copilot-obsidian

A GitHub Copilot CLI extension that connects your Obsidian vault to the Copilot agent. Read, write, search, and manage your notes directly from the terminal — no Obsidian plugin required.

Why?

Obsidian vaults are just folders of markdown files. This extension gives the Copilot CLI agent direct access to your vault, turning it into a persistent knowledge layer for your AI-powered workflow.

Use cases:

• Knowledge graphs — build and maintain a personal wiki that Copilot can read and update
• Meeting notes — have Copilot create structured notes during or after meetings
• Research — search your vault for context while working on tasks
• Daily journals — auto-populate daily notes from activity
• Project docs — keep project documentation in Obsidian and let Copilot reference it
• Backlink exploration — discover how ideas connect across your vault

Install

Clone this repo into your Copilot CLI user extensions directory:

# macOS / Linux
git clone https://github.com/ericchansen/copilot-obsidian ~/.copilot/extensions/copilot-obsidian

# Windows (PowerShell)
git clone https://github.com/ericchansen/copilot-obsidian "$env:USERPROFILE\.copilot\extensions\copilot-obsidian"

Then restart Copilot CLI (or run /clear). The extension is auto-discovered.

Per-project install

To bundle with a specific project, clone into .github/extensions/ instead:

git clone https://github.com/ericchansen/copilot-obsidian .github/extensions/copilot-obsidian

Configuration

The extension supports a config file (obsidian.config.json) placed in the extension directory, with fallback to environment variables.

Copy the example to get started:

cp obsidian.config.example.json obsidian.config.json

Note: obsidian.config.json is gitignored — your personal config stays local.

Config file reference

{
  "vault": "~/ObsidianVaults/MyVault",

  "folders": {
    "Projects": { "description": "Active projects and initiatives" },
    "Meetings": { "description": "Meeting notes and summaries" },
    "DailyNotes": { "description": "Daily journal entries" }
  },

  "keywords": ["vault", "obsidian", "note", "project", "meeting"],

  "daily": {
    "folder": "DailyNotes",
    "template": "---\ndate: {{date}}\n---\n\n# {{date}}\n\n## Notes\n\n"
  },

  "templates": {
    "Meeting": "---\ntype: meeting\ndate: {{date}}\n---\n\n# {{title}}\n\n## Attendees\n\n## Notes\n\n",
    "Person": "---\ntype: person\n---\n\n# {{title}}\n\n## Notes\n\n"
  }
}

Key	Description
vault	Absolute path to your vault. Supports ~ for home directory.
folders	Optional folder descriptions — shown in vault_list and injected context.
keywords	Words that trigger automatic context injection when mentioned in prompts.
daily.folder	Folder for daily notes (default: DailyNotes).
daily.template	Template for new daily notes. Supports {{date}} placeholder.
templates	Named templates for vault_write. Supports {{date}} and {{title}}.

Environment variables (fallback)

If no config file is present, the extension uses environment variables:

Variable	Description	Default
OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH	Absolute path to your vault	—
OBSIDIAN_VAULT_NAME	Vault folder name (under ~/ObsidianVaults/)	MyVault
OBSIDIAN_KEYWORDS	Comma-separated context-injection keywords	vault,obsidian,note,knowledge

Tools

Tool	Description
vault_read	Read a note's full markdown content
vault_write	Create or update a note (supports templates, frontmatter, wikilinks)
vault_append	Append content to an existing note without overwriting
vault_list	List folders in the vault, or notes in a specific folder
vault_search	Full-text search with optional frontmatter filters (type, status, tags)
vault_summary	Vault overview: folder counts, note counts, wikilink stats
vault_backlinks	Find all notes that [[link]] to a given note
vault_recent	List recently modified notes (sorted by last-modified time)
vault_daily	Read or create today's daily note from template
vault_delete	Delete a note
vault_rename	Rename or move a note between folders

Context injection

When you mention any of the configured keywords in your prompt, the extension automatically injects your vault structure as context. The agent sees your folders, note counts, and descriptions without needing to call any tools first.

Frontmatter search

vault_search can filter by YAML frontmatter fields:

Search for all meeting notes about "architecture":
  → query: "architecture", type: "meeting"

Find all active projects:
  → type: "project", status: "active"

Find notes tagged with "urgent":
  → tags: "urgent"

Backlinks

vault_backlinks finds every note that contains a [[wikilink]] to a given note — the same graph-traversal that powers Obsidian's graph view, now accessible to the agent.

How it works

┌─────────────────────┐       JSON-RPC / stdio       ┌──────────────────────┐
│   Copilot CLI        │ ◄──────────────────────────► │  copilot-obsidian    │
│                      │                               │                      │
│  Routes tool calls   │     vault_read, vault_write   │  Reads/writes .md    │
│  Injects context     │     vault_search, etc.        │  files on disk       │
└─────────────────────┘                               └──────────────────────┘
                                                              │
                                                              ▼
                                                     ┌──────────────────┐
                                                     │  Obsidian Vault  │
                                                     │  (local folder)  │
                                                     │                  │
                                                     │  📁 Projects/    │
                                                     │  📁 DailyNotes/  │
                                                     │  📁 People/      │
                                                     │  📁 ...          │
                                                     └──────────────────┘

The extension operates directly on the filesystem. Obsidian watches the vault folder for changes, so any notes created or updated by Copilot appear instantly in Obsidian. No Obsidian plugin or API is needed.

Requirements

• GitHub Copilot CLI v1.0.0+
• An Obsidian vault (any folder of markdown files)
• Node.js is not required separately — the Copilot CLI runtime provides it

Tips

• Use [[wikilinks]] in your notes to build a knowledge graph. Use vault_backlinks to explore connections.
• YAML frontmatter (the --- block at the top) enables structured search with vault_search filters.
• Templates save time — define them in your config and use vault_write with the template parameter.
• vault_daily is great for daily standups — the agent can read today's note for context or create one if it doesn't exist.
• Set keywords for your domain — if you work with accounts, add account to keywords so context auto-injects.

License

MIT