily-note configuration. For Popdog roundup files with a known path, exact path= file commands are often safer.

Tasks

obsidian tasks
obsidian tasks todo
obsidian tasks done
obsidian tasks path="Work/Popdog/_Todo.md" todo verbose
obsidian tasks daily total
obsidian task ref="Work/Popdog/_Todo.md:12" done
obsidian task path="Work/Popdog/_Todo.md" line=12 toggle
obsidian task path="Work/Popdog/_Todo.md" line=12 todo
obsidian task path="Work/Popdog/_Todo.md" line=12 status="-"

Use verbose when you need file paths and line numbers before updating tasks.

Metadata And Organization

obsidian tags counts
obsidian tag name="#project" verbose
obsidian backlinks path="Work/Popdog/_Todo.md" counts
obsidian links path="Work/Popdog/_Todo.md"
obsidian unresolved counts verbose
obsidian outline path="Work/Popdog/_Todo.md" format=md
obsidian properties path="Work/Popdog/_Todo.md" format=yaml
obsidian property:set path="Note.md" name=status value=active type=text
obsidian property:read path="Note.md" name=status
obsidian property:remove path="Note.md" name=status

Templates

obsidian templates
obsidian template:read name="Daily" resolve title="2026-05-11"
obsidian create path="Work/Popdog/2026-05-11.md" template="Daily" open

History And Recovery

obsidian diff path="Work/Popdog/_Todo.md"
obsidian diff path="Work/Popdog/_Todo.md" from=2 to=1
obsidian history path="Work/Popdog/_Todo.md"
obsidian history:read path="Work/Popdog/_Todo.md" version=1
obsidian history:restore path="Work/Popdog/_Todo.md" version=1
obsidian sync:history path="Work/Popdog/_Todo.md" total
obsidian sync:read path="Work/Popdog/_Todo.md" version=1

Prefer reading or diffing history before restoring anything.

Developer And UI Commands

obsidian commands filter="app:"
obsidian command id="command-id"
obsidian devtools
obsidian dev:errors
obsidian dev:console limit=100 level=error
obsidian dev:screenshot path="screenshot.png"
obsidian dev:dom selector=".workspace" text
obsidian eval code="app.vault.getFiles().length"

Use developer commands only when working on Obsidian plugins/themes or diagnosing the running app.

Troubleshooting

Obsidian CLI requires Obsidian 1.12.7+ and the CLI setting enabled in Settings -> General.
Obsidian must be running; if not, the first command may launch it.
On Linux, the CLI binary is normally copied to ~/.local/bin/obsidian; ensure ~/.local/bin is on PATH.
If commands fail after registration, restart the terminal and verify obsidian version.

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