Obsidian Properties Management
Read, set, and remove YAML frontmatter properties on Obsidian notes using the official CLI.
Prerequisites
- Obsidian desktop v1.12.4+ with CLI enabled
- Obsidian must be running
When to Use
Use this skill automatically when:
- User wants to read or inspect note metadata/frontmatter
- User needs to set, update, or add properties to notes
- User wants to remove properties from notes
- User asks about note status, tags, dates, or custom fields
- User needs to manage aliases on notes
Core Operations
Read Properties
# Read all properties from a note
obsidian properties file="Project Spec"
# JSON output for parsing
obsidian properties file="Project Spec" format=jsonSet Properties
# Set a text property
obsidian properties:set file="Note" status=active
# Set a date property
obsidian properties:set file="Note" due=2026-03-15 type=date
# Set multiple properties
obsidian properties:set file="Note" status=draft priority=high
# Set tags property
obsidian properties:set file="Note" tags="blog,publish" type=tagsRemove Properties
# Remove a single property
obsidian properties:remove file="Note" key=draft
# Remove multiple properties
obsidian properties:remove file="Note" key=old_fieldProperty Types
| Type | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Text | status=active | Default type |
| Date | due=2026-03-15 type=date | ISO 8601 format |
| Tags | tags="a,b" type=tags | Comma-separated |
| Number | priority=1 | Numeric values |
| Boolean | published=true | true/false |
| List | aliases="Name1,Name2" type=tags | Comma-separated |
Common Patterns
Status Workflow
# Set draft status
obsidian properties:set file="Post" status=draft
# Move to review
obsidian properties:set file="Post" status=review
# Mark published
obsidian properties:set file="Post" status=published published=trueAlias Management
# Add aliases for wikilink resolution
obsidian properties:set file="JavaScript" aliases="JS,js,ECMAScript" type=tagsAgentic Optimizations
| Context | Command |
|---|---|
| Read properties (structured) | obsidian properties file="X" format=json |
| Set property | obsidian properties:set file="X" key=value |
| Remove property | obsidian properties:remove file="X" key=field |
| Typed property | obsidian properties:set file="X" field=val type=date |
Related Skills
- vault-files — Read and create notes
- search-discovery — Search by property values with
[key:value]syntax