A command to create or update the named (default: temporary-vault) Obsidian Vault and open it in Obsidian.

obsidian-open.sh

#!/bin/bash
set -euo pipefail
shopt -s lastpipe

name="temporary-vault"
already_set_path=
path="$(pwd)"

_usage() {
	local status=${1:-0}

	[[ $status != 0 ]] && exec 1>&2
	cat <<EOF
Usage: $0 [-n|--name <string>] [--] [<path>]

Creates or updates the named Obsidian Vault to point at <path>
and then opens that vault in Obsidian.

Options:
  -n, --name <string> Name of vault to create or replace (default: $name)
  -h, --help          Show this help message

Arguments:
  path                Path to the directory to use as the root of the vault
                      (default: $path)
EOF
	exit $status
}		

ignore_opts=
while [[ "$#" -gt 0 ]]; do
	case "$ignore_opts$1" in
		'--name'|'-n')
			if [[ ${2:-} =~ ^(--|$) ]]; then
				echo "Error: $1 requires a non-empty string argument" >&2
				exit 1
			fi
			name="$2"
			shift 1
		;;
		'--help'|'-h') _usage 0 ;;
		'--') ignore_opts=x ;;
		--*) echo "Error: unknown option '$1'" >&2; _usage 1 ;;
		*)
			if [[ -n $already_set_path ]]; then
				echo "Error: excess positional argument '$1'" >&2
				exit 1
			fi
			already_set_path=true
			path=$(realpath -s "$1")
		;;
	esac
	shift 1
done


config_dir="${XDG_config_file_HOME:-$HOME/.config}/obsidian"
config_file="$config_dir/obsidian.json"

# Verify that we can both read and write to the config file
if [[ ! -r $config_file || ! -w $config_file ]]; then
	echo "Error: Unable to access '$config_file' for modification"
	exit 1
fi

# Verify that we can make the temporary file
if [[ ! -w $config_dir ]]; then
	echo "Error: Unable to write temporary file to '$config_dir'"
	exit 1
fi

# Temporary file to contain jq output
tmpfile=$(mktemp "$config_file".XXXXXXXX)
trap "rm -f ${tmpfile@Q}" EXIT

# Preserve the original permissions and ACLs
cp --one-file-system \
   --dereference \
   --update=all \
   --preserve=all \
   --attributes-only \
   "$config_file" "$tmpfile"

< "$config_file" \
jq --arg name "$name" \
	 --arg path "$path" \
	 '.vaults[$name] = { path: $path, ts: 0 }' \
	 > "$tmpfile"

# Try very hard to avoid accidentally truncating or otherwise 
# corrupting obsidian's config file.
orig_size=$(stat --printf="%s" "$config_file")
modf_size=$(stat --printf="%s" "$tmpfile")
if (( $orig_size - $modf_size > ${#path} )); then
	echo "Error: suspicious decrease in filesize, aborting due to potential corruption"
	exit 1
fi

mv "$tmpfile" "$config_file"
	
exec obsidian "obsidian://open?vault=$name"