Obsidian supports a custom URI protocol `obsidian://` which can be used to trigger various actions within the app. This is commonly used on macOS and mobile apps for automation and cross-app workflows. If you have Obsidian installed, this link will open the app on your device: [Click here](obsidian://open) ## Installing Obsidian URI To make sure your operating system redirect `obsidian://` URIs to the Obsidian app, there may be additional steps you need to perform. - On Windows, running the app once should be sufficient. This will register for the `obsidian://` custom protocol handler in the Windows registry. - On macOS, running the app once should be sufficient, however, your app **must** be installer version 0.8.12 or later. - On Linux, there's a much more involved process: - First, ensure you create a `obsidian.desktop` file. [See here for details](https://developer.gnome.org/documentation/guidelines/maintainer/integrating.html#desktop-files) - Ensure that your desktop file specifies the `Exec` field as `Exec=executable %u`. The `%u` is used to pass the `obsidian://` URIs to the app. - If you're using the AppImage installer, you may have to unpack it using `Obsidian-x.y.z.AppImage --appimage-extract`. Then make sure the `Exec` directive points to the unpacked executable. ## Using Obsidian URIs Obsidian URIs are typically in this format: ``` obsidian://action?param1=value&param2=value ``` - The `action` is usually the action that you would like to perform. ### Encoding ==Important== Ensure that your values are properly URI encoded. For example, forward slash characters `/` must be encoded as `%2F` and space characters must be encoded as `%20`. This is especially important because an improperly encoded "reserved" character may break the interpretation of the URI. [See here for details](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percent-encoding) ### Available actions #### Action `open` Description: Opens an Obsidian vault, and possibly open a file within that vault. Possible parameters: - `vault` can be either the vault name, or the vault ID. - The vault name is simply the name of the vault folder. - The vault ID is the random 16-character code assigned to the vault. This ID is unique per folder on your computer. Example: `ef6ca3e3b524d22f`. There isn't an easy way to find this ID yet, one will be offered at a later date in the vault switcher. Currently it can be found in `%appdata%/obsidian/obsidian.json` for Windows. For macOS, replace `%appdata%` with `~/Library/Application Support/`. For Linux, replace `%appdata%` with `~/.config/`. - `file` can be either a file name, or a path from the vault root to the specified file. - To resolve the target file, Obsidian uses the same link resolution system as a regular `[[wikilink]]` within the vault. - If the file extension is `md`, the extension can be omitted. - `path` an absolute file system path to a file. - Using this parameter will override both `vault` and `file`. - This will cause the app to search for the most specific vault which contains the specified file path. - Then the rest of the path replaces the `file` parameter. Examples: - `obsidian://open?vault=my%20vault` This opens the vault `my vault`. If the vault is already open, focus on the window. - `obsidian://open?vault=ef6ca3e3b524d22f` This opens the vault identified by the ID `ef6ca3e3b524d22f`. - `obsidian://open?vault=my%20vault&file=my%20note` This opens the note `my note` in the vault `my vault`, assuming `my note` exists and the file is `my note.md`. - `obsidian://open?vault=my%20vault&file=my%20note.md` This also opens the note `my note` in the vault `my vault`. - `obsidian://open?vault=my%20vault&file=path%2Fto%2Fmy%20note` This opens the note located at `path/to/my note` in the vault `my vault`. - `obsidian://open?path=%2Fhome%2Fuser%2Fmy%20vault%2Fpath%2Fto%2Fmy%20note` This will look for any vault that contains the path `/home/user/my vault/path/to/my note`. Then, the rest of the path is passed to the `file` parameter. For example, if a vault exists at `/home/user/my vault`, then this would be equivalent to `file` parameter set to `path/to/my note`. - `obsidian://open?path=D%3A%5CDocuments%5CMy%20vault%5CMy%20note` This will look for any vault that contains the path `D:\Documents\My vault\My note`. Then, the rest of the path is passed to the `file` parameter. For example, if a vault exists at `D:\Documents\My vault`, then this would be equivalent to `file` parameter set to `My note`. #### Action `search` Description: Opens the search pane for a vault, and optionally perform a search query. Possible parameters: - `vault` can be either the vault name, or the vault ID. Same as action `open`. - `query` (optional) The search query to perform. Examples: - `obsidian://search?vault=my%20vault` This opens the vault `my vault`, and opens the search pane. - `obsidian://search?vault=my%20vault&query=MOC` This opens the vault `my vault`, opens the search pane, and performs a search for `MOC`. #### Action `new` Description: Creates a new note in the vault, optionally with some content. Possible parameters: - `vault` can be either the vault name, or the vault ID. Same as action `open`. - `name` the file name to be created. If this is specified, the file location will be chosen based on your "Default location for new notes" preferences. - `file` a vault absolute path, including the name. Will override `name` if specified. - `path` a globally absolute path. Works similar to the `path` option in the `open` action, which will override both `vault` and `file`. - `content` (optional) the contents of the note. - `silent` (optional) set this if you don't want to open the new note. - `append` (optional) append to an existing file if one exists. - `overwrite` (optional) overwrite an existing file if one exists, but only if `append` isn't set. - `x-success` (optional) see [[#x-callback-url]]. Examples: - `obsidian://new?vault=my%20vault&name=my%20note` This opens the vault `my vault`, and creates a new note called `my note`. - `obsidian://new?vault=my%20vault&path=path%2Fto%2Fmy%20note` This opens the vault `my vault`, and creates a new note at `path/to/my note`. #### Action `hook-get-address` Description: Endpoint for use with [Hook](https://hookproductivity.com/). Use: `obsidian://hook-get-address` If `x-success` is defined, this API will use it as the x-callback-url. Otherwise, it will copy a Markdown link of the current focused note to the clipboard, as an `obsidian://open` URL. Possible parameters: - `vault` (optional) can be either the vault name, or the vault ID. If not provided, the current or last focused vault will be used. - `x-success` (optional) see [[#x-callback-url]]. - `x-error` (optional) see [[#x-callback-url]]. ## x-callback-url Available since v0.14.3. Some endpoints will accept the x-callback-url parameters `x-success` and `x-error`. When it's provided, Obsidian will provide the following to the `x-success` callback: - `name` the name of the file, without the file extension. - `url` the `obsidian://` URI for this file. - `file` (desktop only) the `file://` URL for this file. For example, if we receive `obsidian://.....x-success=myapp://x-callback-url` The response could be `myapp://x-callback-url?name=...&url=obsidian%3A%2F%2Fopen...&file=file%3A%2F%2F...` ## Shorthand formats In addition to the formats above, there are two more "shorthand" formats available to open vaults and files: - `obsidian://vault/my vault/my note` is equivalent to `obsidian://open?vault=my%20vault&file=my%20note` - `obsidian:///absolute/path/to/my note` is equivalent to `obsidian://open?path=%2Fabsolute%2Fpath%2Fto%2Fmy%20note`