Obsidian Dataview Plugin Guide: Query Your Notes with DQL and Dynamic Tables

What Dataview Does for Your Vault

Dataview is the most powerful plugin in the Obsidian ecosystem. It turns your static notes into a queryable database — list notes by tag, sort by date, build tables of related content, and create dynamic dashboards that update automatically.

This guide covers DQL (Dataview Query Language) from basic LIST queries to inline JavaScript.

• Query notes by tag, folder, link, or metadata
• Build dynamic tables and lists that update as you add notes
• Use inline JavaScript for complex logic
• Create dashboard notes that summarize your entire vault

Installing & Enabling the Plugin

Install Dataview from Obsidian's community plugins:

• Obsidian installed with a vault
• Community plugins enabled (Settings → Community Plugins → Turn on)
• Search for "Dataview" by blacksmithgu
• Enable the plugin after installation
• Optional: enable JavaScript queries in Dataview settings (for advanced usage)

Writing Your First DQL Query

DQL has four query types: LIST, TABLE, TASK, and CALENDAR. Start with the simplest:

```dataview
LIST
FROM #concept
SORT file.mtime DESC
LIMIT 10
```

This lists the 10 most recently modified notes tagged #concept. Key syntax:

• FROM — source: tags (#tag), folders ("folder/"), or links ([[note]])
• WHERE — filter conditions
• SORT — order by any field
• LIMIT — restrict number of results

Dynamic Tables in Practice

Build a dashboard note that summarizes your vault:

## Recently Created
```dataview
TABLE file.ctime as "Created", file.tags as "Tags"
FROM "10-notes"
SORT file.ctime DESC
LIMIT 5
```
## Tasks This Week
```dataview
TASK
FROM "10-notes"
WHERE !completed AND file.ctime >= date(today) - dur(7 days)
GROUP BY file.link
```
## Orphan Notes (no links)
```dataview
LIST
FROM "10-notes"
WHERE length(file.inlinks) = 0
```

• Dashboard notes update automatically as you add or modify notes
• Use file.inlinks and file.outlinks to analyze your knowledge graph
• Group results with GROUP BY for organized output

Inline JS & the Dataview API

For complex logic, use the Dataview JS API:

```dataviewjs
const pages = dv.pages("#project")
.where(p => p.status == "active")
.sort(p => p.priority, "desc")
dv.table(
["Project", "Priority", "Status", "Due"],
pages.map(p => [p.file.link, p.priority, p.status, p.due])
)
```

• Full JavaScript access — use loops, conditions, and data transformations
• Access any metadata field with dv.pages()
• Render custom HTML with dv.el()
• See [[Obsidian Dataview Query Examples]] for 25 recipes

Query Errors & Debugging

Dataview troubleshooting:

• No results? Check your FROM clause — typos in tag names or folder paths are common
• Metadata not showing? Use YAML frontmatter to define metadata fields
• Query not updating? Dataview caches — try reloading the note or toggling the plugin
• JS queries disabled? Enable in Dataview settings → Enable JavaScript Queries

Beyond Static Notes

Dataview opens up a world of possibilities:

• 25 practical query recipes (see [[Obsidian Dataview Query Examples]])
• Set up daily notes with templates (see [[Obsidian Daily Notes and Templates]])
• Build a Zettelkasten with Dataview integration (see [[Obsidian Zettelkasten Setup Guide]])
• Automate notes with Templater (see [[Obsidian Templates & Templater]])