Manage Obsidian Vaults Via Notesmd Cli

---
name: manage-obsidian-vaults-via-notesmd-cli
description: "Work with Obsidian vaults (plain Markdown notes) and automate via notesmd-cli."
category: "Productivity"
author: community
version: "1.0.0"
icon: check-square
---

# Obsidian

Obsidian vault = a normal folder on disk.

Vault structure (typical)
- 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 you chose in Obsidian settings (images/PDFs/etc.)

## Find the active vault(s)

Obsidian desktop tracks vaults here (source of truth):
- `~/Library/Application Support/obsidian/obsidian.json`

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

Fast “what vault is active / where are the notes?”
- If you’ve already set a default: `notesmd-cli print-default --path-only`
- Otherwise, read `~/Library/Application Support/obsidian/obsidian.json` and use the vault entry with `"open": true`.

## notesmd-cli quick start

Pick a default vault and open behavior (once):
- `notesmd-cli set-default "<vault-folder-name>"`
- `notesmd-cli set-default --open-type editor` (Sets default to use your terminal/GUI `$EDITOR` instead of opening the Obsidian app)
- `notesmd-cli print-default` / `notesmd-cli print-default --path-only`

Search
- `notesmd-cli search` (Interactive fuzzy search for notes; respects Obsidian's excluded files)
- `notesmd-cli search-content "query"` (Searches inside notes; shows snippets + lines)

Create
- `notesmd-cli create "Folder/New note" --content "..."`
- `notesmd-cli create "New note" --open` (Opens in Obsidian, or `$EDITOR` if `--editor` flag is passed)
- **Note:** Works directly on disk (headless supported); Obsidian does *not* need to be running. Reads `.obsidian/app.json` for default new file locations.

Daily Notes
- `notesmd-cli daily` (Creates or opens today's daily note directly on disk)
- Automatically reads your `.obsidian/daily-notes.json` for folder, format, and template configurations.

Frontmatter (YAML Metadata)
- `notesmd-cli frontmatter "NoteName" --print`
- `notesmd-cli frontmatter "NoteName" --edit --key "status" --value "done"`
- `notesmd-cli frontmatter "NoteName" --delete --key "draft"`

Move/rename (safe refactor)
- `notesmd-cli move "old/path/note" "new/path/note"`
- Updates `[[wikilinks]]` and common Markdown links across the vault (this is the main win vs standard `mv`).

Delete
- `notesmd-cli delete "path/note"`

Prefer direct edits when appropriate: open the `.md` file in any editor (`notesmd-cli open "note" --editor`) and change it; Obsidian will automatically pick it up.