Bases is a core plugin that lets you create database-like views of your notes. Using a base you can view, edit, sort, and filter files and their properties. Bases can help you organize everything from projects to travel plans, reading lists, and more.

Each base can have several views with different layouts such as tables and cards. Below is an example of table view where each row is a file, and each column is a property of that file.

A New Base starts showing all documents, and then you apply the filters:

All the data in Obsidian Bases is stored in your local Markdown files and their properties. The views are described by the Bases syntax, which can be saved as a .base file or embedded in code blocks within your Markdown files.

View types

View can be displayed with different layouts. Additional layouts can be added by Community plugins.

Table

Display files as rows with columns that show properties of those files.

List

Display files as a list with bulleted or numbered markers.

Cards

Display files as a grid. Lets you create gallery-like views with images.

Map

Display files as pins on an interactive map.

Properties

Properties allow you to organize information about a note. Properties contain structured data such as text, links, dates, checkboxes, and numbers. Properties can also be used in combination with Community plugins that can do useful things with your structured data.

Rename properties

You can rename a property by right-clicking it in the All properties view.

Display modes

You can change how properties are displayed in your note by going to Settings → Editor → Properties in document. The options are:

Visible (default) – displays properties at the top of the note, if there are any.

Hidden – hides properties, can still be displayed in the sidebar via Properties view.

Source – displays properties in plain text YAML format.

CSS snippets

You can use CSS snippets to change the appearance of specific notes.

Not supported

A few features are not currently supported in Obsidian:

Nested properties: To view nested properties, we recommend using the source mode.

Bulk-editing properties: For in-depth bulk editing outside of Properties view, we recommend using bulk-editing tools like VSCode, scripts, and community plugins.

Markdown in properties: This is an intentional limitation as properties are meant for small, atomic bits of information that are both human and machine readable.

Property format

Properties are stored in YAML format at the top of the file. YAML is a popular format that is easy for both humans and computers to read.

Property names are separated from their values by a colon followed by a space:

---
name: value
---

While the order of each name-value pair doesn't matter, each name must be unique within a note. For example, you can't have more than one tags property.

Values can be text, numbers, checkboxes, dates, dates and times, or lists.