name: "cli-anything-obsidian"
description: >-
Command-line interface for Obsidian — Knowledge management and note-taking via Obsidian Local REST API. Designed for AI agents and power users who need to manage notes, search the vault, and execute commands without the GUI.

cli-anything-obsidian#

Knowledge management and note-taking via the Obsidian Local REST API. Designed for AI agents and power users who need to manage notes, search the vault, and execute commands without the GUI.

Installation#

This CLI is installed as part of the cli-anything-obsidian package:

pip install cli-anything-obsidian

Prerequisites:

Python 3.10+
Obsidian must be installed and running with the Local REST API plugin enabled

Usage#

Basic Commands#

# Show help
cli-anything-obsidian --help

# Start interactive REPL mode
cli-anything-obsidian

# List vault files
cli-anything-obsidian vault list

# Run with JSON output (for agent consumption)
cli-anything-obsidian --json vault list

REPL Mode#

When invoked without a subcommand, the CLI enters an interactive REPL session:

cli-anything-obsidian
# Enter commands interactively with tab-completion and history

Command Groups#

Vault#

Vault file management commands.

Command	Description
`list`	List files in the vault or a subdirectory
`read`	Read the content of a note
`create`	Create a new note
`update`	Overwrite an existing note
`delete`	Delete a note from the vault
`append`	Append content to an existing note

Search#

Vault search commands.

Command	Description
`query`	Search using Obsidian query syntax
`simple`	Plain text search across the vault

Note#

Active note commands.

Command	Description
`active`	Get the currently active note in Obsidian
`open`	Open a note in the Obsidian editor

Command#

Obsidian command palette commands.

Command	Description
`list`	List all available Obsidian commands
`execute`	Execute a command by its ID

Server#

Server status and info commands.

Command	Description
`status`	Check if the Obsidian Local REST API is running

Session#

Session state commands.

Command	Description
`status`	Show current session state

Examples#

List and Read Notes#

# List all vault files
cli-anything-obsidian vault list

# List files in a subdirectory
cli-anything-obsidian vault list "Daily Notes"

# Read a note
cli-anything-obsidian vault read "Projects/my-project.md"

Create and Update Notes#

# Create a new note
cli-anything-obsidian vault create "Projects/new-project.md" --content "# New Project"

# Update (overwrite) a note
cli-anything-obsidian vault update "Projects/new-project.md" --content "# Updated Content"

# Append to a note
cli-anything-obsidian vault append "Projects/new-project.md" --content "\n## New Section"

Search#

# Plain text search (GET /search/simple/)
cli-anything-obsidian search simple "meeting notes"

# Dataview DQL query — default --type dql, sent as
# application/vnd.olrapi.dataview.dql+txt
cli-anything-obsidian search query 'TABLE file.link FROM "Projects"'

# JsonLogic query — application/vnd.olrapi.jsonlogic+json
cli-anything-obsidian search query --type jsonlogic \
  '{"==":[{"var":"frontmatter.status"},"active"]}'

Commands#

# List available commands
cli-anything-obsidian command list

# Execute a command by ID
cli-anything-obsidian command execute "editor:toggle-bold"

Interactive REPL Session#

Start an interactive session for exploratory use.

cli-anything-obsidian
# Enter commands interactively
# Use 'help' to see available commands

API Key Configuration#

# Via flag
cli-anything-obsidian --api-key YOUR_KEY vault list

# Via environment variable (recommended for agents)
export OBSIDIAN_API_KEY=YOUR_KEY
cli-anything-obsidian vault list

State Management#

The CLI maintains lightweight session state:

API key: Configurable via --api-key or OBSIDIAN_API_KEY environment variable
Host URL: Defaults to https://localhost:27124; configurable via --host

Output Formats#

All commands support dual output modes:

Human-readable (default): Tables, colors, formatted text
Machine-readable (--json flag): Structured JSON for agent consumption

# Human output
cli-anything-obsidian vault list

# JSON output for agents
cli-anything-obsidian --json vault list

For AI Agents#

When using this CLI programmatically:

Always use --json flag for parseable output
Check return codes - 0 for success, non-zero for errors
Parse stderr for error messages on failure
Set OBSIDIAN_API_KEY environment variable to avoid passing --api-key on every call
Verify Obsidian is running with server status before other commands

More Information#

Full documentation: See README.md in the package
Test coverage: See TEST.md in the package
Methodology: See HARNESS.md in the cli-anything-plugin

Version#

1.1.0