How I Use Embedded Queries In Obsidian To Simplify My Note Management

Today I’m going to share with you how I use embedded queries inside of Obsidian.

I’ll explain what they are, how they work, and give you some examples of how I use them to retrieve lists of notes inside my personal Obsidian vault.

What Is An Embedded Query?

In Obsidian, an embedded query is functionality that lets you insert a search query into a note. You’ll then see the results of the query displayed directly within the note.

Think of it like a saved search that you don’t have to type into the search bar every time you need it.

This is useful if you’d like to retrieve lists of specific notes on a regular basis.

This is core Obsidian functionality which means you don’t have to install any community plugins to make it work.

How Can I Set Up An Embedded Query?

To set up an embedded query in a note you’ll need to:

1. Create a code block which is three opening and three closing backticks.
2. After the first three backticks, you add the term query to denote this is a search query.
3. Enter a search term into the code block. You can build a search term using the search bar and copy the search here.
4. If all is working correctly you should see a list of notes that match the search term you entered! (See the code snippet below as an example).

```query
file:(“Daily Note”)
```

Pros And Cons Of Embedded Queries

I realize this approach may not be for everyone so I wanted to highlight some of the pros and cons of using embedded queries over something like Dataview.

Pros:

• Much simpler to use than a plugin like Dataview.
• You can build a search query using the search bar and simply copy it into the query code block.
• If you know how to search inside Obsidian you don’t need to learn anything new to make embedded queries work.