Frontmatter Format

Technical specification for Note Status metadata storage.

Format Overview

Status metadata is stored in YAML frontmatter using a configurable tag prefix.

---
obsidian-note-status:
    - active
---

Specification

Field Name

• Default: obsidian-note-status
• Type: String or Array
• Configurable: Yes, via tagPrefix setting

Value Types

Single Status (Array)

---
obsidian-note-status:
    - active
---

Multiple Statuses (Array)

---
obsidian-note-status:
    - active
    - hello
    - world
---

Valid Status Values

Default Statuses

• unknown - No status assigned
• Template Statuses: Any status defined in enabled templates
  • Must match exact name (case-sensitive)
  • Icon and color stored separately
• Custom Statuses: User-defined statuses
  • Any string value allowed
  • No spaces
  • Case-sensitive matching

Validation

With strictStatuses: true:

• Only defined statuses allowed
• Unknown statuses removed on save
• Case-sensitive matching

Custom Tag Prefix

Configuration

settings.tagPrefix = "project-status";

Result

---
project-status:
    - inDevelopment
    - testing
---

Integration Examples

Dataview Query

TABLE obsidian-note-status as Status
FROM ""
WHERE contains(obsidian-note-status, "active")

Templater

---
obsidian-note-status: ["<% tp.system.prompt("Status?") %>"]
---

QuickAdd

---
obsidian-note-status: ["{{VALUE:active,onHold,completed}}"]
---

Reserved Values

• unknown - System reserved
• Empty string - Converted to unknown
• null/undefined - Treated as unknown