Vault API

The Vault API (app.vault) provides access to files in the user's vault, allowing you to read, create, modify, and delete files.

Reading Files

// Read file content
const content = await this.app.vault.read("path/to/file.md");
console.log(content);

Creating Files

// Create a new file
await this.app.vault.create("new-file.md", "Hello World");

// Create in a subfolder (folder created automatically)
await this.app.vault.create("notes/2026/january.md", "# January Notes");

Modifying Files

// Overwrite file content
await this.app.vault.modify("path/to/file.md", "New content");

// Append to file
const existing = await this.app.vault.read("path/to/file.md");
await this.app.vault.modify("path/to/file.md", existing + "\n\nAppended text");

Deleting Files

// Delete a file
await this.app.vault.delete("path/to/file.md");

Deleted files are moved to the system trash. Use with caution.

Listing Files

// Get all files
const files = await this.app.vault.getFiles();
console.log(files); // [{ path: '...', name: '...' }, ...]

// Get files in a specific folder
const notes = await this.app.vault.getFiles("notes/");

// Get markdown files only
const mdFiles = files.filter((f) => f.path.endsWith(".md"));

File Information

// Check if file exists
const exists = await this.app.vault.exists("path/to/file.md");

// Get file metadata
const metadata = await this.app.vault.getMetadata("path/to/file.md");
console.log(metadata);
// {
//   path: 'path/to/file.md',
//   name: 'file.md',
//   size: 1234,
//   created: Date,
//   modified: Date
// }

Renaming / Moving Files

// Rename a file
await this.app.vault.rename("old-name.md", "new-name.md");

// Move to a different folder
await this.app.vault.rename("file.md", "archive/file.md");

Working with Folders

// Create a folder
await this.app.vault.createFolder("new-folder");

// List folders
const folders = await this.app.vault.getFolders();

// Delete empty folder
await this.app.vault.deleteFolder("empty-folder");

API Reference

Method	Parameters	Returns	Description
`read(path)`	`string`	`Promise<string>`	Read file content
`create(path, content)`	`string, string`	`Promise<void>`	Create new file
`modify(path, content)`	`string, string`	`Promise<void>`	Modify existing file
`delete(path)`	`string`	`Promise<void>`	Delete file
`rename(oldPath, newPath)`	`string, string`	`Promise<void>`	Rename/move file
`exists(path)`	`string`	`Promise<boolean>`	Check if file exists
`getFiles(folder?)`	`string?`	`Promise<File[]>`	List files
`getFolders()`	-	`Promise<Folder[]>`	List folders
`getMetadata(path)`	`string`	`Promise<Metadata>`	Get file metadata
`createFolder(path)`	`string`	`Promise<void>`	Create folder
`deleteFolder(path)`	`string`	`Promise<void>`	Delete empty folder

Examples

Daily Note Plugin

async createDailyNote() {
  const date = new Date().toISOString().split('T')[0];
  const path = `daily/${date}.md`;

  if (await this.app.vault.exists(path)) {
    this.app.events.trigger('notice', 'Daily note already exists');
    return;
  }

  const template = `# ${date}\n\n## Today's Goals\n\n- [ ] \n\n## Notes\n\n`;
  await this.app.vault.create(path, template);
  this.app.events.trigger('notice', 'Daily note created!');
}

File Search

async searchFiles(query: string) {
  const files = await this.app.vault.getFiles();
  const results = [];

  for (const file of files) {
    if (file.path.endsWith('.md')) {
      const content = await this.app.vault.read(file.path);
      if (content.toLowerCase().includes(query.toLowerCase())) {
        results.push(file);
      }
    }
  }

  return results;
}

Backup Plugin

async backupVault() {
  const files = await this.app.vault.getFiles();
  const backup: Record<string, string> = {};

  for (const file of files) {
    backup[file.path] = await this.app.vault.read(file.path);
  }

  const backupPath = `backups/${Date.now()}.json`;
  await this.app.vault.create(backupPath, JSON.stringify(backup, null, 2));
}

Vault API

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