QuickAdd CLI

QuickAdd hooks into Obsidian’s own command-line interface, so you can run a choice from a terminal, a shell script, or a scheduled job - no link-building or extra plugins. Point the obsidian command at a vault and a choice, and it runs.

obsidian vault=dev quickadd choice="Daily log"

QuickAdd registers these CLI handlers automatically on any Obsidian version that supports plugin CLI commands.

What you need

• Obsidian 1.12.2 or newer (the plugin CLI handler API arrived in 1.12.2).
• QuickAdd enabled in the target vault.

The commands

Run a choice: quickadd / quickadd:run

Run a QuickAdd choice from the CLI, by name or by id:

obsidian vault=dev quickadd choice="Daily log"
obsidian vault=dev quickadd:run id="choice-id"

List your choices: quickadd:list

List every QuickAdd choice (including nested choices inside multis):

obsidian vault=dev quickadd:list
obsidian vault=dev quickadd:list type=Capture
obsidian vault=dev quickadd:list commands

See what a choice still needs: quickadd:check

Check which inputs are still missing before a non-interactive run:

obsidian vault=dev quickadd:check choice="Daily log"

Create a note from a template: quickadd:run-template

Create a new note from a template file, with no dedicated Template choice required. This is the scriptable form of the New note from template command.

obsidian vault=dev quickadd:run-template \
  path="Templates/Meeting.md" \
  value-value="2026-06-14 Standup"

• path= is the template file (vault-relative). A leading slash is allowed and a missing .md extension is added, matching how Template choices resolve paths. If no file resolves there, the command returns {"ok":false} up front.
• The new note’s name comes from {{value}} - pass it as value-value=.... A non-interactive run with an empty or missing name returns missingFlags instead of creating an unnamed note. The note is created in Obsidian’s “Default location for new notes”.
• The picker (interactive command) only lists templates inside your configured template folder(s); path= here is explicit, so any vault file resolves.
• Like quickadd:run, name collisions on the target note still prompt interactively (the file-exists choice is not a pre-collected input).

Introduced in QuickAdd 2.14.0.

Pass variables to a choice

QuickAdd’s CLI accepts variables three ways:

1. value-<name>=... (the same form the URI uses)
2. extra key=value args
3. vars=<json-object> for structured values

obsidian vault=dev quickadd \
  choice="Daily log" \
  value-project="QuickAdd" \
  mood="focused"

obsidian vault=dev quickadd \
  choice="Daily log" \
  vars='{"project":"QuickAdd","sprint":42}'

Values are passed through exactly as provided. If a choice should ignore an accidental leading or trailing space for a specific placeholder, use |trim in that format string, for example {{VALUE:project|trim}}.

Names the CLI reserves

The bare key=value form (pattern 2) ignores names that a command already uses as flags or selectors: choice, id, vars, ui, verify (on quickadd / quickadd:run), fields (on quickadd:check), and path (on quickadd:run-template). If a choice has a variable named after one of these (for example {{VALUE:verify}}), pass it with the value- prefix or via vars instead - neither is ever treated as a flag:

obsidian vault=dev quickadd choice="My choice" value-verify="a value"
obsidian vault=dev quickadd choice="My choice" vars='{"verify":"a value"}'

What happens when inputs are missing

By default, quickadd and quickadd:run are non-interactive. If QuickAdd finds missing inputs, it returns a JSON payload with missing fields and missingFlags suggestions instead of opening prompts.

Pass a returned missingFlags entry back exactly as shown. Some generated flags fill internal runtime selections, such as a preselected capture target file.

Add ui to allow interactive prompts:

obsidian vault=dev quickadd choice="Daily log" ui

In a scheduled job, only add ui when the job runs while you are logged in and able to answer the prompts.

Answer run-time prompts from outside: quickadd:interactive

Some choices prompt at run time for inputs that can’t be gathered up front - a macro’s quickAddApi.suggester over data it just fetched, an inputPrompt, yesNoPrompt, checkboxPrompt, and so on. quickadd:interactive runs a choice and forwards those prompts to you over a local HTTP bridge, so an external front end (Raycast, a script) can render them and send back answers, instead of the prompts opening in Obsidian.

obsidian vault=dev quickadd:interactive choice="Import from Readwise"
# -> {"ok":true,"host":"127.0.0.1","port":51789,"sessionId":"…","token":"…"}

The command returns connection details immediately and runs the choice in the background. Attach to the session and drive it:

• GET http://127.0.0.1:<port>/poll?session=<id>&token=<token> - long-polls for the next event: {"kind":"prompt","requestId":…,"prompt":{…}}, {"kind":"done","result":…}, {"kind":"error","error":…}, or a periodic {"kind":"idle"} keepalive (just poll again).
• POST http://127.0.0.1:<port>/reply?session=<id>&token=<token> with body {"requestId":…,"value":…} to answer, or {"requestId":…,"cancelled":true} to cancel (which aborts the run).

Prompt types and the value you reply with: suggester/input/date → string, confirm → boolean, checkbox → string array, info → acknowledgement, form → an object mapping each field’s id to its string value (date fields use the @date:ISO format). The run’s outcome arrives as the done/error poll event.

Good to know:

• Desktop only. The bridge binds to 127.0.0.1, is gated by the per-session token, rejects browser (Origin/Referer) and non-loopback Host requests, and the server is ephemeral - it starts on the first session and stops when the last one ends.
• Concurrency. Each run gets its own sessionId + token; many can run at once without interfering.
• If no client attaches within ~30s the run is aborted so a prompt can’t hang forever.

Introduced in QuickAdd 2.16.0.