Obsidian CLI

The official Obsidian CLI (released in v1.12, February 2026) lets you control every aspect of Obsidian from the terminal. It communicates with a running Obsidian desktop instance via IPC.

Read
references/command-reference.md
when you need specific flags, output formats, or subcommands for any command group. It covers all 130+ commands with full parameter tables and has a table of contents at the top.

Prerequisites

Requirement	Details
Obsidian Desktop	v1.12.0+
CLI enabled	Settings → Command line interface → Toggle ON
Obsidian running	The desktop app must be running for CLI to work (IPC)

Platform Notes

macOS / Linux: The
```
obsidian
```
binary is registered in PATH automatically when you enable CLI in settings.
Windows: Requires an
```
Obsidian.com
```
redirector file placed alongside
```
Obsidian.exe
```
. Must run with normal user privileges — admin terminals produce silent failures.
- If colon subcommands (
```
property:set
```
  ,
```
daily:append
```
  , etc.) with parameters return exit 127, check that
```
Obsidian.com
```
  exists alongside
```
Obsidian.exe
```
  . If missing, you have an outdated installer — download the latest from obsidian.md/download and reinstall.
- Git Bash / MSYS2 users: Bash resolves
```
obsidian
```
  to
```
Obsidian.exe
```
  (GUI) instead of
```
Obsidian.com
```
  (CLI), causing colon+params to fail with exit 127 even when
```
Obsidian.com
```
  is present. Create a wrapper script — see Troubleshooting.
Headless Linux: Use the
```
.deb
```
package (not snap). Run under
```
xvfb
```
. Prefix commands with
```
DISPLAY=:5
```
(or your xvfb display number). Ensure
```
PrivateTmp=false
```
if running as a service.

Syntax

All parameters use key=value
syntax. Quote values containing spaces.

bash

obsidian <command> [subcommand] [key=value ...] [flags]

Multi-Vault

Target a specific vault by making it the first argument:

bash

obsidian "My Vault" daily:read
obsidian "Work Notes" search query="meeting"

If omitted, the CLI targets the most recently active vault.

Command Overview

The CLI provides 130+ commands across these groups:

Group	Key Commands	Purpose
files	`read` , `create` , `append` , `prepend` , `move` , `rename` , `delete` , `files` , `folders` , `file` , `random`	Note CRUD and file discovery
daily	`daily` , `daily:read` , `daily:append` , `daily:prepend` , `daily:path`	Daily note operations
search	`search` , `search:context`	Full-text search; `search:context` returns matching lines
properties	`properties` , `property:read` , `property:set` , `property:remove` , `aliases`	Frontmatter/metadata management
tags	`tags` , `tag`	Tag listing, counts, and filtering
tasks	`tasks` , `task`	Task querying, filtering, and toggling
links	`backlinks` , `links` , `unresolved` , `orphans` , `deadends`	Graph and link analysis
bookmarks	`bookmarks` , `bookmark`	List and add bookmarks
templates	`templates` , `template:read` , `template:insert`	Template listing, rendering, insertion
plugins	`plugins` , `plugin` , `plugin:enable` , `plugin:disable` , `plugin:install` , `plugin:uninstall` , `plugins:restrict`	Plugin management
sync	`sync` , `sync:status` , `sync:history` , `sync:read` , `sync:restore` , `sync:deleted`	Obsidian Sync operations
themes	`themes` , `theme` , `theme:set` , `theme:install` , `theme:uninstall`	Theme management
snippets	`snippets` , `snippets:enabled` , `snippet:enable` , `snippet:disable`	CSS snippet management
commands	`commands` , `command` , `hotkeys` , `hotkey`	Execute Obsidian commands by ID; inspect hotkeys
bases	`bases` , `base:query` , `base:views` , `base:create`	Obsidian Bases (v1.12+ database feature)
history	`history` , `history:list` , `history:read` , `history:restore`	File version recovery (File Recovery plugin)
workspace	`workspace` , `tabs` , `tab:open`	Workspace layout and tab management
diff	`diff`	Compare local vs sync file versions
dev	`eval` , `dev:screenshot` , `dev:debug` , `dev:console` , `dev:errors` , `dev:css` , `dev:dom` , `devtools`	Developer/debugging tools
vault	`vault` , `vaults` , `version` , `reload` , `restart`	Vault info and app control
other	`outline` , `wordcount` , `recents`	Utility commands

