Supercharge Your Obsidian Workflow with the Obsidian Skill: CLI-Powered Note Automation

If you're an Obsidian user, you know the power of having your notes as plain Markdown files. But what if your AI agent could search, create, and refactor notes directly in your vault? The Obsidian skill from ClawdHub makes this possible, giving your agent full access to your knowledge base through the obsidian-cli tool.

Who Needs This?

Knowledge workers who want to query their notes via natural language
Developers who want to automate daily journaling or standup notes
Researchers who need to programmatically link concepts across hundreds of notes
Anyone who wishes their AI assistant could actually use their second brain

Unlike browser-based Obsidian plugins, this skill works directly on the filesystem—meaning your agent can read, write, search, and safely refactor notes even when Obsidian isn't running.

Installation

First, install the skill:

npx clawhub@latest install obsidian

Then install the CLI tool (macOS):

brew install yakitrak/yakitrak/obsidian-cli

Note: The CLI was recently renamed to notesmd-cli in the upstream repo, but the Homebrew formula still works as obsidian-cli.

Finding Your Vault

The skill automatically locates your vaults from Obsidian's config file:

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

Set a default vault so the CLI knows where to work:

obsidian-cli set-default "my-vault"
obsidian-cli print-default --path-only

This is crucial if you have multiple vaults (work/personal, iCloud synced, etc.).

Usage Examples

1. Search Your Notes

Find notes by name:

obsidian-cli search "meeting notes"

Or search inside your notes for specific content:

obsidian-cli search-content "quarterly goals"

This returns matching snippets with line numbers—perfect for your agent to find relevant context.

2. Create Notes Programmatically

obsidian-cli create "Daily/2026-02-18" --content "## Today's Focus\n- Write tutorial\n- Review PRs" --open

The --open flag launches the note in Obsidian via URI handler. Your agent can create daily journals, meeting notes, or any structured note on demand.

3. Safe Refactoring with Link Updates

This is where the CLI shines. When you rename or move notes:

obsidian-cli move "Projects/old-project" "Archive/old-project"

Unlike a raw mv command, this updates all [[wikilinks]] across your vault. No more broken links when reorganizing.

4. Delete Notes

obsidian-cli delete "Scratch/temp-note"

Simple and clean.

Pro Tips

Direct edits work too: Since Obsidian vaults are just folders, your agent can open and edit .md files directly. Obsidian picks up changes instantly.
Avoid dot-folders: Don't create notes under hidden directories (.archive/...); Obsidian's URI handler may reject them.
Multiple vaults: Don't hardcode paths. Always use print-default --path-only or read the config JSON to find the active vault.
Canvas files: The .canvas files are JSON—technically editable, but proceed with caution.
iCloud quirks: If your vault is in iCloud Drive, some files may be "on-demand" placeholders. The CLI handles this, but be aware of sync delays.

Real-World Use Case

Imagine telling your AI agent: "Add today's standup to my daily note". With this skill, the agent can:

Find today's daily note (or create it if missing)
Append your standup update
Link it to relevant project notes using wikilinks
All without you touching Obsidian

Conclusion

The Obsidian skill bridges your AI agent and your knowledge base. Whether you're automating daily workflows or building a smarter research assistant, having programmatic access to your vault unlocks powerful possibilities.

Install it today:

npx clawhub@latest install obsidian
brew install yakitrak/yakitrak/obsidian-cli

Links: