Show CLI help

Instructions

Implementation Reference

• src/tools.ts:823-834 (handler)

  The handler function for the obsidian_help tool. It calls runText('help', ...) with optional --all flag passed via flags array.

  {
    name: "obsidian_help",
    title: "Show CLI help",
    description:
      "Shows the underlying `obsidian help` output — useful when a command behaves unexpectedly.",
    inputSchema: {
      all: z.boolean().optional().describe("Pass --all to include hidden commands."),
    },
    annotations: { readOnlyHint: true, openWorldHint: false },
    handler: async ({ all }) =>
      runText("help", { flags: all ? ["--all"] : [] }),
  },

• src/tools.ts:828-830 (schema)

  Input schema for obsidian_help: optional boolean 'all' parameter to include hidden commands.

  inputSchema: {
    all: z.boolean().optional().describe("Pass --all to include hidden commands."),
  },

• src/tools.ts:99-110 (helper)

  runText helper function that wraps runObsidian and formats stdout/stderr into an MCP text result.

  async function runText(
    command: string,
    opts: Parameters<typeof runObsidian>[1] = {},
  ): Promise<McpToolResult> {
    try {
      const result = await runObsidian(command, opts);
      const text = result.stdout.trim() || result.stderr.trim() || "(no output)";
      return textResult(text);
    } catch (err) {
      return errorResult(err);
    }
  }

• src/exec.ts:64-102 (helper)

  runObsidian function that executes the 'obsidian' CLI binary with the built args. The actual execution of `obsidian help ...`.

  export async function runObsidian(
    command: string,
    opts: RunOptions = {},
  ): Promise<RunResult> {
    const bin = process.env.OBSIDIAN_CLI ?? "obsidian";
    const args = buildArgs(command, opts);
    const cmdline = [bin, ...args].map(shellQuote).join(" ");
  
    try {
      const { stdout, stderr } = await exec(cmdline, {
        maxBuffer: 64 * 1024 * 1024,
        windowsHide: true,
      });
      return { stdout, stderr, exitCode: 0, command: cmdline };
    } catch (err: unknown) {
      const e = err as NodeJS.ErrnoException & {
        stdout?: string;
        stderr?: string;
        code?: number | string;
      };
      const result: RunResult = {
        stdout: e.stdout ?? "",
        stderr: e.stderr ?? e.message ?? "",
        exitCode: typeof e.code === "number" ? e.code : 1,
        command: cmdline,
      };
      if (e.code === "ENOENT") {
        throw new ObsidianCliError(
          `Obsidian CLI binary not found ('${bin}'). ` +
            `Make sure Obsidian is running and the CLI is registered ` +
            `(Settings → General → Command line interface → Register CLI). ` +
            `Override with the OBSIDIAN_CLI env var if the binary lives elsewhere.`,
          result,
        );
      }
      throw new ObsidianCliError(
        `obsidian CLI exited with code ${result.exitCode}: ${result.stderr.trim() || result.stdout.trim()}`,
        result,
      );

• src/tools.ts:814-835 (registration)

  The tool definition object registered in the tools array with name 'obsidian_help', along with 'obsidian_version' in the meta section.

    // ---------- meta ----------
    {
      name: "obsidian_version",
      title: "Get Obsidian CLI version",
      description: "Returns the version of the Obsidian CLI binary in use.",
      inputSchema: {},
      annotations: { readOnlyHint: true, openWorldHint: false },
      handler: async () => runText("version"),
    },
    {
      name: "obsidian_help",
      title: "Show CLI help",
      description:
        "Shows the underlying `obsidian help` output — useful when a command behaves unexpectedly.",
      inputSchema: {
        all: z.boolean().optional().describe("Pass --all to include hidden commands."),
      },
      annotations: { readOnlyHint: true, openWorldHint: false },
      handler: async ({ all }) =>
        runText("help", { flags: all ? ["--all"] : [] }),
    },
  ];