Quick Reference — Most Common Commands

Reading & Writing Notes

bash

obsidian read path="folder/note.md"
obsidian create path="folder/note" content="# New Note"
obsidian create path="folder/note" template="meeting-notes"
obsidian append path="folder/note.md" content="New paragraph"
obsidian prepend path="folder/note.md" content="Top content"
obsidian move path="old/note.md" to="new/note.md"
obsidian delete path="folder/note.md"
obsidian delete path="folder/note.md" permanent

Daily Notes

bash

obsidian daily                          # Open today's daily note
obsidian daily:read                     # Print content of today's note
obsidian daily:append content="- [ ] New task"
obsidian daily:prepend content="## Morning Notes"

Search

bash

obsidian search query="project alpha"
obsidian search query="TODO" path="projects" limit=10
obsidian search query="meeting" format=json   # Returns JSON array of file paths
obsidian search query="urgent" case

Properties & Tags

bash

obsidian properties path="note.md"
obsidian property:set path="note.md" name="status" value="active"
obsidian property:read path="note.md" name="status"
obsidian property:remove path="note.md" name="draft"
obsidian tags counts sort=count
obsidian tag name="project/alpha"

Tasks

bash

obsidian tasks                          # All tasks (done + todo) — same as tasks all in v1.12
obsidian tasks all                      # All tasks (done + todo)
obsidian tasks done                     # Completed only
obsidian tasks daily                    # Tasks in today's daily note
obsidian task path="note.md" line=12 toggle
obsidian tasks | grep "\[ \]"           # Workaround: filter to incomplete only

Developer & Automation

bash

obsidian eval code="app.vault.getFiles().length"
obsidian dev:screenshot path="folder/screenshot.png"  # Path must be vault-relative
obsidian dev:debug on                                 # Required before dev:console
obsidian dev:console limit=20
obsidian dev:errors

TUI Mode

Running

obsidian

with no arguments launches an interactive TUI (Terminal User Interface):

Key	Action
`↑↓`	Navigate files
`Enter`	Open file
`/`	Search
`n`	Create new file
`d`	Delete file
`r`	Rename file
`q`	Quit

Common Agent Patterns

Daily Journal Automation

bash

# Append a timestamped entry
obsidian daily:append content="## $(date '+%H:%M') — Status Update
- Completed: feature branch merge
- Next: code review for PR #42
- Blocked: waiting on API credentials"

Create Note from Template with Metadata

bash

obsidian create path="projects/new-feature" template="project-template"
obsidian property:set path="projects/new-feature.md" name="status" value="planning"
obsidian property:set path="projects/new-feature.md" name="created" value="$(date -I)"
obsidian daily:append content="- Started [[projects/new-feature|New Feature]]"

Vault Analytics Script

bash

obsidian files total                    # Total file count
obsidian tags counts sort=count         # Most used tags
obsidian tasks | grep "\[ \]"          # Incomplete tasks across vault
obsidian orphans                        # Notes needing integration
obsidian unresolved                     # Broken links to fix

Search and Extract for AI Processing

bash

obsidian search query="meeting notes" format=json | jq '.[]'
obsidian read path="meetings/standup.md" | grep "Action item"

Sync Management

bash

obsidian sync:status                    # Check sync health
obsidian sync:history path="important.md"  # Version history
obsidian sync:restore path="important.md" version=3  # Rollback

Execute Obsidian Commands

bash

# Find a command ID, then execute it
obsidian commands | grep "graph"
obsidian command id="graph:open"

# Open settings, trigger a plugin action
obsidian command id="app:open-settings"
obsidian command id="dataview:dataview-force-refresh-views"

