Obsidian CLI
Atmosphere/atmosphere
Interact with Obsidian vaults using the Obsidian CLI to read, create, search, and manage notes, tasks, properties, and more.
Search vault content by keyword using Grep. An agent skill from ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm.
Install Search
$ npx skills add ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm --skill search -a claude-codeProject install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.
$ gh skill install ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm search --agent claude-codeProject scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/vault-template/.claude/skills/search .claude/skills/search && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.
Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/
Install the "search" agent skill from https://github.com/ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm/tree/main/vault-template/.claude/skills/search into .claude/skills/search/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "search", then confirm the skill loads.Claude Code copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$skill-installer install https://github.com/ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm/tree/main/vault-template/.claude/skills/searchType this inside Codex. $skill-installer <name> installs a curated skill from openai/skills. The installer writes to $CODEX_HOME/skills (default ~/.codex/skills). Restart Codex if the skill does not show up.
$ npx skills add ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm --skill search -a codexProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.
$ gh skill install ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm search --agent codexProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/vault-template/.claude/skills/search .agents/skills/search && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.
Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/
Install the "search" agent skill from https://github.com/ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm/tree/main/vault-template/.claude/skills/search into .agents/skills/search/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "search", then confirm the skill loads.Codex copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ npx skills add ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm --skill search -a cursorProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.
$ gh skill install ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm search --agent cursorProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/vault-template/.claude/skills/search .cursor/skills/search && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.
Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/
Install the "search" agent skill from https://github.com/ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm/tree/main/vault-template/.claude/skills/search into .cursor/skills/search/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "search", then confirm the skill loads.Cursor copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ gemini skills install https://github.com/ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm.git --path vault-template/.claude/skills/search--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.
$ npx skills add ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm --skill search -a gemini-cliProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.
$ gh skill install ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm search --agent gemini-cliProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/vault-template/.claude/skills/search .gemini/skills/search && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.gemini/skills/ instead of .gemini/skills for a personal install, then run /skills reload.
Gemini CLI skills documentation · loads skills from .gemini/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "search" agent skill from https://github.com/ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm/tree/main/vault-template/.claude/skills/search into .gemini/skills/search/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "search", then confirm the skill loads.Gemini CLI copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ gh skill install ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm searchInstalls for Copilot at project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Preview a skill first with gh skill preview. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ npx skills add ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm --skill search -a github-copilotProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/vault-template/.claude/skills/search .github/skills/search && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.copilot/skills/ instead of .github/skills for a personal install. Commit .github/skills so cloud agent and code review can use it.
GitHub Copilot skills documentation · loads skills from .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "search" agent skill from https://github.com/ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm/tree/main/vault-template/.claude/skills/search into .github/skills/search/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "search", then confirm the skill loads.GitHub Copilot copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ npx skills add ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm --skill search -a opencodeOpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.
$ gh skill install ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm search --agent opencodeProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/vault-template/.claude/skills/search .opencode/skills/search && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.
OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "search" agent skill from https://github.com/ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm/tree/main/vault-template/.claude/skills/search into .opencode/skills/search/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "search", then confirm the skill loads.OpenCode copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
Facts
- Skill name
search- GitHub stars
- 1.9k
- Token cost
- ~617 tokens
- SKILL.md length
- 213 words
- Files
- 1
- Skills in repo
- 13
- Repo updated
- First seen
- Licence
- MIT
At a glance
Search vault content by keyword using Grep. An agent skill from ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm.
- Works in 4 steps: Search for the term → Group results by directory → Present results → …
- Knowledge Management work in your project
- SKILL.md covers Usage, How to Execute, No Results and Tips
- Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md
What it does
Search is an agent skill from ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm. Search vault content by keyword using Grep. Zero dependencies — works in any vault without indexes or plugins. Groups results by directory for easy scanning.
Its SKILL.md is about 620 tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.
It sits in Knowledge Management. It works with Obsidian. The repository describes itself as: A complete starter kit for an Obsidian + Claude Code personal knowledge management system. The licence is MIT.
When your agent uses it
- Knowledge Management work in your project
Example prompts
- “/search”
Requirements
- Pre-approved tools (allowed-tools): Grep, Glob, Read
Workflow steps
4 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.
What it can do on your machine
Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit ef1e4da. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.
Tool permissions
Pre-approves these tools, so the agent can use them without asking each time:
GrepGlobRead
From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.
Runs code
No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md (its code samples are markdown).
From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.
Network
No URLs in SKILL.md.
From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.
Credentials
Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.
From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.
Context cost
Search loads about 617 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 41 tokens; SKILL.md has 213 words of instructions outside code blocks.
Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.
Safety
Auto-check passed
The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.
Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.
SKILL.md
The full file from ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm at commit ef1e4da, republished under its MIT licence (© ballred). 213 words, ~617 tokens.
Download SKILL.mdSave it as
.claude/skills/search/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).- name
- search
- description
- Search vault content by keyword using Grep. Zero dependencies — works in any vault without indexes or plugins. Groups results by directory for easy scanning.
- allowed-tools
- Grep, Glob, Read
- user-invocable
- true
Search Skill
Fast keyword search across all vault markdown files using the Grep tool. No indexes, no plugins, no setup — just structured search with directory grouping.
Usage
/search <term>Examples:
/search project planning/search weekly review/search TODO
How to Execute
When the user invokes /search <term>:
Step 1: Search for the term
Use the Grep tool to search all .md files for the term:
Grep:
pattern: <search term>
glob: "*.md"
output_mode: content
-n: true
-C: 1Exclude hidden directories (.claude/, .obsidian/) and templates:
Grep:
pattern: <search term>
glob: "*.md"
path: .
output_mode: content
-n: true
-C: 1Filter out results from .claude/, .obsidian/, and Templates/ directories.
