gh-sjungling-claude-plugins-plugins-technical-writer/skills/obsidian-vault-manager/references/obsidian-cli-reference.md

obsidian-cli Command Reference

Complete reference for obsidian-cli commands and advanced usage patterns.

Installation

npm install -g @johnlindquist/obsidian-cli

Verify installation:

obsidian-cli --version

Core Commands

print-default

Display current vault information.

obsidian-cli print-default

Flags:

• --path-only - Output only the vault path (useful for scripting)

Output:

• Vault name
• Vault path
• Vault status

Usage:

# Get vault info
obsidian-cli print-default

# Get path for scripts
VAULT_PATH=$(obsidian-cli print-default --path-only)
echo "Vault location: $VAULT_PATH"

print

Read note contents by name or path.

obsidian-cli print "Note Name"
obsidian-cli print "folder/Note Name"

Behavior:

• Searches by note name first (without path)
• Falls back to path-based lookup
• Returns full note contents including frontmatter
• Case-sensitive matching

Examples:

# Read by name
obsidian-cli print "Project Plan"

# Read by path
obsidian-cli print "Work/Projects/Project Plan"

# Pipe to other tools
obsidian-cli print "Note" | grep "TODO"

create

Create new notes or update existing ones.

obsidian-cli create "Note Name" --content "content"

Required Flags:

• --content "text" - Note content (supports \n for newlines)

Optional Flags:

• --append - Add content to end of existing note (safe for existing files)
• --overwrite - Replace entire note (destructive)
• --open - Open note in Obsidian after creation

Content Syntax:

• Use \n for newlines
• Include Obsidian syntax: [[wiki-links]], #tags, - [ ] checkboxes
• Frontmatter can be included in content

Examples:

# Create new note
obsidian-cli create "Meeting Notes" --content "# Meeting\n\nAttendees: [[John]], [[Sarah]]"

# Append to existing
obsidian-cli create "Daily Log" --content "\n## 3pm Update\n- Completed task" --append

# Replace existing (caution!)
obsidian-cli create "Draft" --content "# New Draft\n\nStarting over" --overwrite

# Create and open in Obsidian
obsidian-cli create "Quick Note" --content "# Note" --open

Frontmatter Example:

obsidian-cli create "Book Review" --content "---\ntitle: Book Title\nauthor: Author Name\nrating: 5\n---\n\n# Review\n\nExcellent book about [[Topic]]"

move

Move or rename notes while preserving all wiki-links.

obsidian-cli move "old/path" "new/path"

Behavior:

• Automatically updates ALL links to moved note throughout entire vault
• Updates bidirectional links
• Maintains frontmatter and note content
• Creates destination folder if needed

Path Formats:

• Vault-relative paths (no leading /)
• With or without .md extension
• Folder paths for organizing

Examples:

# Move note to different folder
obsidian-cli move "Inbox/Idea" "Projects/New Idea"

# Rename note
obsidian-cli move "Draft Title" "Final Title"

# Reorganize with folders
obsidian-cli move "Random/Design Doc" "Projects/Mobile/Design Doc"

# Move with .md extension (works the same)
obsidian-cli move "note.md" "folder/note.md"

Critical: This is the ONLY safe way to move notes. Using mv, Write, or file operations will break all links.

search-content

Search note contents for text.

obsidian-cli search-content "search term"

Behavior:

• Full-text search across all notes
• Returns matching note paths
• Case-insensitive by default
• Searches note content, not just titles

Examples:

# Find notes about a topic
obsidian-cli search-content "API design"

# Find todos
obsidian-cli search-content "- [ ]"

# Find tagged notes
obsidian-cli search-content "#important"

# Combine with other commands
for note in $(obsidian-cli search-content "refactor"); do
  echo "Found in: $note"
  obsidian-cli print "$note"
done

search

Interactive fuzzy search for note names.

obsidian-cli search

Behavior:

• Opens interactive picker
• Fuzzy matching on note names
• Navigate with arrow keys
• Press Enter to select

Usage:

• Run command
• Type to filter notes
• Select note with Enter
• Use selected note path in scripts

Note: This is interactive and may not work in all automation contexts. Use search-content for scripting.

daily

Create or open daily note.

