obsidian-cli - Control Obsidian from the Terminal

Keyword: obsidian cli · obsidian uri · obsidian daily note command · obsidian plugin reload cli

Use this skill for the official desktop CLI. If the user needs sync without the desktop app, that is Obsidian Headless, not this skill.

Obsidian CLI is the official command line interface for controlling a running Obsidian app from the terminal. It supports single commands, an interactive TUI, vault and file targeting, note operations, search, tags, tasks, and developer commands. Official docs also link it closely with the obsidian:// URI protocol for cross-app automation.

When to use this skill

• Enable and verify the official Obsidian CLI registration
• Run one-shot commands such as obsidian help, obsidian daily, obsidian read, or obsidian search
• Open the interactive TUI with autocomplete and history
• Target a specific vault with vault=<name> or vault=<id>
• Target a specific note with file=<name> or path=<path>
• Copy command output with --copy
• Use developer commands for plugin and theme work such as devtools, plugin:reload, dev:screenshot, and eval
• Launch or generate obsidian:// URIs for open, new, daily, unique, search, and callback-based workflows

Instructions

Step 1: Enable and verify the CLI

Use the official app flow first:

1. Upgrade to the installer and early access versions required by the docs
2. In Obsidian, go to Settings -> General
3. Enable Command line interface
4. Follow the prompt to register the CLI

Run the local helper:

bash scripts/install.sh

What to remember:

• The docs currently say CLI usage requires the Obsidian 1.12 installer
• The same page also says to upgrade to the latest installer 1.11.7 and the latest early access 1.12.x
• The app must be running, or the first CLI command launches it
• Linux packaging may need extra symlink or PATH work

Treat those version strings exactly as current official docs, not as inferred packaging logic.

Step 2: Choose single-command mode or the TUI

Run a single command:

obsidian help

Open the terminal interface:

obsidian
help

Use the TUI when the user wants autocomplete, command history, and reverse search. Use single-command mode for scripts, automation, and shell aliases.

Step 3: Target the right vault and file

Vault targeting rules:

• If the current working directory is a vault, that vault is used by default
• Otherwise, the active vault is used
• vault=<name> or vault=<id> must be the first parameter before the command

Examples:

obsidian vault=Notes daily
obsidian vault="My Vault" search query="meeting notes"

File targeting rules:

• file=<name> uses wikilink-style resolution by file name
• path=<path> requires the exact path from the vault root
• If neither is provided, many commands default to the active file

Examples:

obsidian read file=Recipe
obsidian read path="Templates/Recipe.md"

Move the targeting details into references/vault-and-file-targeting.md.

Step 4: Use the command families that match the job

Start with the everyday commands:

• daily
• daily:append
• search
• read
• create
• tags
• tasks
• diff

General commands:

• help
• version
• reload
• restart

Developer-oriented commands:

• devtools
• plugin:reload
• dev:screenshot
• eval

These developer commands are especially useful for plugin and theme workflows because the docs explicitly position them for automatic testing and debugging.

See references/commands-and-developer-tools.md for a compact command map.

Step 5: Use flags and output features deliberately

Parameter rules:

• Parameters use name=value
• Wrap values with spaces in quotes
• Boolean switches are bare flags such as open or overwrite
• Use \n for newlines and \t for tabs in content strings

Examples:

obsidian create
obsidian create name=Note content="Hello world"
obsidian create name=Note content="Hello" open overwrite
obsidian create name=Note content="# Title\n\nBody text"

Output helper:

obsidian read --copy
obsidian search query="TODO" --copy

Many listing commands also expose format= parameters such as json, tsv, csv, md, or paths.

Step 6: Use obsidian:// URI workflows for external automation

The official URI actions include:

• open
• new
• daily
• unique
• search
• choose-vault

Examples:

obsidian://open?vault=my%20vault&file=my%20note
obsidian://new?vault=my%20vault&name=my%20note
obsidian://daily?vault=my%20vault
obsidian://search?vault=my%20vault&query=Obsidian

Important URI rules:

• Encode values properly, especially spaces and /
• path= overrides vault and file
• paneType=tab|split|window controls opening location
• paneType=window is desktop-only
• x-success and x-error support callback flows on supported endpoints

Use references/uri-and-callbacks.md for the URI-specific behavior and Hook integration notes.

Step 7: Respect the limitations

• CLI automation is for the desktop app, not headless sync
• daily requires the Daily notes plugin to be enabled
• unique requires the Unique note creator plugin to be enabled
• Linux registration may require manual symlinks, PATH updates, or packaging-specific fixes
• Developer commands can change app or plugin state, so use them intentionally

Examples

Example 1: Verify CLI registration

bash scripts/install.sh

Example 2: Open the TUI

bash scripts/run-command.sh

Example 3: Open today's daily note

bash scripts/run-command.sh daily

Example 4: Append a task to today's daily note

bash scripts/run-command.sh daily:append content="- [ ] Buy groceries"

Example 5: Search a specific vault

bash scripts/run-command.sh vault="My Vault" search query="meeting notes"

Example 6: Read a file by name or exact path

bash scripts/run-command.sh read file=Recipe
bash scripts/run-command.sh read path="Templates/Recipe.md" --copy

Example 7: Reload a plugin you are developing

bash scripts/run-command.sh plugin:reload id=my-plugin

Example 8: Take a screenshot from the app

bash scripts/run-command.sh dev:screenshot path=screenshot.png

Example 9: Open a note via URI

bash scripts/open-uri.sh 'obsidian://open?vault=my%20vault&file=my%20note'

Best practices

1. Start with obsidian help or the TUI before assuming a command family name.
2. Put vault= first when you need deterministic multi-vault automation.
3. Prefer path= when duplicate file names make wikilink-style file= resolution ambiguous.
4. Use --copy when the result needs to feed another tool or model without extra shell parsing.
5. Treat developer commands like plugin:reload, eval, and dev:screenshot as operational tools, not casual shortcuts.
6. Keep CLI automation separate from Headless Sync workflows; they solve different problems.
7. URI values must be encoded correctly or the action may be misinterpreted.
8. On Linux, check registration, symlinks, and PATH before assuming the CLI is broken.

References

• references/installation-and-troubleshooting.md
• references/vault-and-file-targeting.md
• references/commands-and-developer-tools.md
• references/uri-and-callbacks.md
• scripts/install.sh
• scripts/run-command.sh
• scripts/open-uri.sh
• Obsidian CLI
• Obsidian URI