Obsidian Flavor

February 1, 2026 · View on GitHub

For content created in Obsidian, the popular knowledge management application. Extends standard flavor with Obsidian-specific syntax support.

Supported Patterns

Tags with Hash Syntax

MD018 recognizes Obsidian's tag syntax to avoid false positives:

This is a #tag not a malformed heading.
Multiple #tags #in-one-line are supported.
Nested #tags/with/hierarchy work too.

Callouts (Admonitions)

MD028 recognizes Obsidian callout syntax to prevent false positives when blank lines appear between callout blocks:

> [!NOTE]
> This is a note callout.

> [!WARNING]
> This is a warning.

> [!TIP]+ Foldable (expanded by default)
> Tip content here.

> [!INFO]- Collapsed by default
> Info content here.

Supported callout types include:

note, abstract, summary, tldr
info, todo, tip, hint, important
success, check, done
question, help, faq
warning, caution, attention
failure, fail, missing
danger, error, bug
example, quote, cite

Custom callout types are also supported.

Comments

Rules skip Obsidian comment syntax to avoid false positives inside comments:

This is visible %%this is hidden%% and visible again.

%%
Multi-line
comments are
also supported
%%

Rules affected: MD011, MD012, MD034, MD037, MD044, MD049, MD061, MD064, MD069

Highlights

MD037 and other emphasis-related rules recognize Obsidian highlight syntax:

This is ==highlighted text== in a sentence.

Dataview Inline Queries

MD038 recognizes Dataview plugin inline query syntax:

The file name is `= this.file.name`.
Dynamic content: `$= dv.current().field`.

Dataview Inline Fields

MD011 recognizes Dataview inline field syntax to prevent false positives:

(status:: active)[link text]
(author:: John Doe)[read more]
(date:: 2024-01-01)[view]

These patterns look like reversed links but are valid Dataview inline field syntax.

Extended Task Checkboxes

MD064 recognizes extended task checkbox syntax beyond the standard [ ], [x], and [X]:

- [/] In progress
- [-] Cancelled
- [>] Deferred
- [<] Scheduled
- [?] Question
- [!] Important
- [*] Star/highlight

These extended checkboxes are commonly used in Obsidian with plugins like Tasks or custom CSS.

Templater Syntax

MD033 correctly ignores Templater plugin syntax (not flagged as inline HTML):

<% tp.date.now() %>
<%* javascript code %>
<%+ expression %>
<% tp.file.title %>

Rule Behavior Changes

Rule	Standard Behavior	Obsidian Behavior
MD018	Flag `#text` without space	Allow `#tag` syntax
MD028	Flag blanks between blockquotes	Recognize callout blocks
MD033	Flag inline HTML	Ignore Templater `<% %>` syntax
MD037	Check emphasis spacing	Recognize `==highlight==` syntax
MD038	Check code span spacing	Allow `=` and `$=` Dataview prefixes
MD011	Check reversed links	Skip `%%comments%%` and `(field:: value)` patterns
MD012	Check multiple blanks	Skip content in `%%comments%%`
MD034	Check bare URLs	Skip content in `%%comments%%`
MD044	Check proper names	Skip content in `%%comments%%`
MD049	Check emphasis style	Skip content in `%%comments%%`
MD061	Check link fragments	Skip content in `%%comments%%`
MD064	Check multiple consecutive spaces	Skip `%%comments%%`, allow extended checkboxes `[/]`, `[-]`, etc.
MD069	Check reference links	Skip content in `%%comments%%`

Configuration

[global]
flavor = "obsidian"

When to Use

Use the Obsidian flavor when:

Linting notes from your Obsidian vault
Using Obsidian-specific syntax like callouts or comments
Using the Dataview plugin for dynamic content
Using the Templater plugin for templates
Using Obsidian's tag syntax extensively

Plugin Compatibility

The Obsidian flavor is designed to work with common Obsidian plugins:

Dataview: Inline queries with = and $= prefixes
Templater: Template syntax with <% %> delimiters
Core plugins: Callouts, tags, wiki-links, block references