/obsidian-bases

name: obsidian-bases
description: Create and edit Obsidian Bases (.base files) with views, filters, formulas, and summaries. Use when working with .base files, creating database-like views of notes, or when the user mentions Bases, table views, card views, filters, or formulas in Obsidian.

Obsidian Bases Skill

Workflow

1. **Create the file**: Create a `.base` file in the vault with valid YAML content 2. **Define scope**: Add `filters` to select which notes appear (by tag, folder, property, or date) 3. **Add formulas** (optional): Define computed properties in the `formulas` section 4. **Configure views**: Add one or more views (`table`, `cards`, `list`, or `map`) with `order` specifying which properties to display 5. **Validate**: Verify the file is valid YAML with no syntax errors. Check that all referenced properties and formulas exist. Common issues: unquoted strings containing special YAML characters, mismatched quotes in formula expressions, referencing `formula.X` without defining `X` in `formulas` 6. **Test in Obsidian**: Open the `.base` file in Obsidian to confirm the view renders correctly. If it shows a YAML error, check quoting rules below

Schema

Base files use the `.base` extension and contain valid YAML.

# Global filters apply to ALL views in the base
filters:
  # Can be a single filter string
  # OR a recursive filter object with exactly ONE key: and, or, or not
  and:
    - 'status == "active"'
    - not:
        - 'file.hasTag("archived")'

# Define formula properties that can be used across all views
formulas:
  formula_name: 'expression'

# Configure display names and settings for properties
properties:
  property_name:
    displayName: "Display Name"
  formula.formula_name:
    displayName: "Formula Display Name"
  file.ext:
    displayName: "Extension"

# Define custom summary formulas
summaries:
  custom_summary_name: 'values.mean().round(3)'

# Define one or more views
views:
  - type: table | cards | list | map
    name: "View Name"
    limit: 10                    # Optional: limit results
    groupBy:                     # Optional: group results
      property: property_name
      direction: ASC | DESC
    filters:                     # View-specific filters follow the same rules
      and:
        - 'status == "active"'
    order:                       # Properties to display in order
      - file.name
      - property_name
      - formula.formula_name
    summaries:                   # Map properties to summary formulas
      property_name: Average

Filter Syntax

Filters narrow down results. They can be applied globally or per-view.

Filter Structure

# Single filter
filters: 'status == "done"'

# AND - all conditions must be true
filters:
  and:
    - 'status == "done"'
    - 'priority > 3'

# OR - any condition can be true
filters:
  or:
    - 'file.hasTag("book")'
    - 'file.hasTag("article")'

# NOT - exclude matching items
filters:
  not:
    - 'file.hasTag("archived")'

# Nested filters
filters:
  or:
    - file.hasTag("tag")
    - and:
        - file.hasTag("book")
        - file.hasLink("Textbook")
    - not:
        - file.hasTag("book")
        - file.inFolder("Required Reading")

Filter Operators

| Operator | Description | |----------|-------------| | `==` | equals | | `!=` | not equal | | `>` | greater than | | `<` | less than | | `>=` | greater than or equal | | `<=` | less than or equal | | `&&` | logical and | | `\|\|` | logical or | | <code>!</code> | logical not |

Properties

Three Types of Properties

1. **Note properties** - From frontmatter: `note.author` or just `author` 2. **File properties** - File metadata: `file.name`, `file.mtime`, etc. 3. **Formula properties** - Computed values: `formula.my_formula`

File Properties Reference

| Property | Type | Description | |----------|------|-------------| | `file.name` | String | File name | | `file.basename` | String | File name without extension | | `file.path` | String | Full path to file | | `file.folder` | String | Parent folder path | | `file.ext` | String | File extension | | `file.size` | Number | File size in bytes | | `file.ctime` | Date | Created time | | `file.mtime` | Date | Modified time | | `file.tags` | List | All tags in file | | `file.links` | List | Internal links in file | | `file.backlinks` | List | Files linking to this file | | `file.embeds` | List | Embeds in the note | | `file.properties` | Object | All frontmatter properties |

The `this` Keyword

• In main content area: refers to the base file itself
• When embedded: refers to the embedding file
• In sidebar: refers to the active file in main content

Formula Syntax

Formulas compute values from properties. Defined in the `formulas` section.

formulas:
  # Simple arithmetic
  total: "price * quantity"

  # Conditional logic
  status_icon: 'if(done, "✅", "⏳")'

  # String formatting
  formatted_price: 'if(price, price.toFixed(2) + " dollars")'

  # Date formatting
  created: 'file.ctime.format("YYYY-MM-DD")'

  # Calculate days since created (use .days for Duration)
  days_old: '(now() - file.ctime).days'

  # Calculate days until due date
  days_until_due: 'if(due_date, (date(due_date) - today()).days, "")'

Key Functions

Most commonly used functions. For the complete reference of all types (Date, String, Number, List, File, Link, Object, RegExp), see [FUNCTIONS_REFERENCE.md](references/FUNCTIONS_REFERENCE.md).

| Function | Signature | Description | |----------|-----------|-------------| | `date()` | `date(string): date` | Parse string to date (`YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss`) | | `now()` | `now(): date` | Current date and time | | `today()` | `today(): date` | Current date (time = 00:00:00) | | `if()` | `if(condition, trueResult, falseResult?)` | Conditional | | `duration()` | `duration(string): duration` | Parse duration string | | `file()` | `file(path): file` | Get file object | | `link()` | `link(path, display?): Link` | Create