Obsidian
Drive your Obsidian vault from the agent via the official obsidian CLI—search, open, create, and edit Markdown notes without hand-copying paths.
Overview
Obsidian is an agent skill most often used in Build (also Idea, Operate) that operates Obsidian vaults via the official obsidian CLI for search, read, and note edits.
Install
npx skills add https://github.com/steipete/clawdis --skill obsidianWhat is this skill?
- Official obsidian CLI with vault= disambiguation and JSON-friendly search
- Read/open/create/edit notes, tasks, links, and properties from the terminal
- Vault model: *.md notes, *.canvas, attachments, and .obsidian config boundaries
- PATH registration paths for macOS (/usr/local/bin) and Linux (~/.local/bin)
- Prefers CLI for app-connected edits; allows direct Markdown file edits when safer
- Requires Obsidian 1.12.7+ with Command line interface enabled
Adoption & trust: 2.4k installs on skills.sh; 378k GitHub stars; 2/3 security scanners passed (skills.sh audits).
What problem does it solve?
Your agent cannot reliably find or update the right note in the right vault without the Obsidian CLI contract and vault naming rules.
Who is it for?
Builders who already use Obsidian daily and want agent automation for search, capture, and structured note edits.
Skip if: Headless-only workflows without the Obsidian app running, or teams standardized on Notion/Google Docs without local vaults.
When should I use this skill?
Work with Obsidian vaults using the official obsidian CLI: read, search, create, edit notes, tasks, links, properties, and plugins.
What do I get? / Deliverables
Agents run documented obsidian commands against a running app instance so notes, tasks, and links stay consistent with your vault instead of stale file guesses.
- Executed obsidian CLI commands
- Updated or created vault notes
- Search results in JSON or copied output
Recommended Skills
Journey fit
Spans multiple journey phases - primary shelf plus alternate fits below.
Knowledge capture and task-linked notes most often attach during Build when specs, todos, and research live beside the repo. PM subphase covers planning artifacts, meeting notes, and inbox workflows that solo builders keep in Obsidian.
Where it fits
Search the vault for competitor clips and append findings to a dated research note.
Open the scope doc and add acceptance criteria the agent extracted from chat.
Create or update task-linked notes before a coding session.
Pull the incident runbook note and edit checkboxes after a deploy.
How it compares
Vault integration through the official CLI—not a generic filesystem Markdown editor that ignores Obsidian tasks, properties, and plugins.
Common Questions / FAQ
Who is obsidian for?
Solo and indie builders who keep specs, research, and tasks in Obsidian and want their agent to use the supported CLI instead of brittle path hacks.
When should I use obsidian?
In Idea for research notes, Validate for scope write-ups, Build for PM/task notes, and Operate for runbooks—whenever the Obsidian app is open with CLI enabled.
Is obsidian safe to install?
It can change vault Markdown and metadata via CLI; confirm vault backups and read the Security Audits panel on this Prism page before granting shell access.
SKILL.md
READMESKILL.md - Obsidian
# Obsidian Use the official `obsidian` CLI for Obsidian vault work. Vault files are plain Markdown, so direct file edits are still fine when safer/faster. ## Requirements - Obsidian 1.12.7+ installed. - Settings -> General -> Command line interface enabled. - `obsidian` registered on PATH. - Obsidian app running; the CLI connects to the running app. Check: ```bash obsidian version obsidian help ``` macOS registration creates `/usr/local/bin/obsidian` pointing at the app-bundled CLI. Linux registration copies the binary to `~/.local/bin/obsidian`. ## Vault model - Notes: `*.md`. - Config: `.obsidian/`; avoid editing unless asked. - Canvases: `*.canvas` JSON. - Attachments: vault-configured folder. - Multiple vaults are common; pass `vault="<name>"` when ambiguous. Obsidian desktop tracks vaults here: - `~/Library/Application Support/obsidian/obsidian.json` ## Command pattern ```bash obsidian <command> [name=value] [flag] obsidian vault="Notes" search query="meeting notes" format=json ``` Parameter values with spaces need quotes. Add `--copy` to copy output where useful. ## Common commands Open/read: ```bash obsidian open file=Recipe obsidian open path="Inbox/Idea.md" newtab obsidian read obsidian read file=Recipe ``` Search: ```bash obsidian search query="TODO" matches obsidian search query="status::active" format=json obsidian search:open query="project notes" ``` Create/modify: ```bash obsidian create name="New Note" obsidian create path="Inbox/Idea.md" content="# Idea" obsidian append file=Note content="New line" obsidian prepend file=Note content="After frontmatter" ``` Move/delete: ```bash obsidian move file=Note to=Archive/ obsidian move path="Inbox/Old.md" to="Projects/New.md" obsidian delete file=Note ``` Daily/tasks: ```bash obsidian daily obsidian daily:read obsidian daily:append content="- [ ] Review inbox" obsidian tasks all todo obsidian task file=Note line=8 done ``` Properties/links: ```bash obsidian tags all counts obsidian property:read file=Note name=status obsidian property:set file=Note name=status value=done obsidian backlinks file=Note obsidian unresolved verbose counts ``` Developer/debug: ```bash obsidian plugin:reload my-plugin obsidian dev:errors obsidian dev:screenshot file=shot.png obsidian eval "app.vault.getFiles().length" ``` ## Notes - `file=<name>` uses Obsidian-style file resolution; `path=<vault-relative.md>` is exact. - Prefer CLI move/delete/property commands for Obsidian-aware updates. - Prefer direct Markdown edits for bulk text changes after locating the vault path. - Do not rely on third-party `obsidian-cli` unless user explicitly asks for it.