zacczakk/metronome/obsidian-cli

Obsidian CLI

The obsidian executable launches the Electron app binary. Invoke it only for an explicit app operation, one command at a time. Never use it for routine vault discovery, reads, searches, or writes; never run calls in parallel; never retry a lock failure; never kill or restart Obsidian.

Command reference

Run obsidian help to see all available commands. This is always up to date. Full docs: https://help.obsidian.md/cli

Syntax

Parameters take a value with =. Quote values with spaces:

obsidian create name="My Note" content="Hello world"

Flags are boolean switches with no value:

obsidian create name="My Note" silent overwrite

For multiline content use \n for newline and \t for tab.

File targeting

Many commands accept file or path to target a file. Without either, the active file is used.

• file=<name> — resolves like a wikilink (name only, no path or extension needed)
• path=<path> — exact path from vault root, e.g. folder/note.md

Plugin development

Develop/test cycle

After making code changes to a plugin or theme, follow this workflow:

1. Reload the plugin to pick up changes:

``bash obsidian plugin:reload id=my-plugin ``

1. Check for errors — if errors appear, fix and repeat from step 1:

``bash obsidian dev:errors ``

1. Verify visually with a screenshot or DOM inspection:

``bash obsidian dev:screenshot path=screenshot.png obsidian dev:dom selector=".workspace-leaf" text ``

1. Check console output for warnings or unexpected logs:

``bash obsidian dev:console level=error ``

Additional developer commands

Run JavaScript in the app context:

obsidian eval code="app.vault.getFiles().length"

Inspect CSS values:

obsidian dev:css selector=".workspace-leaf" prop=background-color

Toggle mobile emulation:

obsidian dev:mobile on

Run obsidian help to see additional developer commands including CDP and debugger controls.