Dataview and Bases

Use the Dataview plugin to create dashboards and databases from your notes.

Dataview and Bases

Obsidian’s Dataview plugin and the new Bases feature (introduced in version 1.9.10) let you turn your notes into powerful, interactive databases and dashboards.

What is Dataview?

Dataview is a community plugin that allows you to query your notes and display the results as tables, lists, or task lists. You can use it to:

• Create dynamic tables of notes by tag, folder, or property
• Summarize tasks, projects, or reading lists
• Build custom dashboards for your vault

Example: List all notes with the tag #project

```dataview
table file.mtime as "Last Modified"
from #project
sort file.mtime desc
```

What are Bases?

Bases are a new core feature in Obsidian 1.9.10 that let you create and manage databases directly in your vault—no plugin required! With Bases, you can:

• Create a database view for any folder or tag
• Add, edit, and filter properties (columns) for your notes
• Sort and group notes visually, like a spreadsheet or Notion database

Bases Overview

How to Create a Base:

1. Create a Base:
   • Click the ribbon button: New base, or
   • Right‑click empty space in the File Explorer and choose New base, or
   • Use the Command Palette: Bases: New base.
2. Scope your Base using Filters:
   • Filter by folder (e.g., file.path startswith "Projects/").
   • Filter by tag (e.g., file has tag "project").
3. Add/show properties as columns, sort and group as needed. Edit values directly in Table or Cards views.

Notes:

• Bases are saved as .base files and backed by your Markdown files’ YAML properties.
• You can embed Bases and “Pin view…” to lock a specific view when embedding.

Example - pinning a view

```base 
views:
  - type: table
    name: table
    order:
      - file.name
      - file.mtime
    sort:
      - property: file.name
        direction: DESC
      - property: file.mtime
        direction: ASC
```

Use Cases for Dataview and Bases

• Project management (track status, deadlines, owners)
• Reading lists and book notes
• Habit and goal tracking
• Research and knowledge management

Tips

• Use properties (frontmatter) in your notes for best results (e.g., status:, due:, tags:)
• Combine Dataview queries and Bases for advanced workflows
• Check the Dataview documentation for more examples

With Dataview and Bases, you can turn your notes into a flexible, powerful database—customize your setup to fit your workflow!

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