obsidian-cli daily

Behavior:

• Creates note with today's date (YYYY-MM-DD format by default)
• Opens in Obsidian if it already exists
• Uses vault's daily note template if configured

Examples:

# Open today's note
obsidian-cli daily

# Create with custom content
obsidian-cli daily && obsidian-cli create "$(date +%Y-%m-%d)" --content "\n## Evening Review\n- Accomplishments" --append

Advanced Usage Patterns

Scripting with obsidian-cli

#!/bin/bash

# Get vault path for reference
VAULT_PATH=$(obsidian-cli print-default --path-only)

# Search and process notes
obsidian-cli search-content "TODO" | while read -r note; do
  echo "Processing: $note"
  content=$(obsidian-cli print "$note")
  # Process content...
done

# Bulk reorganization
for note in $(obsidian-cli search-content "#archive"); do
  obsidian-cli move "$note" "Archive/$note"
done

Combining with Standard Tools

# Use obsidian-cli for vault operations, then standard tools for processing
obsidian-cli print "Note" > /tmp/note.md
# Edit with standard tools
sed -i 's/old/new/g' /tmp/note.md
# Write back to vault
obsidian-cli create "Note" --content "$(cat /tmp/note.md)" --overwrite

Template-Based Note Creation

# Read template
TEMPLATE=$(cat templates/project-template.md)

# Create note with template
obsidian-cli create "New Project" --content "$TEMPLATE"

# Create with substitutions
TEMPLATE=$(cat templates/meeting-template.md | sed "s/DATE/$(date +%Y-%m-%d)/g")
obsidian-cli create "Meeting - Team Sync" --content "$TEMPLATE"

Batch Operations

# Rename multiple notes with pattern
for note in Project-*; do
  new_name=$(echo "$note" | sed 's/Project-/Archived-Project-/')
  obsidian-cli move "$note" "Archive/$new_name"
done

# Add tag to multiple notes
obsidian-cli search-content "machine learning" | while read -r note; do
  content=$(obsidian-cli print "$note")
  obsidian-cli create "$note" --content "$content\n\n#machine-learning" --append
done

Working with Frontmatter

# Create note with complex frontmatter
obsidian-cli create "Article" --content "---
title: Article Title
date: $(date +%Y-%m-%d)
tags:
  - article
  - published
author: John Doe
---

# Article Title

Content here with [[Wiki Links]]"

Link Integrity Verification

# After bulk operations, verify links
# (obsidian-cli handles this automatically, but for validation:)
VAULT_PATH=$(obsidian-cli print-default --path-only)

# Use standard tools to find broken links
grep -r "\[\[.*\]\]" "$VAULT_PATH" | while read -r line; do
  # Check if target exists
  # obsidian-cli move ensures this isn't needed
done

Troubleshooting

Command Not Found

# Install globally
npm install -g @johnlindquist/obsidian-cli

# Or use npx
npx @johnlindquist/obsidian-cli print-default

No Default Vault

Error: "No default vault set"

Solution:

• Open Obsidian application
• Vault must be opened at least once
• obsidian-cli reads from Obsidian's configuration

Path Issues

Problem: Note not found by name

Solution:

# Use full path
obsidian-cli print "folder/subfolder/Note Name"

# Or search first
obsidian-cli search-content "unique phrase in note"

Newlines Not Working

Problem: \n appears literally in notes

Solution:

# Use echo with -e flag
obsidian-cli create "Note" --content "$(echo -e "Line 1\nLine 2")"

# Or use $'...' syntax
obsidian-cli create "Note" --content $'Line 1\nLine 2'

Best Practices

1. Always check vault first: Run print-default before operations
2. Use obsidian-cli move exclusively: Never use mv for notes
3. Preserve Obsidian syntax: Maintain [[links]], #tags, frontmatter
4. Test on copies: For bulk operations, test on duplicate notes first
5. Use --append safely: Append is safe for existing files, overwrite is destructive
6. Script defensively: Check command success before proceeding
7. Backup regularly: obsidian-cli is safe, but backups prevent mistakes

See Also

• Obsidian Syntax Reference - Wiki-link and markdown syntax
• Note Templates - Ready-to-use note templates