Can we use the front matter for tags?

Hi, with the latest insider release, we are directly encouraged to add aliases and tags to the front matter. Currently, my front matter for any new note looks like this:

---
aliases: []
categories: []
date: []
tags: []
title: []
---

I scrounged these options together but I couldn’t find a comprehensive documentation for what can go in the front matter.

Now I’m reading that users should actually not use the front matter directly: Include / show note links in yaml frontmatter (v0.8.5) - #8 by WhiteNoise

So I’m a little confused now. What’s the the current best practice? Can we use the front matter like I did above, or should we add some other meta information block? Thanks!

14 Likes

Currently, we only added support for aliases and tags. The frontmatter has to be in proper YAML format or it won’t work. We are planning to add some UI support for you to input it/check it.
You can add other variables but unless they are handled explicitely by obsidian or a plugin they won’t do anything.

We will add some documentation before this feature goes public.

9 Likes

Thanks, that’s already good to know.

1 Like

Hello, it’s great to have user-defined frontmatter parsed by Obsidian. I recommend also to create some kind of database features like what Notion does by parsing data from frontmatter. This would really help to get things better organized. Thanks.

2 Likes

Where can I go to learn more about this front matter tagging / formatting? (looks very useful)

Using 0.10.1 currently.

2 Likes

@luckman212
I hope is helps.

4 Likes

@Stan Yes thank you - very helpful! I also found a bit of info in the Obsidian help files. Looks like an awesome way to tag and link notes that keeps everything neat and organized.

Looking forward to more Obsidian-native YAML attributes being supported over time.

Is title: in the frontmatter actually supported or utilized in any way by Obsidian?

not at moment. there is even a feature request for that.