obsidian.mdx

title	Obsidian
description	Interact with your Obsidian vault via the Local REST API

import { BlockInfoCard } from "@/components/ui/block-info-card"

{/* MANUAL-CONTENT-START:intro */} Obsidian is a powerful knowledge base and note-taking application that works on top of a local folder of plain-text Markdown files. With features like bidirectional linking, graph views, and a rich plugin ecosystem, Obsidian is widely used for personal knowledge management, research, and documentation.

With the Sim Obsidian integration, you can:

• Read and create notes: Retrieve note content from your vault or create new notes programmatically as part of automated workflows.
• Update and patch notes: Modify existing notes in full or patch content at specific locations within a note.
• Search your vault: Find notes by keyword or content across your entire Obsidian vault.
• Manage periodic notes: Access and create daily or other periodic notes for journaling and task tracking.
• Execute commands: Trigger Obsidian commands remotely to automate vault operations.

How it works in Sim: Add an Obsidian block to your workflow and select an operation. This integration requires the Obsidian Local REST API plugin to be installed and running in your vault. Provide your API key and vault URL, along with any required parameters. The block communicates with your local Obsidian instance and returns structured data you can pass to downstream blocks — for example, searching your vault for research notes and feeding them into an AI agent for summarization. {/* MANUAL-CONTENT-END */}

Usage Instructions

Read, create, update, search, and delete notes in your Obsidian vault. Manage periodic notes, execute commands, and patch content at specific locations. Requires the Obsidian Local REST API plugin.

Tools

obsidian_append_active

Append content to the currently active file in Obsidian

Input

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
apiKey	string	Yes	API key from Obsidian Local REST API plugin settings
baseUrl	string	Yes	Base URL for the Obsidian Local REST API
content	string	Yes	Markdown content to append to the active file

Output

Parameter	Type	Description
appended	boolean	Whether content was successfully appended

obsidian_append_note

Append content to an existing note in your Obsidian vault

Input

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
apiKey	string	Yes	API key from Obsidian Local REST API plugin settings
baseUrl	string	Yes	Base URL for the Obsidian Local REST API
filename	string	Yes	Path to the note relative to vault root (e.g. "folder/note.md")
content	string	Yes	Markdown content to append to the note

Output

Parameter	Type	Description
filename	string	Path of the note
appended	boolean	Whether content was successfully appended

obsidian_append_periodic_note

Append content to the current periodic note (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly). Creates the note if it does not exist.

Input

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
apiKey	string	Yes	API key from Obsidian Local REST API plugin settings
baseUrl	string	Yes	Base URL for the Obsidian Local REST API
period	string	Yes	Period type: daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly
content	string	Yes	Markdown content to append to the periodic note

Output

Parameter	Type	Description
period	string	Period type of the note
appended	boolean	Whether content was successfully appended

obsidian_create_note

Create or replace a note in your Obsidian vault

Input

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
apiKey	string	Yes	API key from Obsidian Local REST API plugin settings
baseUrl	string	Yes	Base URL for the Obsidian Local REST API
filename	string	Yes	Path for the note relative to vault root (e.g. "folder/note.md")
content	string	Yes	Markdown content for the note

Output

Parameter	Type	Description
filename	string	Path of the created note
created	boolean	Whether the note was successfully created

obsidian_delete_note

Delete a note from your Obsidian vault

Input

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
apiKey	string	Yes	API key from Obsidian Local REST API plugin settings
baseUrl	string	Yes	Base URL for the Obsidian Local REST API
filename	string	Yes	Path to the note to delete relative to vault root

Output

Parameter	Type	Description
filename	string	Path of the deleted note
deleted	boolean	Whether the note was successfully deleted

obsidian_execute_command

Execute a command in Obsidian (e.g. open daily note, toggle sidebar)

Input

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
apiKey	string	Yes	API key from Obsidian Local REST API plugin settings
baseUrl	string	Yes	Base URL for the Obsidian Local REST API
commandId	string	Yes	ID of the command to execute (use List Commands operation to discover available commands)

Output

Parameter	Type	Description
commandId	string	ID of the executed command
executed	boolean	Whether the command was successfully executed

obsidian_get_active

Retrieve the content of the currently active file in Obsidian

Input

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
apiKey	string	Yes	API key from Obsidian Local REST API plugin settings
baseUrl	string	Yes	Base URL for the Obsidian Local REST API

