obsidian

---
name: obsidian
description: "Use when working with obsidian vault: search/read/write notes, backlinks, Bases, Canvas from steipete/agent-scripts."
source: https://github.com/steipete/agent-scripts/tree/main/skills/obsidian
generated: 2026-05-27T20:56:07.624Z
category: tool
audience: engineers
---

## When to use

- Local Obsidian vault work. An Obsidian vault is a normal folder of Markdown files plus.obsidian/ config.
- Using the obsidian skill's upstream workflow, guardrails, and local-tool assumptions.
- Auditing commands or operational steps before changing obsidian behavior.
- Needing a compact agent reference for obsidian vault: search/read/write notes, backlinks, Bases, Canvas.

## Key concepts

### Sources

App config: ~/Library/Application Support/obsidian/obsidian.json Default vault name: obsidian Usual local vault path: ~/obsidian Official CLI: obsidian Vault commands resolve the vault from cwd; run them from ~/obsidian.

### First Checks

Global commands like version and vaults work outside a vault. Vault-content commands may print Vault not found. outside ~/obsidian. Use obsidian commands, not obsidian help, for CLI discovery. If obsidian says CLI is disabled: 1. Prefer asking the user to enable Settings -> General -> Advanced -> Command line interface. 2. If you already confirmed the app config shape, ~/Library/Application Support/obsidian/obsidian.json uses "cli": true. 3. Restart Obsidian after changing app-level CLI config.

### Read Workflow

Prefer official CLI for Obsidian-aware lookups: Use direct filesystem reads when you already know the path and need exact bytes: Report which source you used when freshness or vault choice matters.

### Write Workflow

Choose the narrowest write path: New note: obsidian create path="Folder/Note.md" content="...". Append/prepend daily notes: obsidian daily:append content="...". Simple note edits: use applypatch on the Markdown file. Rename/move notes: prefer obsidian move path="Old.md" to="Folder/New.md" so links can update. Opening UI after a write: add open only when useful or requested. Common commands: For multi-line content, prefer editing the.md file with applypatch once the path is known. Avoid...

### Bases, Canvas, Plugins

Use CLI discovery first: For.canvas,.base, and.json files, read/edit as structured data when possible. Keep formatting stable and validate JSON after edits.

### Safety

Do not bulk rewrite the vault. Use targeted paths and review diffs. Do not edit.obsidian/ unless the user asks or the task is explicitly settings/plugin work. Do not delete notes unless explicitly asked; prefer trash over permanent delete. Do not create hidden dot-folder notes through the Obsidian URI/CLI path. Preserve frontmatter and wikilinks unless the task is to refactor them. If multiple vaults exist, do not guess; use obsidian vaults and obsidian.json.

## API reference

```
npx skills add steipete/agent-scripts --skill obsidian
```

Install the obsidian skill from steipete/agent-scripts.

```
npx skills add steipete/agent-scripts --skill obsidian
```

```
command -v obsidian.
```

Command or snippet documented by the upstream obsidian skill.

```
command -v obsidian
obsidian version
obsidian vaults
cd ~/obsidian
obsidian commands filter=search:
```

```
cd ~/obsidian.
```

Command or snippet documented by the upstream obsidian skill.

```
cd ~/obsidian
obsidian search query="OpenClaw" format=json
obsidian search:context query="OpenClaw" limit=20 format=json
obsidian read path="Folder/Note.md"
obsidian file path="Folder/Note.md"
obsidian outline path="Folder/Note.md" format=json
obsidian backlinks path="Folder/Note.md" format=json
obsidian links path="Folder/Note.md"
obsidian properties path="Folder/Note.md" format=json
```

```
sed -n '1,220p' "$HOME/obsidian/Folder/Note.md".
```

Command or snippet documented by the upstream obsidian skill.

```
sed -n '1,220p' "$HOME/obsidian/Folder/Note.md"
rg -n "term" "$HOME/obsidian"
```

```
cd ~/obsidian.
```

Command or snippet documented by the upstream obsidian skill.

```
cd ~/obsidian
obsidian create path="Notes/New.md" content="# New\n\nBody"
obsidian append path="Notes/New.md" content="More text"
obsidian move path="Notes/New.md" to="Archive/New.md"
obsidian daily:path
obsidian daily:read
obsidian daily:append content="- Follow-up item"
```

```
cd ~/obsidian.
```

Command or snippet documented by the upstream obsidian skill.

```
cd ~/obsidian
obsidian bases
obsidian base:views path="Projects.base"
obsidian base:query path="Projects.base" view="Active" format=json
obsidian plugins format=json
obsidian plugins:enabled format=json
obsidian commands filter=workspace:
```

## Gotchas

- Prefer official CLI for Obsidian-aware lookups:.
- Do not bulk rewrite the vault. Use targeted paths and review diffs.
- Do not edit.obsidian/ unless the user asks or the task is explicitly settings/plugin work.
- Do not delete notes unless explicitly asked; prefer trash over permanent delete.
- Do not create hidden dot-folder notes through the Obsidian URI/CLI path.

---
Generated by SkillMake from https://github.com/steipete/agent-scripts/tree/main/skills/obsidian on 2026-05-27T20:56:07.624Z.
Verify against source before relying on details.

File: ~/.claude/skills/obsidian/SKILL.md