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The Archivist

CLI commands

The archivist command-line tool syncs an Obsidian vault, or a folder of email threads in the markdown export format, to your archive. It sends only what changed since the last sync, and removes files you’ve deleted.

It’s a developer tool, built from The Archivist’s own repository, and it isn’t offered in the app. For folders on your computer, use Archivist Sync, and for a vault, the Obsidian plugin.

This is its help, generated from the tool itself each time the docs are built:

archivist help
archivist: the command-line tool for The Archivist


  archivist login --url https://… --token arch_…
  archivist sync <dir> --root obsidian --source note [--dry-run]
  archivist sync <dir> --root email-archive --source email [--dry-run]
  archivist status


Sync options:
  --exclude <pattern>   skip a file or folder (relative to <dir>; * and ** match); repeat for
                        more. Remembered for the root, and replaces what was remembered.
  --clear-excludes      forget the root's remembered excludes
  --dry-run             show what would change


Create an access token in the app's Settings.
  • login saves your archive’s address and an access token. Make the token in Settings → Access tokens.
  • sync sends a folder to a root, the name it has in your archive. --source says whether the folder holds notes or email threads.
  • status lists recent imports.