Obsidian Plugins, Themes & Snippets

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when...	Use the alternative instead when...
Installing, enabling, disabling, or reloading community plugins	Running JavaScript in the app or capturing screenshots — use `dev-tools`
Switching the active theme or installing a new one	Triggering a plugin-registered command — use `command-palette`
Toggling CSS snippets on/off	Editing snippet CSS source on disk — use `vault-files`
Toggling Obsidian's restricted mode	Inspecting CSS rules with source location — use `dev-tools`

Lifecycle management for community plugins, themes, and CSS snippets. The developer commands (eval, devtools, dev:*, screenshots) live in the dedicated dev-tools skill.

Prerequisites

Obsidian desktop 1.12.7+ installer with CLI enabled
Obsidian must be running
Restricted mode off (community plugins disabled while restricted mode is on)

Plugins

List

# All installed plugins
obsidian plugins

# Just community or just core
obsidian plugins filter=community
obsidian plugins filter=core

# Include version numbers
obsidian plugins versions

# Structured output
obsidian plugins format=json

# Currently enabled
obsidian plugins:enabled
obsidian plugins:enabled filter=community versions

Plugin Info

obsidian plugin id=dataview

Install / Uninstall (community only)

# Install from the community catalogue
obsidian plugin:install id=dataview

# Install and enable in one shot
obsidian plugin:install id=dataview enable

# Remove
obsidian plugin:uninstall id=dataview

Enable / Disable

# Enable a plugin by ID
obsidian plugin:enable id=dataview

# Disable a plugin
obsidian plugin:disable id=dataview

# Specify type if the same id exists in both core and community
obsidian plugin:enable id=daily-notes filter=core

Reload (developer hot-reload)

obsidian plugin:reload id=my-plugin

Restricted Mode

Restricted mode disables all community plugins (formerly "Safe Mode"):

# Check / toggle
obsidian plugins:restrict
obsidian plugins:restrict on
obsidian plugins:restrict off

Themes

# All installed themes
obsidian themes

# Include version numbers
obsidian themes versions

# Active theme info, or details for a specific theme
obsidian theme
obsidian theme name="Minimal"

# Switch active theme (empty string = built-in default)
obsidian theme:set name="Minimal"
obsidian theme:set name=""

# Install / uninstall community themes
obsidian theme:install name="Things"
obsidian theme:install name="Things" enable
obsidian theme:uninstall name="Things"

CSS Snippets

# All snippets in the vault
obsidian snippets

# Currently enabled
obsidian snippets:enabled

# Toggle individual snippets by filename (without .css)
obsidian snippet:enable name=callout-tweaks
obsidian snippet:disable name=callout-tweaks

Common Patterns

"Install Dataview, enable it, and verify it loaded"

obsidian plugin:install id=dataview enable
obsidian plugins:enabled filter=community | grep -q '^dataview$' && echo OK || echo FAIL

"Snapshot the current plugin/theme state"

obsidian plugins format=json     > plugins-$(date +%F).json
obsidian themes versions          > themes-$(date +%F).txt
obsidian snippets:enabled         > snippets-enabled-$(date +%F).txt

"Disable every community plugin temporarily"

obsidian plugins:restrict on
# … work in restricted mode …
obsidian plugins:restrict off

Agentic Optimizations

Context	Command
List plugins (structured)	`obsidian plugins format=json`
Enabled plugins only	`obsidian plugins:enabled`
Enable plugin	`obsidian plugin:enable id=X`
Disable plugin	`obsidian plugin:disable id=X`
Install + enable	`obsidian plugin:install id=X enable`
Reload during dev	`obsidian plugin:reload id=X`
Toggle restricted mode	`obsidian plugins:restrict on\|off`
Switch theme	`obsidian theme:set name="X"`
Install theme + activate	`obsidian theme:install name="X" enable`
Toggle CSS snippet	`obsidian snippet:enable\|disable name=X`

Related Skills

dev-tools — eval, devtools, dev:*, screenshots (developer surface)
command-palette — Trigger plugin-registered commands once enabled
vault-files — Read or edit snippet .css source under .obsidian/snippets/

plugins-themes