Step 2: Group results by directory
Organise matches into sections by their parent directory:
- Daily Notes/ — journal entries
- Goals/ — goal and vision documents
- Projects/ — project notes
- Archives/ — archived content
- Inbox/ — unprocessed items
- (root) — top-level notes
Step 3: Present results
Format output as:
## Search: "<term>"
### Daily Notes/
- **2024-01-15.md** (line 23): ...matching context...
- **2024-01-14.md** (line 8): ...matching context...
### Projects/
- **Project Alpha.md** (line 45): ...matching context...
### Goals/
- **2024 Goals.md** (line 12): ...matching context...
**Found X matches across Y files**Step 4: Suggest related content
After showing results, check if any matched files contain [[wiki-links]] to other notes. If so, briefly mention:
💡 Related notes mentioned in results: [[Note A]], [[Note B]]No Results
If no matches are found:
- Suggest alternative search terms (synonyms, related words)
- Offer to search with case-insensitive matching if the original search was case-sensitive
- Suggest checking
Archives/if not already included
Tips
- Search is case-sensitive by default. Add
-i: trueto the Grep call for case-insensitive search - Use regex patterns for advanced searches:
task.*complete,#tag-name - Combine with
/dailyto quickly find when something was mentioned
© ballred, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file
Files
Just SKILL.md in vault-template/.claude/skills/search of ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm.
Open the folder on GitHubat commit ef1e4da
Compare with similar skills
Search next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.
| Skill | Stars | Used in | Tokens | Auto-check | Licence | Repo updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Search this skillballred/obsidian-claude-pkm | 1.9k | — | ~617 | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Obsidian CLIAtmosphere/atmosphere | 3.8k | 13 repos | ~795 | Automated safety check: Pass | Apache-2.0 | |
| Second BrainNicholasSpisak/second-brain | 736 | 1 repos | ~1.5k | Automated safety check: Notes | None | |
| Hermes History IngestAr9av/obsidian-wiki | 3.5k | 1 repos | ~2.2k | Automated safety check: Notes | MIT | |
| LLM Wikilewislulu/llm-wiki-skill | 655 | — | ~3.7k | Automated safety check: Pass | None | |
| Obsidian Canvas BoardsAgriciDaniel/claude-obsidian | 15k | — | ~1.4k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT |
Similar skills
Second Brain
NicholasSpisak/second-brain
Set up a new Obsidian knowledge base with the LLM Wiki pattern.
Hermes History Ingest
Ar9av/obsidian-wiki
Ingest Hermes agent history into Obsidian as distilled knowledge.
LLM Wiki
lewislulu/llm-wiki-skill
Build and maintain a Karpathy-style LLM knowledge base — a self-compiling Obsidian markdown wiki where an Agent ingests raw sources, compiles cross-linked concept/entity/summary pages, answers…
Obsidian Canvas Boards
AgriciDaniel/claude-obsidian
Creates, inspects and updates Obsidian JSON Canvas boards in a vault, with text, file, link, group and edge nodes, using safe recoverable edits.
Youtube
axoviq-ai/synthadoc
Extract transcripts from YouTube videos via the YouTube caption system
More from ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm
All 13 skills in this repoDaily Notes Workflow
ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm
Creates today's daily note in an Obsidian vault and guides morning, midday and evening routines for planning, task review and reflection.
Cascading Goal Tracker
ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm
Tracks three-year, yearly, monthly, and weekly goals in linked Markdown files, calculating completion percentages and flagging stalled goals.
Obsidian Vault Operations
ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm
Reads, creates and edits notes in an Obsidian vault while preserving wiki-links, YAML frontmatter, tags and template variables.
Obsidian Project Tracker
ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm
Creates, tracks and archives projects linked to yearly goals in an Obsidian vault, with a status dashboard and a CLAUDE.md context file for each project.
Push
ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm
Commit and push vault changes to Git with smart commit messages.
Obsidian PKM Vault Upgrade
ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm
Updates an obsidian-claude-pkm vault's system files to the latest version, with a backup, per-file diff review and no changes to your own notes.
Related
Works with
Categories
Questions about Search
What does Search do?
Search vault content by keyword using Grep. An agent skill from ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm. Search is an agent skill from ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm. Search vault content by keyword using Grep.
When should I use Search?
Search fits situations like: knowledge Management work in your project.
How do I install Search in Claude Code?
Run `npx skills add ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm --skill search -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (vault-template/.claude/skills/search in ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm) into .claude/skills/search in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.
How do I install Search in Codex?
Run `npx skills add ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm --skill search -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (vault-template/.claude/skills/search in ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm) into .agents/skills/search in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.
Can I use Search in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?
Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm --skill search -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/search, .gemini/skills/search, .github/skills/search and .opencode/skills/search in your project.
What does Search need to run?
SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Search is instructions for the agent only. Its frontmatter pre-approves these tools: Grep, Glob, Read.
Does Search access the network?
SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.
Is Search safe to install?
Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.
What licence does Search use?
Search is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.
How many tokens does Search use?
About 617 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 2.5k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.
What are the alternatives to Search?
Skills that share tags, products or a category with Search: Obsidian CLI (Atmosphere/atmosphere, 3.8k stars), Second Brain (NicholasSpisak/second-brain, 736 stars), Hermes History Ingest (Ar9av/obsidian-wiki, 3.5k stars) and LLM Wiki (lewislulu/llm-wiki-skill, 655 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.
Who maintains Search?
ballred (a GitHub user) maintains it in ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm, which has 1,876 GitHub stars. The repository holds 13 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on February 18, 2026.
Source: ballred/obsidian-claude-pkm on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.