Templater

How to Use Templater

Templater commands are written between <% and %> tags. For example, <% tp.date.now("YYYY-MM-DD") %> inserts today's date in a specific format.

You can assign templates to folders so that any new note created there is automatically populated: perfect for daily notes, meeting notes, or book notes.

When Templater Is Worth Using

Choose Templater when a template must calculate values, ask questions, rename or move a file, or run logic at note creation time. Obsidian's core Templates plugin is the better fit for static boilerplate with simple date and time variables. Keeping static templates on the core plugin avoids unnecessary syntax and makes the vault easier to understand.

Example: Create a Dated Meeting Note

Set a templates folder, save the example there, and insert it through the command palette. The first command uses the current file title and the second formats the current date. Once it works, assign it to a Meetings folder if every new note there should receive this structure.

---
title: "<% tp.file.title %>"
date: <% tp.date.now("YYYY-MM-DD") %>
tags:
  - meeting
---

# <% tp.file.title %>

## Decisions

## Action items
- [ ] 

Compatibility and Safety

• Every command must open with <% and close with %>; malformed delimiters often cause a template to be inserted as plain text.
• User scripts and system-command functions run code. Review third-party scripts and never pass untrusted note content into shell commands.
• The official documentation says user functions are unavailable on Obsidian mobile. Use supported internal functions when cross-device behavior matters.
• Test automatic folder templates in a temporary folder before applying them broadly.

Sources and Documentation

This guide was checked against the creator's repository and primary documentation.

• Templater documentation
• Templater command syntax
• Templater user functions
• Templater source repository