obsidian-sparql

A SPARQL alternative to Dataview for Obsidian. Query your markdown notes using standard RDF/SPARQL, with support for cross-vault and cross-repository querying through shared triplestores.

What it does

Your markdown files are indexed as RDF triples using vault-triplifier and stored in a triplestore. You can then:

• Run SPARQL queries in osg code blocks within your notes
• View contextual panels showing query results for the current file you're viewing
• Query across multiple vaults when using a shared triplestore

Unlike Dataview's custom query language, this uses standard SPARQL, making your queries interoperable with other RDF tools and enabling external systems (like MCP servers) to query your knowledge base.

Features

• In-memory triplestore: Start immediately without external setup
• Cross-vault querying: Query across multiple Obsidian vaults from a shared triplestore
• Contextual panels: Automatic query results for the file you're currently viewing
• Agent integration: External tools can query your knowledge base via SPARQL endpoints
• RDF ecosystem: Leverage existing SPARQL tools and semantic web technologies

Installation

Download zip archive from GitHub releases page. Extract the archive into /.obsidian/plugins.

Or install the plugin via BRAT using this repository URL

Quick start

1. Enable the plugin. (uses in-memory triplestore by default)
2. Run the index command
3. Query your notes using osg code blocks:

SELECT ?p ?o WHERE {
  ?s ?p ?o .
} LIMIT 5

It will display 5 random 'triples'.

To narrow down to the current note, you can use the name of the note as subject.

SELECT ?p ?o WHERE {
  [[Current Note]] ?p ?o .
}

• For external triplestore: Configure endpoint in settings
• Open the panel to view contextual queries for your current file

Template system

SPARQL queries will overwrite special tokens before querying

• __THIS__: Current note name URI (urn:name:NoteName)
• __DOC__: Current note file URI (file:///absolute/path)
• __property__: Property placeholders (e.g., __label__ → <urn:property:label>)
• [[Note Name]]: Converts to name URIs in queries

Example queries

See example-panels/ for ready-to-use SPARQL queries covering backlinks, stats, navigation, etc.

Commands

• Open panel: View current file's RDF triples
• Insert SPARQL template: Add query template at cursor
• Sync current file: Sync active file with triplestore
• Sync with triplestore: Full vault synchronization

Development

npm run dev    # Development with hot reload
npm run build  # Production build
npm test       # Run tests

See CLAUDE.md for architecture details and vault-triplifier for RDF conversion examples.