Obsidian Bases is a core 📝Obsidian plugin that renders the properties already stored in notes as filterable database views — tables, cards, lists, and maps — without moving any data out of Markdown.
Introduced in Obsidian 1.9.0 and still developing through 2026, Bases is a view layer rather than a storage layer. It reads the YAML properties in a vault's existing notes and presents them as an editable, sortable surface; the notes stay exactly where they are, in plain text. A view is described in Bases syntax and saved either as a standalone .base file or embedded in a code block inside a note. The feature is Obsidian's answer to database-style workflows without adopting a proprietary database.
Key Facts
- Category: Core plugin providing database views over note properties
- Introduced: Obsidian 1.9.0, with continued development through 2026
- Storage: None of its own — reads YAML properties from existing Markdown notes
- View types: Table, cards, list, and map, with kanban and calendar on the roadmap
- Definition format: Bases syntax, saved as a
.basefile or embedded in a note - Status: Shipping but incomplete; Publish integration and plugin API access still planned
How It Works
Properties as columns. Any YAML property in a note's frontmatter becomes an addressable field. A base declares which notes to include, which fields to show, and how to filter and sort them, then renders the result as a live view that can be edited in place.
Formulas. Calculated properties derive new values from existing ones — arithmetic, text manipulation, and date handling — so a view can show something the notes do not literally store.
No separate database. Because a base is a query rather than a container, deleting it costs nothing and the underlying notes remain portable Markdown. This is the design constraint that distinguishes Bases from tools where the database is the source of truth.
Filesystem visibility. The .base format is ordinary enough that external tooling has adopted it; several Obsidian MCP servers added handling for .base and .canvas files during 2026 as the formats spread through vaults.
Why It Matters
Bases closed the most-cited functional gap between Obsidian and database-first tools like 📝Notion while holding the local-first line: structured views arrived without a hosted backend or a proprietary file format. For users who had assembled the same capability out of the Dataview community plugin, it moved that workflow into the core product.
It also marks where Obsidian's development attention actually goes. The roadmap's active and planned work is dominated by Bases view types, publishing integration, and workplace configuration — not by AI or agent features, which appear nowhere on it.
FAQ
What is Obsidian Bases?
A core Obsidian plugin that displays notes as tables, cards, lists, or maps based on their properties, giving a vault database-style views without leaving Markdown.
Does Bases store data separately from my notes?
No. It reads properties from the notes themselves and stores only the view definition, either as a .base file or inside a note.
How is Bases different from Dataview?
Bases is built and maintained by Obsidian as a core feature with a visual interface; Dataview is a community plugin with a query language. They solve the same problem from opposite directions.
Is Bases finished?
Not yet. Table, card, list, and map views ship today, while kanban and calendar views, Publish support, and plugin API access remain on the roadmap.
Related
- 📝Obsidian — the application Bases ships inside
- 📝Obsidian MCP — the server ecosystem that has begun handling the
.baseformat