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Obsidian Vault CLI

Lets an agent read, write, search and run commands in your Obsidian notes via the Local REST API.

Source Download skill
Repository
HKUDS/CLI-Anything
Stars
58,084
Licence
Apache-2.0
Files
1 file

What it does

This skill teaches an AI agent to use a command-line tool called cli-anything-obsidian to manage an Obsidian knowledge base (a folder of Markdown notes called a vault). Once installed, the agent can list, read, create, overwrite, append to and delete notes, run plain-text or query-based searches, check or open the active note, and execute Obsidian command-palette actions by ID. It is designed to work without the Obsidian window, by talking to the Obsidian Local REST API plugin.

Great for

  • Power users who want an AI assistant to organise or search their Obsidian notes
  • Developers building automations that read or write notes in a vault
  • Anyone who wants structured JSON output from their notes for an agent workflow

Skip it if

  • Users who do not want an agent to be able to delete or overwrite notes, since the tool includes delete and update commands that can destroy content without a backup
  • People without Obsidian running with the Local REST API plugin enabled, since the CLI cannot work without it
  • Sensitive vaults used with untrusted agents, because the API key grants broad read and write access to all notes

Try asking

  • “Search my vault for notes about the Q3 budget and summarise them”
  • “Append a new meeting section to my Projects/roadmap.md note”
  • “List all files in my Daily Notes folder and read today's entry”
  • “Run the Obsidian command editor:toggle-bold or list available commands”
Step-by-step guide: how to use Obsidian Vault CLIInstall, first run, examples, tips and FAQs

Install in 3 steps

  1. 1

    Download the skill

    The ZIP contains the 1 original files, the Apache-2.0 licence and an attribution note.

    skills.zip
  2. 2

    Add it to your agent

    Claude Code (all projects)

    mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && unzip skills.zip -d ~/.claude/skills/

    Claude Code / Agent SDK (this project only)

    mkdir -p .claude/skills && unzip skills.zip -d .claude/skills/

    Claude apps (web/desktop): Settings → Capabilities → Skills → Upload skill, and choose the ZIP.

  3. 3

    Ask for the task

    No special command needed — the agent reads the skill's description and loads it when your request matches. Try one of the prompts above.

Get better results

  • Set OBSIDIAN_API_KEY as an environment variable rather than passing the key on the command line, and run 'server status' first to confirm Obsidian is reachable
  • Back up your vault or use version control before letting an agent use update or delete commands
  • Ask the agent to use --json output and check return codes, as the skill recommends

What's inside

  • SKILL.md

Redistributed unmodified from HKUDS/CLI-Anything under the Apache-2.0 licence. The assessment was drafted with AI from the skill's files on 2026-10-29. Skills can instruct your agent to run code — read SKILL.md and any scripts before installing.