Tips

Paths are vault-relative — use
```
folder/note.md
```
, not absolute filesystem paths.
create
paths omit
.md
— the extension is added automatically.
move
requires full target path including
```
.md
```
extension.
Pipe-friendly — plain text output works with
```
grep
```
,
```
awk
```
,
```
sed
```
,
```
jq
```
.
JSON output — use
```
format=json
```
on
```
search
```
for a JSON array of file paths. The
```
files
```
command does not support JSON output.
Stderr noise — GPU/Electron warnings on headless are harmless; filter with
```
2>/dev/null
```
.
daily:prepend
inserts content after frontmatter, not at byte 0.
Use
eval
to run arbitrary JavaScript against the Obsidian API (
```
app.*
```
).
template:insert
inserts into the currently active file in the Obsidian UI — it does not accept a
```
path=
```
parameter. If no file is open, it returns
```
Error: No active editor. Open a file first.
```
To create a file from a template via CLI, use
```
obsidian create path="..." template="..."
```
instead.
property:set
stores list values as strings —
```
value="tag1, tag2"
```
writes a literal comma-separated string, not a YAML array. For proper array fields, edit the note's frontmatter directly (e.g. via
```
read
```
→ modify →
```
create --force
```
) or use
```
eval
```
to call the Obsidian API.

eval
requires single-line JavaScript — multiline JS passed inline fails with a token error. Write the script to a temp file instead:

bash

cat > /tmp/obs.js << 'JS'
var files = app.vault.getMarkdownFiles();
files.length;
JS
obsidian eval code="$(cat /tmp/obs.js)"

Multi-vault targeting may not work in all environments —
```
obsidian "My Vault" command
```
can return
```
Error: Command "My Vault" not found
```
on some setups. If this happens, omit the vault name (CLI targets the most recently active vault) and switch vaults manually in the Obsidian UI.
When colon subcommands are unavailable (e.g. Windows Git Bash without wrapper), prefer non-colon alternatives: use
```
properties
```
instead of
```
property:read
```
, and
```
obsidian daily:path
```
+
```
append
```
instead of
```
daily:append
```
.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Cause	Fix
Empty output / hangs	Obsidian not running, or admin terminal (Windows)	Start Obsidian; use normal-privilege terminal
Command not found	CLI not registered in PATH	Re-enable CLI in Settings; restart terminal
Unicode errors	Fixed in v1.12.2+	Update Obsidian
Wrong vault targeted	Multi-vault ambiguity	Pass vault name as first arg
IPC socket not found (Linux)	`PrivateTmp=true` in systemd	Set `PrivateTmp=false`
Snap confinement issues	Snap restricts IPC	Use `.deb` package instead
Multi-vault `"Name" command` fails	Vault name matching issue	Omit vault name; target most recent vault
`property:set` list value is a string	CLI stores value as-is	Edit frontmatter directly or use `eval`
Colon+params exit 127 (missing `.com` )	Outdated installer — `Obsidian.com` absent	Reinstall from obsidian.md/download
Colon+params exit 127 (Git Bash / MSYS2)	Bash resolves `obsidian` to `.exe` not `.com`	Create `~/bin/obsidian` wrapper: `#!/bin/bash` / `/c/path/to/Obsidian.com "$@"` and add `export PATH="$HOME/bin:$PATH"` to `~/.bashrc`

obsidian-cli

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

Obsidian CLI

Prerequisites

Platform Notes

Syntax

Multi-Vault

Command Overview

Quick Reference — Most Common Commands

Reading & Writing Notes

Daily Notes

Search

Properties & Tags

Tasks

Developer & Automation

TUI Mode

Common Agent Patterns

Daily Journal Automation

Create Note from Template with Metadata

Vault Analytics Script

Search and Extract for AI Processing

Sync Management

Execute Obsidian Commands

Tips

Troubleshooting