Obsidian

Obsidian vault = a normal folder on disk.

Vault Structure

•Notes: *.md (plain text Markdown; edit with any editor)
•Config: .obsidian/ (workspace + plugin settings; usually don't touch from scripts)
•Canvases: *.canvas (JSON)
•Attachments: whatever folder configured in Obsidian settings (images/PDFs/etc.)

Find the Active Vault

Obsidian desktop tracks vaults here (source of truth):

•~/Library/Application Support/obsidian/obsidian.json

obsidian-cli resolves vaults from that file; vault name is typically the folder name (path suffix).

Fast vault lookup:

•If default is set: obsidian-cli print-default --path-only
•Otherwise, read ~/Library/Application Support/obsidian/obsidian.json and use the vault entry with "open": true

Notes:

•Multiple vaults common (iCloud vs local, work/personal). Don't guess; read config.
•Avoid hardcoded vault paths in scripts; prefer reading config or using print-default.

obsidian-cli Quick Reference

Action	Command
Set default vault	`obsidian-cli set-default "<vault-folder-name>"`
Print default vault	`obsidian-cli print-default` / `--path-only`
Fuzzy search (interactive)	`obsidian-cli search` (opens selected note)
Search content	`obsidian-cli search-content "query"`
Open note by name	`obsidian-cli open "note name"`
Print note contents	`obsidian-cli print "note name"`
Create note	`obsidian-cli create "Folder/New note" --content "..."`
Create note (shell-unsafe content)	Use temp file + single-quoted heredoc (see Safe Content Passing)
Open/create daily note	`obsidian-cli daily`
Move/rename (safe)	`obsidian-cli move "old/path" "new/path"`
Delete	`obsidian-cli delete "path/note"`

Key Points

•Move command updates links: obsidian-cli move updates [[wikilinks]] and Markdown links across the vault (main advantage over mv)
•Create requires Obsidian URI: Uses obsidian:// handler, so Obsidian must be installed
•Avoid dot-folders: Don't create notes under hidden folders (.something/...) via URI; Obsidian may refuse
•Direct edits work: Open the .md file directly and edit; Obsidian picks up changes
•Use print for reading: obsidian-cli print "note" outputs note contents to stdout
•Safe multi-line content: Avoid passing Markdown in double quotes when it includes backticks or $(); use a single-quoted heredoc or write directly to the vault path instead
•Verify after create: Run obsidian-cli print "note" and confirm the last section is present
•Vault flag: Most commands accept -v <vault-name> to specify a non-default vault

Safe Content Passing

When content includes backticks, $(), or lots of quotes, pass it via a temp file or write directly to the vault path.

Temp file + heredoc (preferred for obsidian-cli create):

zsh

tmp="$(mktemp)"
cat <<'EOF' > "$tmp"
... note content ...
EOF
obsidian-cli create "Folder/New note" --content "$(cat "$tmp")"
rm "$tmp"

Inline heredoc (no temp file, still shell-safe):

zsh

obsidian-cli create "Folder/New note" --content "$(cat <<'EOF'
... note content ...
EOF
)"

Direct write to vault path (bypasses URI + shell parsing):

zsh

vault="$(obsidian-cli print-default --path-only)"
note="$vault/Folder/New note.md"
mkdir -p "${note%/*}"
cat <<'EOF' > "$note"
... note content ...
EOF

Verify with: obsidian-cli print "Folder/New note"