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Open QuickAdd from a URI

QuickAdd choices can be launched from external scripts or apps such as Shortcuts on Mac and iOS, through the use of the obsidian://quickadd URI.

obsidian://quickadd?choice=<YOUR_CHOICE_NAME>[&value-VALUE_NAME=...]
note

All parameter names and values must be properly URL encoded to work. You can use an online tool like urlencoder.org to help you easily encode parts of the URI.

The only required parameter is choice which selects the choice to run by its name. The name must match exactly, otherwise it will not be able to be found.

Variables to your choice are passed as additional value-VARIABLE_NAME parameters, with value- prefixing the name. Variables with a space in their name can still be used, but the spaces in the name must be encoded as %20 as usual. For example, a capture asking for a variable named log notes would be passed as value-log%20notes=... in the URI.

Keep in mind that unnamed variables (a bare {{VALUE}}/{{NAME}} or {{MVALUE}}) cannot be filled by the URI and you will instead be prompted inside Obsidian as usual.

Vault parameter​

Like every Obsidian URI, you can use the special vault parameter to specify which vault to run QuickAdd in. If left blank, it will be executed in your most recent vault.

obsidian://quickadd?vault=My%20Vault&choice=Daily%20log&value-contents=Lorem%20ipsum.

Important: Sync Service Limitations​

warning

When using QuickAdd via URI with sync services (Obsidian Sync, iCloud, Dropbox, etc.), be aware of a critical limitation:

If Obsidian hasn't been opened on a device, files created on other devices won't be synced yet. This can cause QuickAdd to create duplicate files that overwrite the synced versions when they arrive.

Example Scenario​

  1. You create a Daily Note on your laptop
  2. Without opening Obsidian on your phone, you trigger a Capture via URI
  3. QuickAdd checks if the Daily Note exists (it doesn't locally)
  4. QuickAdd creates a new Daily Note
  5. When sync runs, the new file overwrites the one from your laptop

Workarounds​

  • Open Obsidian first: Always open Obsidian and wait for sync before using URIs
  • Use device-specific names: Configure different filename formats per device (e.g., {{date}}-mobile)
  • Capture to active file: Use an already-open note to avoid file creation issues
  • Include timestamps: Add {{time}} to filenames to ensure uniqueness

This is a fundamental limitation of file-based sync services and cannot be fully resolved without sync status APIs.