Output

Parameter	Type	Description
content	string	Markdown content of the active file
filename	string	Path to the active file

obsidian_get_note

Retrieve the content of a note from your Obsidian vault

Input

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
apiKey	string	Yes	API key from Obsidian Local REST API plugin settings
baseUrl	string	Yes	Base URL for the Obsidian Local REST API
filename	string	Yes	Path to the note relative to vault root (e.g. "folder/note.md")

Output

Parameter	Type	Description
content	string	Markdown content of the note
filename	string	Path to the note

obsidian_get_periodic_note

Retrieve the current periodic note (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly)

Input

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
apiKey	string	Yes	API key from Obsidian Local REST API plugin settings
baseUrl	string	Yes	Base URL for the Obsidian Local REST API
period	string	Yes	Period type: daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly

Output

Parameter	Type	Description
content	string	Markdown content of the periodic note
period	string	Period type of the note

obsidian_list_commands

List all available commands in Obsidian

Input

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
apiKey	string	Yes	API key from Obsidian Local REST API plugin settings
baseUrl	string	Yes	Base URL for the Obsidian Local REST API

Output

Parameter	Type	Description
commands	json	List of available commands with IDs and names
↳ id	string	Command identifier
↳ name	string	Human-readable command name

obsidian_list_files

List files and directories in your Obsidian vault

Input

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
apiKey	string	Yes	API key from Obsidian Local REST API plugin settings
baseUrl	string	Yes	Base URL for the Obsidian Local REST API
path	string	No	Directory path relative to vault root. Leave empty to list root.

Output

Parameter	Type	Description
files	json	List of files and directories
↳ path	string	File or directory path
↳ type	string	Whether the entry is a file or directory

obsidian_open_file

Open a file in the Obsidian UI (creates the file if it does not exist)

Input

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
apiKey	string	Yes	API key from Obsidian Local REST API plugin settings
baseUrl	string	Yes	Base URL for the Obsidian Local REST API
filename	string	Yes	Path to the file relative to vault root
newLeaf	boolean	No	Whether to open the file in a new leaf/tab

Output

Parameter	Type	Description
filename	string	Path of the opened file
opened	boolean	Whether the file was successfully opened

obsidian_patch_active

Insert or replace content at a specific heading, block reference, or frontmatter field in the active file

Input

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
apiKey	string	Yes	API key from Obsidian Local REST API plugin settings
baseUrl	string	Yes	Base URL for the Obsidian Local REST API
content	string	Yes	Content to insert at the target location
operation	string	Yes	How to insert content: append, prepend, or replace
targetType	string	Yes	Type of target: heading, block, or frontmatter
target	string	Yes	Target identifier (heading text, block reference ID, or frontmatter field name)
targetDelimiter	string	No	Delimiter for nested headings (default: "::")
trimTargetWhitespace	boolean	No	Whether to trim whitespace from target before matching (default: false)

Output

Parameter	Type	Description
patched	boolean	Whether the active file was successfully patched

obsidian_patch_note

Insert or replace content at a specific heading, block reference, or frontmatter field in a note

Input

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
apiKey	string	Yes	API key from Obsidian Local REST API plugin settings
baseUrl	string	Yes	Base URL for the Obsidian Local REST API
filename	string	Yes	Path to the note relative to vault root (e.g. "folder/note.md")
content	string	Yes	Content to insert at the target location
operation	string	Yes	How to insert content: append, prepend, or replace
targetType	string	Yes	Type of target: heading, block, or frontmatter
target	string	Yes	Target identifier (heading text, block reference ID, or frontmatter field name)
targetDelimiter	string	No	Delimiter for nested headings (default: "::")
trimTargetWhitespace	boolean	No	Whether to trim whitespace from target before matching (default: false)

Output

Parameter	Type	Description
filename	string	Path of the patched note
patched	boolean	Whether the note was successfully patched

obsidian_search

Search for text across notes in your Obsidian vault

Input

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
apiKey	string	Yes	API key from Obsidian Local REST API plugin settings
baseUrl	string	Yes	Base URL for the Obsidian Local REST API
query	string	Yes	Text to search for across vault notes
contextLength	number	No	Number of characters of context around each match (default: 100)

Output

Parameter	Type	Description
results	json	Search results with filenames, scores, and matching contexts
↳ filename	string	Path to the matching note
↳ score	number	Relevance score
↳ matches	json	Matching text contexts
↳ context	string	Text surrounding the match