Obsidian CLI
Anything you can do in Obsidian you can do from the command line.
# Open today's daily note
obsidian daily
# Search your vault
obsidian search query="meeting notes"
# Add a task to your daily note
obsidian daily:append content="- [ ] Buy groceries"Use cases
Get started
Enable Command line interface in Settings → General.
Follow the on-screen instructions to add the CLI to your system PATH. Restart your terminal for changes to take effect.
Registration adds the Obsidian binary to your PATH via ~/.zprofile. If you use bash or fish, add the path to your shell config manually.
export PATH="$PATH:/Applications/Obsidian.app/Contents/MacOS"The installer adds an Obsidian.com terminal redirector alongside Obsidian.exe. This is required because Obsidian runs as a GUI app.
AppImage: A symlink is created at /usr/local/bin/obsidian (requires sudo). Falls back to ~/.local/bin if sudo fails.
Flatpak: A symlink is created automatically. If it fails, create one manually pointing to the Flatpak export.
Once installed, you’re ready to go. Note that the Obsidian app must be running.
Run a command
# Show help
obsidian helpUse TUI mode
# Open TUI (with autocomplete)
obsidianExamples
Check out practical examples, from everyday note-taking to developer automation.
# Open today's daily note
obsidian daily
# Add a task to your daily note
obsidian daily:append content="- [ ] Buy groceries"
# Search your vault
obsidian search query="meeting notes"
# Read current file
obsidian read
# List all tasks from daily note
obsidian tasks daily
# Create a new note from template
obsidian create name="Trip to Paris" template=Travel
# View all tags with frequency
obsidian tags counts
# Compare two versions of a file
obsidian diff file=README from=1 to=3# Open DevTools
obsidian devtools
# Reload plugin in development
obsidian plugin:reload my-plugin
# Capture app screenshot
obsidian dev:screenshot file=shot.png
# Execute JavaScript
obsidian eval "app.vault.getFiles().length"
# Review JS errors
obsidian dev:errors
# Inspect CSS properties
obsidian dev:css selector=".workspace"
# Query DOM elements
obsidian dev:dom selector=".nav"#!/bin/bash
# Morning routine automation
# Open today's daily note
obsidian daily
# Add routine tasks
obsidian daily:append content="- [ ] Review inbox"
obsidian daily:append content="- [ ] Check calendar"
# Copy recent files to clipboard
obsidian files sort=modified limit=5 --copy
# Check for unresolved links
obsidian unresolved
# Search a specific vault and export as JSON
obsidian search query="status::active" vault="Notes" format=jsonHotkeys
Convenient shortcuts and autocomplete built into the TUI.
Sync
Run Obsidian Sync without a GUI. All the speed, privacy, and end-to-end encryption of Obsidian Sync, on any server or automated environment.