Obsidian Templates

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when...	Use the alternative instead when...
Listing or previewing the templates configured in the vault	Editing template content as a plain note — use `vault-files`
Inserting a template into the currently open note	Creating a new note from a template — use `vault-files` `create … template=…`
Reading the resolved (`{{date}}` → real date) form of a template	Working with Templater plugin scripts — use `command-palette` for `templater-obsidian:*`

This skill covers the core Templates plugin. The community Templater plugin uses a different command surface — invoke it via command-palette (templater-obsidian:*) instead.

Prerequisites

Obsidian desktop 1.12.7+ installer with CLI enabled
Obsidian must be running
Core Templates plugin enabled, with a templates folder configured

List Templates

# All templates
obsidian templates

# Just the count
obsidian templates total

Read a Template

# Raw template content (variables unresolved)
obsidian template:read name="Meeting"

# Resolve variables ({{date}}, {{time}}, {{title}})
obsidian template:read name="Meeting" resolve

# Provide a title for {{title}} resolution
obsidian template:read name="Meeting" title="Standup 2026-04-30" resolve

Insert a Template

# Insert into the active file at the cursor
obsidian template:insert name="Meeting"

template:insert only works on the active editor. To create a new note from a template instead, reach for vault-files:

obsidian create name="Meeting 2026-04-30" template="Meeting"

Common Patterns

"Preview what a template will produce before inserting"

obsidian template:read name="Daily" resolve

"Bulk-create a week of daily notes from a template"

for offset in 0 1 2 3 4; do
  date=$(date -v+${offset}d +%F)   # macOS; use date -d "+$offset days" +%F on Linux
  obsidian create path="Daily/$date.md" template="Daily"
done

"Open today's daily template raw vs resolved (debugging)"

obsidian template:read name="Daily"           # raw, with {{date}}
obsidian template:read name="Daily" resolve   # with today's date filled in

Template Variables

The core Templates plugin understands:

Variable	Resolves to
`{{date}}`	Current date (format from Templates settings)
`{{time}}`	Current time (format from Templates settings)
`{{title}}`	The new note's title (or `title=` parameter)

Use the resolve flag to apply these — without it, template:read returns the raw source, which is what you want for editing the template itself.

Agentic Optimizations

Context	Command
List templates	`obsidian templates`
Template count	`obsidian templates total`
Raw template body	`obsidian template:read name=X`
Resolved template body	`obsidian template:read name=X resolve`
Insert into active file	`obsidian template:insert name=X`
Create new note from template	`obsidian create name=X template=Y` (see `vault-files`)

Related Skills

vault-files — Create new notes from templates (create … template=…)
command-palette — Invoke Templater (templater-obsidian:*) commands
plugins-themes — Enable / configure the Templates core plugin