Overview

Welcome to the official documentation of the Dataview Serializer plugin for Obsidian.

This plugin gives you the power of Dataview, but generates Markdown. Thanks to this, the output of your queries is saved in the notes, and the links actually appear on the Graph, making it even more useful.

Turning Dataview queries into Markdown also ensures that the generated content appears on Obsidian Publish websites, which is not the case with the Dataview plugin.

Features

  • Automatic serialization: Dataview queries are automatically serialized to Markdown when files are saved
  • Block queries: Support for LIST, TABLE, and TASK queries
  • Inline expressions: Support for inline Dataview expressions like =this.name, =this.file.ctime, =embed(this.portrait)
  • Per-query update control: Control when individual queries update using different query types (auto, manual-only, or write-once)
  • Callouts and blockquotes: Queries can live inside callouts or blockquotes; the serialized result keeps the > prefix so the block stays intact
  • Inline refresh button: Refresh individual queries directly from the editor
  • Force update folders: Configure specific folders (like index files) to update when any file in your vault changes, with optional date placeholders (e.g. Daily//) for periodic notes
  • Idempotency protection: Prevents unnecessary file modifications and infinite update loops
  • Manual mode: Option to disable automatic updates and only serialize queries on demand
  • Command palette integration: Commands to serialize all queries, current file queries, or insert new query blocks

Currently, this plugin supports:

  • Block queries: LIST, TABLE, and TASK queries. CALENDAR queries are not supported.
  • Inline expressions: Any valid Dataview inline expression (e.g., =this.field, =embed(this.link)).

Note: TASK queries have their checkbox markers stripped in the serialized output to prevent feedback loops. The result will be a regular list instead of a task list. See the Usage documentation for details.

Installation

  1. In Obsidian, go to Settings → Community plugins.
  2. Disable Restricted mode if it’s enabled.
  3. Select Browse, search for Dataview Serializer, install it, then enable it.

You can also browse the catalog on the Obsidian Community website.

Manual installation

If the plugin isn’t listed in the community catalog yet (or you want a specific version):

  1. Download main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css from the latest release.
  2. Copy them into <Vault>/.obsidian/plugins/dataview-serializer/.
  3. Reload Obsidian and enable Dataview Serializer in Settings → Community plugins.

BRAT (bleeding edge)

BRAT (Beta Reviewers Auto-update Tool) installs plugins straight from a GitHub repo and keeps them updated automatically. Use this if you want the latest commits — things might break.

  1. Install Obsidian42 - BRAT from Settings → Community plugins → Browse and enable it.
  2. Run BRAT: Add a beta plugin for testing from the command palette.
  3. Paste https://github.com/dsebastien/obsidian-dataview-serializer.
  4. Select the latest version and confirm.
  5. Enable Dataview Serializer in Settings → Community plugins.

About

This plugin is an open source project, created by Sébastien Dubois.

Sebastien is a Knowledge Management expert, and community founder. You can find his newsletter here. Sebastien has also created the Obsidian Starter Kit, a popular template for Obsidian, as well as various projects, products and courses.

My other Obsidian plugins

Plugin What it does
Agentic Resource Discovery Server Local-first Agentic Resource Discovery publisher and registry that serves your AI skills and tools to agents over a local HTTP and MCP server
Book Exporter Export books (one manifest note + linked chapter notes) to EPUB and PDF via Pandoc
Bookshelf Base Display your notes as a visual bookshelf via a custom Bases view
Expander Replace variables across your vault using HTML comment markers. Supports static values and dynamic functions
Ghost Publish Publish your vault notes to a Ghost blog with configurable presets for tags, newsletters, and frontmatter conventions
Graph Explorer Base View A custom Bases view that renders notes as an interactive force-directed graph with explored/unexplored tracking
Hidden Folders Access Index hidden root-level folders (e.g. .claude) so they appear in the file tree, metadata cache, and Bases
Journal Bases Custom Base views for journaling and periodic reviews
Kanban Action Planner Render your notes as configurable Kanban boards and calendars inside Bases, with statuses, ordering, relationships, and scheduling
Life Tracker Capture and visualize the data that matters in your life
Note Village A 2D pixel art village where your notes become villagers you can explore and chat with using AI
Obsidian Starter Kit Adds strong typing support and powerful automation support for notes
Remarkable Synchronizer Connect to the reMarkable cloud, list, download, and sync notebook pages as images
Replicate Use AI models with ease via the Replicate.com integration
REST and MCP server Exposes CLI commands as RESTful API endpoints and an MCP server for AI tool integration
Time Machine Browse, compare, and restore previous versions of your notes using built-in file-recovery snapshots
Transcriber Transcribe images to markdown using Ollama vision models
Typefully Publish social media posts with ease using the Typefully integration
Update Time Automatically update front matter to include creation and last update times

Everything I build is documented in my newsletter and on my YouTube channel.

News & support

To stay up to date about this plugin, Obsidian in general, Personal Knowledge Management and note-taking:

If this plugin is useful to you, here are the best ways to support my work ❤️: