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How Obsidian’s scores are calculated

The full audit trail, recomputed from the verdict data at build time through the same code that produced the leaderboard: verdict × quality × story weight per cell, cells sum to dimension scores, dimensions blend into the PA Score. Every number on the product page is reproducible from this page alone; for why the formula looks like this, see the methodology.

verdict factors: full ×1.0 · partial ×0.6 · disputed ×0.3 · none ×0.0 · n/a excluded from both sides · cell points = weight × quality × factor · cell max = weight × 10

PA Score10/100

Agent-ready 12.3 × 0.30 = 3.69

API quality 1.3 × 0.20 = 0.26

Openness 31.8 × 0.20 = 6.36

Built-in AI 0.0 × 0.15 = 0.00

Automation 0.0 × 0.15 = 0.00

(3.69 + 0.26 + 6.36 + 0.00 + 0.00) ÷ (0.30 + 0.20 + 0.20 + 0.15 + 0.15) = 10.31 ÷ 1.00 = 10.3

Scores are stored to 1 decimal; the product page’s pills round to whole numbers for display. Each dimension below shows the stories, verdicts, and cited evidence behind its number.

Agent-ready12.3/100×0.30 of the PA blend

Outside-in: can YOUR agent reach and drive this product — API, MCP, CLI, headless runs, agent docs.

Point an agent at llms.txt or agent-oriented docsweight 2

2 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 20 max

no evidence cited — the verdict rests on absence of evidence, re-checked on refresh

Run the product headlessly / in CI for automationweight 2

2 (weight) × 4 (quality) × 0.3 (disputed) = 2.4 of 20 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-help/master/en/Obsidian%20Sync/Headless%20Sync.md“Obsidian Sync offers a headless client to sync vaults without using the desktop app. Useful for CI pipelines, agents, and automated workflows.”
  • [probe] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-releases/master/community-plugins.json“PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counted 7,275 published community plugins keylessly — the plugin ecosystem's scale is registry-verified, not a marketing claim. Obsidian ships no official CLI or vendor MCP server (checked at bring-up; MCP servers for Obsidian are community projects).”

Plug MCP servers into this product so it can use their toolsweight 3

3 (weight) × 3 (quality) × 0.6 (partial) = 5.4 of 30 max

  • [probe] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-releases/master/community-plugins.json“PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counted 7,275 published community plugins keylessly — the plugin ecosystem's scale is registry-verified, not a marketing claim. Obsidian ships no official CLI or vendor MCP server (checked at bring-up; MCP servers for Obsidian are community projects).”

Connect an agent via an official MCP serverweight 3

3 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 30 max

  • [probe] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-releases/master/community-plugins.json“PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counted 7,275 published community plugins keylessly — the plugin ecosystem's scale is registry-verified, not a marketing claim. Obsidian ships no official CLI or vendor MCP server (checked at bring-up; MCP servers for Obsidian are community projects).”

Use an official CLIweight 2

2 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 20 max

  • [probe] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-releases/master/community-plugins.json“PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counted 7,275 published community plugins keylessly — the plugin ecosystem's scale is registry-verified, not a marketing claim. Obsidian ships no official CLI or vendor MCP server (checked at bring-up; MCP servers for Obsidian are community projects).”

Drive the product through a documented public APIweight 3

3 (weight) × 6 (quality) × 0.6 (partial) = 10.8 of 30 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-help/master/en/Extending%20Obsidian/Obsidian%20URI.md“Obsidian URI is a custom URI protocol supported by Obsidian that lets you trigger various actions, such as opening a note or creating a note.”
  • [github] https://github.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-api“Vault, the interface that lets you interact with files and folders in the vault.”
  • [github] https://github.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-api“`Vault`, the interface that lets you interact with files and folders in the vault.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-developer-docs/main/en/Home.md“Build plugins to extend the existing functionality in Obsidian using TypeScript.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-developer-docs/main/en/Plugins/Getting%20started/Build%20a%20plugin.md“Plugins let you extend Obsidian with your own features to create a custom note-taking experience.”
  • [probe] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-releases/master/community-plugins.json“PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counted 7,275 published community plugins keylessly — the plugin ecosystem's scale is registry-verified, not a marketing claim. Obsidian ships no official CLI or vendor MCP server (checked at bring-up; MCP servers for Obsidian are community projects).”

Issue scoped/least-privilege API credentials for an agentweight 2

2 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 20 max

  • [community] https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1/items/48109970“Confirmed via Obsidian's own docs: there is no sandboxing at all for community plugins - every plugin has full access to your computer's filesystem and can make network requests.”
  • [probe] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-releases/master/community-plugins.json“PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counted 7,275 published community plugins keylessly — the plugin ecosystem's scale is registry-verified, not a marketing claim. Obsidian ships no official CLI or vendor MCP server (checked at bring-up; MCP servers for Obsidian are community projects).”

Build against official SDKsweight 2

2 (weight) × 6 (quality) × 0.6 (partial) = 7.2 of 20 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-developer-docs/main/en/Plugins/Getting%20started/Build%20a%20plugin.md“In this tutorial, you'll compile a sample plugin from source code and load it into Obsidian.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-developer-docs/main/en/Home.md“Build plugins to extend the existing functionality in Obsidian using TypeScript.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-developer-docs/main/en/Plugins/Getting%20started/Build%20a%20plugin.md“you'll compile a sample plugin from source code and load it into Obsidian.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-developer-docs/main/en/Plugins/Getting%20started/Build%20a%20plugin.md“Plugins let you extend Obsidian with your own features to create a custom note-taking experience.”
  • [github] https://github.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-api“Vault, the interface that lets you interact with files and folders in the vault.”
  • [github] https://github.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-api“`Vault`, the interface that lets you interact with files and folders in the vault.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-help/master/en/Extending%20Obsidian/Plugin%20security.md“By default, Obsidian runs in Restricted Mode to prevent third-party code execution.”
  • [community] https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1/items/48109970“Confirmed via Obsidian's own docs: there is no sandboxing at all for community plugins - every plugin has full access to your computer's filesystem and can make network requests.”
  • [probe] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-releases/master/community-plugins.json“PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counted 7,275 published community plugins keylessly — the plugin ecosystem's scale is registry-verified, not a marketing claim. Obsidian ships no official CLI or vendor MCP server (checked at bring-up; MCP servers for Obsidian are community projects).”

Subscribe to events via webhooksweight 2

2 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 20 max

  • [github] https://github.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-api“Vault, the interface that lets you interact with files and folders in the vault.”
  • [probe] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-releases/master/community-plugins.json“PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counted 7,275 published community plugins keylessly — the plugin ecosystem's scale is registry-verified, not a marketing claim. Obsidian ships no official CLI or vendor MCP server (checked at bring-up; MCP servers for Obsidian are community projects).”

Agent-ready = 25.8 ÷ 210 × 100 = 12.3

API quality1.3/100×0.20 of the PA blend

The programmable surface once an agent is there — machine-readable spec, interactive docs, sandbox, versioning discipline.

Explore an interactive API reference with runnable examplesweight 2

2 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 20 max

no evidence cited — the verdict rests on absence of evidence, re-checked on refresh

Download a machine-readable API spec (OpenAPI or equivalent)weight 2

2 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 20 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-developer-docs/main/en/Home.md“Build plugins to extend the existing functionality in Obsidian using TypeScript.”
  • [github] https://github.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-api“Vault, the interface that lets you interact with files and folders in the vault.”
  • [probe] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-releases/master/community-plugins.json“PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counted 7,275 published community plugins keylessly — the plugin ecosystem's scale is registry-verified, not a marketing claim. Obsidian ships no official CLI or vendor MCP server (checked at bring-up; MCP servers for Obsidian are community projects).”

Test against a sandbox environment without touching production dataweight 1

1 (weight) × 3 (quality) × 0.3 (disputed) = 0.9 of 10 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-help/master/en/Extending%20Obsidian/Plugin%20security.md“By default, Obsidian runs in Restricted Mode to prevent third-party code execution.”
  • [community] https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1/items/48109970“Confirmed via Obsidian's own docs: there is no sandboxing at all for community plugins - every plugin has full access to your computer's filesystem and can make network requests.”
  • [community] https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1/items/48109970“A company wrote a sandboxed alternative app because community plugins are too risky running with full system access when working on sensitive data.”

Rely on versioned APIs with a documented deprecation policyweight 2

2 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 20 max

no evidence cited — the verdict rests on absence of evidence, re-checked on refresh

API quality = 0.9 ÷ 70 × 100 = 1.3

Openness31.8/100×0.20 of the PA blend

Can you leave, inspect, or self-host — data export, open source, portability.

Do everything through the API that I can do in the UIweight 2

2 (weight) × 4 (quality) × 0.6 (partial) = 4.8 of 20 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-help/master/en/Extending%20Obsidian/Obsidian%20URI.md“Obsidian URI is a custom URI protocol supported by Obsidian that lets you trigger various actions, such as opening a note or creating a note.”
  • [github] https://github.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-api“Vault, the interface that lets you interact with files and folders in the vault.”
  • [github] https://github.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-api“`Vault`, the interface that lets you interact with files and folders in the vault.”
  • [probe] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-releases/master/community-plugins.json“PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counted 7,275 published community plugins keylessly — the plugin ecosystem's scale is registry-verified, not a marketing claim. Obsidian ships no official CLI or vendor MCP server (checked at bring-up; MCP servers for Obsidian are community projects).”

Export all of my data in open formats and leaveweight 3

3 (weight) × 9 (quality) × 1.0 (full) = 27.0 of 30 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-help/master/en/Getting%20started/Import%20notes.md“Obsidian uses non-proprietary plain text Markdown files stored locally on your device. You have total control over your data, which means you can use Obsidian offline and switch to another app easily”
  • [claimed-docs] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-help/master/en/Files%20and%20folders/How%20Obsidian%20stores%20data.md“Obsidian stores your notes as Markdown-formatted plain text files in a vault.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-help/master/en/Getting%20started/Import%20notes.md“Apps come and go, but your data should last. Obsidian uses non-proprietary plain text Markdown files stored locally on your device.”
  • [community] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33190433“Moved from Google Docs to Obsidian for de-Googling; notes stored only locally and via storage sync, files are just text so notes can outlive the app itself.”
  • [community] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34066824“Obsidian Canvas uses a new JSON-based file format, open-sourced under MIT license; canvas files remain local and still link to your own future-proof Markdown files.”

Read the product's source under an open licenseweight 2

2 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 20 max

  • [community] https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1/items/48109970“Obsidian being closed-source makes it harder to verify their security model compared to note-taking systems where all plugin code is visible and scannable by the user.”
  • [community] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34066824“Obsidian Canvas uses a new JSON-based file format, open-sourced under MIT license; canvas files remain local and still link to your own future-proof Markdown files.”

Self-host the core productweight 3

3 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 30 max

  • [community] https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1/items/48109970“Obsidian being closed-source makes it harder to verify their security model compared to note-taking systems where all plugin code is visible and scannable by the user.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-help/master/en/Obsidian%20Sync/Security%20and%20privacy.md“Obsidian Sync encrypts your remote vault and all communication with Obsidian's servers.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-help/master/en/Obsidian%20Publish/Introduction%20to%20Obsidian%20Publish.md“Obsidian Publish is a cloud-based hosting service that lets you publish your notes as a wiki, knowledge base, documentation, or digital garden.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-help/master/en/Obsidian%20Sync/Introduction%20to%20Obsidian%20Sync.md“Obsidian Sync is an add-on service that allows you to privately sync your notes across devices.”

Openness = 31.8 ÷ 100 × 100 = 31.8

Built-in AI0.0/100×0.15 of the PA blend

Inside-out: how agentic the product itself is for its users — built-in assistants, autonomous features.

Get AI-generated insights and suggestions from my data inside the productweight 2

2 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 20 max

  • [community] https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1/items/44945532“There's no decent RAG functionality among Obsidian AI plugins, but the Text-Generator plugin with links/backlinks pulled into inference context has been the most productive LLM interface for years.”
  • [probe] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-releases/master/community-plugins.json“PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counted 7,275 published community plugins keylessly — the plugin ecosystem's scale is registry-verified, not a marketing claim. Obsidian ships no official CLI or vendor MCP server (checked at bring-up; MCP servers for Obsidian are community projects).”

Set up automations that run autonomously in the backgroundweight 2

2 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 20 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-help/master/en/Extending%20Obsidian/Obsidian%20URI.md“Obsidian URI is a custom URI protocol supported by Obsidian that lets you trigger various actions, such as opening a note or creating a note.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-help/master/en/Extending%20Obsidian/Plugin%20security.md“By default, Obsidian runs in Restricted Mode to prevent third-party code execution.”
  • [probe] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-releases/master/community-plugins.json“PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counted 7,275 published community plugins keylessly — the plugin ecosystem's scale is registry-verified, not a marketing claim. Obsidian ships no official CLI or vendor MCP server (checked at bring-up; MCP servers for Obsidian are community projects).”

Delegate tasks to a built-in AI assistant inside the productweight 3

3 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 30 max

  • [community] https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1/items/44945532“There's no decent RAG functionality among Obsidian AI plugins, but the Text-Generator plugin with links/backlinks pulled into inference context has been the most productive LLM interface for years.”
  • [probe] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-releases/master/community-plugins.json“PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counted 7,275 published community plugins keylessly — the plugin ecosystem's scale is registry-verified, not a marketing claim. Obsidian ships no official CLI or vendor MCP server (checked at bring-up; MCP servers for Obsidian are community projects).”
  • [community] https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1/items/48109970“Confirmed via Obsidian's own docs: there is no sandboxing at all for community plugins - every plugin has full access to your computer's filesystem and can make network requests.”

Operate the product with natural-language commandsweight 2

2 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 20 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://obsidian.md/mobile“Tabs, Command Palette, plugins,”
  • [probe] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-releases/master/community-plugins.json“PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counted 7,275 published community plugins keylessly — the plugin ecosystem's scale is registry-verified, not a marketing claim. Obsidian ships no official CLI or vendor MCP server (checked at bring-up; MCP servers for Obsidian are community projects).”
  • [community] https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1/items/44945532“There's no decent RAG functionality among Obsidian AI plugins, but the Text-Generator plugin with links/backlinks pulled into inference context has been the most productive LLM interface for years.”

Built-in AI = 0.0 ÷ 90 × 100 = 0.0

Automation0.0/100×0.15 of the PA blend

Depth of automation primitives — rules, scheduling, bulk operations, webhooks.

Perform bulk operations across many items at onceweight 2

2 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 20 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-help/master/en/Bases/Introduction%20to%20Bases.md“Bases is a core plugin that lets you create database-like views of your notes.”
  • [github] https://github.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-api“Vault, the interface that lets you interact with files and folders in the vault.”
  • [github] https://github.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-api“`Vault`, the interface that lets you interact with files and folders in the vault.”
  • [probe] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-releases/master/community-plugins.json“PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counted 7,275 published community plugins keylessly — the plugin ecosystem's scale is registry-verified, not a marketing claim. Obsidian ships no official CLI or vendor MCP server (checked at bring-up; MCP servers for Obsidian are community projects).”

Define rules that trigger actions automatically on eventsweight 3

3 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 30 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-help/master/en/Extending%20Obsidian/Obsidian%20URI.md“Obsidian URI is a custom URI protocol supported by Obsidian that lets you trigger various actions, such as opening a note or creating a note.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-help/master/en/Extending%20Obsidian/Community%20plugins.md“Use plugins to adapt Obsidian to fit your specific needs, such as support for additional file formats or integrating with a third-party service.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-developer-docs/main/en/Plugins/Getting%20started/Build%20a%20plugin.md“Plugins let you extend Obsidian with your own features to create a custom note-taking experience.”
  • [probe] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-releases/master/community-plugins.json“PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counted 7,275 published community plugins keylessly — the plugin ecosystem's scale is registry-verified, not a marketing claim. Obsidian ships no official CLI or vendor MCP server (checked at bring-up; MCP servers for Obsidian are community projects).”

Schedule recurring jobs or workflowsweight 2

2 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 20 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-help/master/en/Plugins/Daily%20notes.md“Daily notes is a core plugin that opens a note based on today's date, or creates it if it doesn't exist.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-help/master/en/Extending%20Obsidian/Obsidian%20URI.md“Obsidian URI is a custom URI protocol supported by Obsidian that lets you trigger various actions, such as opening a note or creating a note.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-help/master/en/Extending%20Obsidian/Community%20plugins.md“Use plugins to adapt Obsidian to fit your specific needs, such as support for additional file formats or integrating with a third-party service.”
  • [probe] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-releases/master/community-plugins.json“PROBE runtime (recorded 2026-09-05): the vendor's own community-plugin registry (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases community-plugins.json) counted 7,275 published community plugins keylessly — the plugin ecosystem's scale is registry-verified, not a marketing claim. Obsidian ships no official CLI or vendor MCP server (checked at bring-up; MCP servers for Obsidian are community projects).”

Version, review, and roll back my automationsweight 1

1 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 10 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-help/master/en/Obsidian%20Sync/Introduction%20to%20Obsidian%20Sync.md“Version history - View or restore previous versions of a note.”
  • [community] https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1/items/44945532“The Git plugin is great for single-device backup but not great for device sync or collaboration; a real-time collaboration plugin using CRDTs was built to add Google-docs style collab to Obsidian.”

Automation = 0.0 ÷ 80 × 100 = 0.0