Templates

Obsidian Templates

Manage note templates with support for Templater plugin and simple variable substitution.

Slash Commands (v1.1.0)

Command	Description
obsidian:templates	List vault templates (default)
obsidian:templates list	List vault templates (explicit)
obsidian:templates list --source plugin	List only plugin templates
obsidian:templates list --source all	List all templates
obsidian:templates show <name>	Show template content
obsidian:templates create <name>	Create new template
obsidian:templates edit <name>	Edit template in editor
obsidian:templates delete <name>	Delete template
obsidian:templates apply <template> <file>	Apply template to file

Quick Start

# List all available templates
uv run templates_command.py --vault .

# Show template content
uv run templates_command.py --vault . show map/basic

# Create new template
uv run templates_command.py --vault . create my-template

# Apply template to file
uv run templates_command.py --vault . apply map/basic "Atlas/Maps/New Map.md" --var up="Home" --var title="New Map"

Features

Template Discovery

The skill automatically discovers templates from multiple locations:

1. Plugin Templates: Pre-built templates in templates/<type>/

   • map/basic.md - Map of Content template
   • dot/basic.md - Atomic note template
   • source/basic.md - Source note template
   • map/templater.md - Map with Templater syntax

2. Vault Templates: Custom templates in your vault (searched in order)

   • x/templates/ - Created by /obsidian:init (priority)
   • .obsidian/templates/
   • Templates/
   • templates/

Source Filtering

Use --source to filter templates by origin:

# List vault templates (default)
uv run templates_command.py --vault .

# List only plugin templates
uv run templates_command.py --vault . --source plugin

# List all templates (vault + plugin)
uv run templates_command.py --vault . --source all

Templater Support

The skill automatically detects if Templater plugin is installed:

✅ Detects: .obsidian/plugins/templater-obsidian/

Templater Syntax Supported:

• <% tp.date.now("YYYY-MM-DD") %> - Current date
• <% tp.date.tomorrow() %> - Tomorrow's date
• <% tp.file.title %> - File name

Fallback Syntax:

• {{date}} - Current date (YYYY-MM-DD)
• {{time}} - Current time (HH:MM)
• {{datetime}} - Date and time
• {{title}} - File name
• {{up}} - Parent note (custom variable)
• Any custom variable via --var key=value

Commands

List Templates

uv run skills/templates/scripts/templates.py --list

Output:

Name                           Type            Source
============================================================
dot/basic                      dot             plugin
map/basic                      map             plugin
map/templater                  map             plugin
source/basic                   source          plugin
my-custom                      custom          vault

Total: 5 templates
Templater: ✅ installed

Show Template

uv run skills/templates/scripts/templates.py --show map/basic

Create Template

# Create with default content
uv run skills/templates/scripts/templates.py --create my-template

# Create with custom content
uv run skills/templates/scripts/templates.py --create my-template --content "# {{title}}"

Edit Template

uv run skills/templates/scripts/templates.py --edit my-template

Opens template in $EDITOR (default: vim)

Delete Template

uv run skills/templates/scripts/templates.py --delete my-template

Note: Only vault templates can be deleted (not plugin templates)

Apply Template

# Basic usage
uv run skills/templates/scripts/templates.py --apply map/basic "New Map.md"

# With variables
uv run skills/templates/scripts/templates.py --apply map/basic "Atlas/Maps/PKM.md" \
  --var up="Home" \
  --var title="PKM System"

# Source template with metadata
uv run skills/templates/scripts/templates.py --apply source/basic "Sources/Article.md" \
  --var up="Sources" \
  --var author="John Doe" \
  --var url="https://example.com"

Template Variables

Built-in Variables

Variable	Value	Example
{{date}}	Current date	2025-01-15
{{time}}	Current time	14:30
{{datetime}}	Date and time	2025-01-15 14:30
{{title}}	File name (without .md)	My Note

Custom Variables

Pass custom variables with --var:

--var up="Parent Note" \
--var collection="My Collection" \
--var author="Jane Smith"

Example Templates

Map of Content (map/basic.md)

---
type: map
up: "[[{{up}}]]"
created: {{date}}
daily: "[[{{date}}]]"
collection:
related: []
---

# {{title}}

## Overview


## Links


## Notes

Atomic Note (dot/basic.md)

---
type: dot
up: "[[{{up}}]]"
created: {{date}}
daily: "[[{{date}}]]"
collection:
related: []
---

# {{title}}

## Context


## Key Points


## Connections

Source Note (source/basic.md)

---
type: source
up: "[[{{up}}]]"
created: {{date}}
daily: "[[{{date}}]]"
collection:
related: []
author: {{author}}
url: {{url}}
---

# {{title}}

## Summary


## Key Takeaways


## Quotes


## Notes

Integration with Claude Code

When user requests template operations:

1. List templates: Show available templates from plugin and vault
2. Apply template: Substitute variables and create note
3. Create template: Add to vault templates directory
4. Detect Templater: Check plugin status and use appropriate syntax

Example Workflow

User: "Create a new map note called 'PKM System' under Home"

1. Check available templates (--list)
2. Apply map/basic template
3. Substitute variables: up="Home", title="PKM System"
4. Create file in appropriate location

Configuration

Templates are discovered automatically. No configuration needed.

Custom Template Location

To use custom vault templates:

1. Create directory: .obsidian/templates/ or Templates/
2. Add .md files
3. Templates appear in --list with source="vault"

Templater Plugin Integration

If Templater is installed (.obsidian/plugins/templater-obsidian/):

• Skill shows "✅ Templater installed" in --list
• Supports Templater syntax in templates
• Falls back to simple {{variable}} syntax if not installed

Supported Templater Functions

• tp.date.now() - Current date
• tp.date.tomorrow() - Tomorrow
• tp.file.title - File name

Other Templater functions will be passed through as-is.

Templater vs Fallback: When to Use Which

Is Templater plugin installed? (.obsidian/plugins/templater-obsidian/)
  ├── Yes → Use Templater syntax (dynamic dates, file info)
  │         <% tp.date.now("YYYY-MM-DD") %>
  │         <% tp.file.title %>
  └── No  → Use fallback syntax (static substitution)
            {{date}}, {{title}}, {{up}}

Side-by-Side Syntax Comparison

Feature	Templater	Fallback
Current date	<% tp.date.now("YYYY-MM-DD") %>	{{date}}
Tomorrow	<% tp.date.tomorrow() %>	(not available)
File title	<% tp.file.title %>	{{title}}
Custom var	(use Templater user scripts)	{{varname}} + --var varname=value

Recommendation: Use fallback syntax for portability. Use Templater only when you need dynamic features (date calculations, file system access).

Interactive Mode

Terminal

In terminal mode, the interactive wizard guides you through template creation and management.

Claude Code / Non-Interactive

When called without a terminal (e.g., in Claude Code), JSON is returned:

{
  "interactive_required": true,
  "action": "create",
  "config_schema": {...}
}

Use --config='...' or --yes to pass values directly.

Exit Codes

• 0: Success
• 1: Error (template not found, creation failed, etc.)