Obsidian Properties: What They Are and How to Use Them
Obsidian properties are small fields at the top of a note, like tags, status or created, stored as YAML frontmatter in the Markdown file. Obsidian shows them as an editable table. Use them for facts about a note that you’ll want to sort, filter or search by later. Keep the rest in the note’s body.
This guide covers how properties work, the types Obsidian supports, and a few setups that stay useful.
What are Obsidian properties?
A property is a name and a value attached to a note. In the file, they sit between two lines of three dashes at the very top:
---
status: draft
tags:
- pricing
- client/acme
due: 2026-11-01
---
The note's body starts here.
This block is called frontmatter, and it’s written in YAML. Obsidian added the Properties view in 2023 so you can edit it as a table instead of typing YAML by hand. The data is still plain text in the file, so any Markdown tool can read it.
What property types does Obsidian support?
Obsidian’s properties help page lists these types:
| Type | Holds | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Text | One line of text | status: draft |
| List | Several values | topics: [pricing, offers] |
| Number | A number | rating: 4 |
| Checkbox | True or false | published: true |
| Date | A date | due: 2026-11-01 |
| Date & time | A date and a time | call: 2026-11-01T14:30 |
| Tags | The special tags list |
tags: [pricing] |
One rule to know: a property name has one type across the whole vault. If rating is a Number in one note, it’s a Number in every note. Change the type by clicking the icon next to the property name.
Obsidian also gives a few names special meaning: tags, aliases (other names a note can be found by) and cssclasses (styling).
How do you add properties in Obsidian?
- Command: open the command palette and run “Add file property”.
- Shortcut: type
---on the first line of a note to start the block. - Templates: put the properties you always use in a template, so every new note starts with them.
To see every property in the vault, turn on the Properties view core plugin. It lists each property name, how often it’s used, and its type.
Which properties are actually worth using?
The common mistake is adding ten properties to every note and filling none of them in. Start with three or four that you’ll really filter by:
| Property | Type | Why it helps |
|---|---|---|
tags |
Tags | Groups notes across folders |
status |
Text | Separates drafts, active and done |
created |
Date | Lets you sort and find recent notes |
aliases |
List | Finds a note by another name in links and search |
Add more only when you notice yourself wanting to filter by something. A property you never search by is just clutter at the top of the note.
How do properties help search and links?
- Search: Obsidian’s search can filter by property, for example
[status:draft]. - Bases and queries: views that list notes as tables use properties as columns. A Number stored as Text can’t be summed or sorted as a number, so set the type first.
- Links:
aliaseslets[[Acme]]find a note titled “Acme Corp client notes”.
Backlinks in notes covers the other half of finding notes: links between them.
Can AI read Obsidian properties?
Yes, if your AI can read the files. Properties are plain YAML at the top of a Markdown file, so an AI connected to your vault through an MCP server sees them with the note. That makes properties useful for AI too: a status: decided property tells it which notes are settled.
Obsidian MCP shows how to connect Claude to an Obsidian vault. If you’d rather not run a plugin, a hosted vault like Valta does the same job without one.
How does Valta handle properties?
Valta notes use the same format: Markdown with YAML frontmatter. Each note has a title, a kind, tags and up to 20 extra properties, plus created and updated dates. Your AI fills them in when it saves a note, and you can edit them in the note’s Properties block.
Because it’s the same format, a Valta export is a zip of Markdown files with frontmatter that Obsidian can open. Use AI with Obsidian covers the ways to combine the two.
FAQ
What is frontmatter in Obsidian?
The YAML block between --- lines at the top of a note. Obsidian shows it as Properties.
How do I change a property type in Obsidian?
Click the icon next to the property name and choose a type. The change applies to that property in every note in the vault.
Are Obsidian tags properties?
Yes. Tags in the tags property are a special list type. Tags written as #tag in the body still work too.
Can I hide properties in Obsidian?
Yes. In Settings, Editor, you can set properties in the document to be shown, hidden or shown as source.
Do properties work outside Obsidian?
Yes. They’re standard YAML frontmatter, which many Markdown tools, static site generators and AI tools read.
Keep notes your AI can read
Create your free Valta vault: one vault, 100 notes, no card. Your AI saves notes with tags and properties, and finds them when they matter.