Obsidian Operations Skill

CLI-first approach to all vault operations. Always use obsidian commands directly. If commands fail, tell the user: "Obsidian CLI isn't working — update Obsidian with CLI enabled."

Quick Reference

Operation	CLI Command
Read file	obsidian read path="..."
Create file	obsidian create path="..." content="..." silent
Append	obsidian append path="..." content="..." silent
Search	obsidian search query="..." format=json
List files	obsidian files folder="..." format=json
Daily note	obsidian daily:read

File Targeting

Parameter	Behavior	Example
file=<name>	Wikilink-style resolution (no path/ext needed)	file=Recipe finds Recipes/Recipe.md
path=<path>	Exact path from vault root	path="3 - Resources/TIL/til-2026-02-16.md"

Vault Structure

Default vault: /Users/kriscard/obsidian-vault-kriscard

Key paths:

• 0 - Inbox/ - Incoming notes
• 1 - Projects/ - Active projects
• 2 - Areas/ - Ongoing responsibilities
• 3 - Resources/ - Reference material
• 4 - Archives/ - Completed/inactive
• Templates/ - Note templates

Gotchas

• Always use silent flag for non-interactive operations — without it Obsidian opens the file and steals focus
• Paths with spaces need quoting: path="3 - Resources/TIL/note.md"
• file= resolution is wikilink-style (name only, no ext) — use path= when you know the exact path
• CLI requires Obsidian to be running with CLI enabled — if commands fail, tell user to check Settings > General > CLI
• delete sends to trash by default — add permanent flag only when user explicitly confirms permanent deletion
• format=json is essential when parsing output programmatically — text format is for display only

Best Practices

1. Use silent flag - Always add silent for non-interactive operations
2. Use format=json - For parsing output programmatically
3. Prefer file= - When you know the name but not the path
4. Use path= - When you know the exact path
5. Batch operations - Use parallel calls when checking multiple files
6. Templates - Use template= parameter when creating from templates
7. Confirmation - Never delete without explicit user confirmation

CLI Requirements

Obsidian CLI requires:

• Obsidian with CLI enabled: Settings > General > Command line interface
• Obsidian must be running

If CLI commands fail, tell the user "Obsidian CLI isn't working — update Obsidian with CLI enabled."

Reference Files

Reference	Contents
cli-reference.md	Full CLI commands: file ops, daily notes, tasks, tags, links, properties, templates, outline, vault info, flags, output formats
obsidian-utils.md	obsidian-utils.sh wrapper script commands