MySQL → Obsidian Bases (CLI)

Convert rows from a MySQL table into Obsidian notes with YAML frontmatter and generate a corresponding .base file for the Bases core plugin.

Features

• Connects to MySQL using CLI flags
• Exports each row to a Markdown file with properly-typed frontmatter
• Infers property types from MySQL schema (numbers, dates, datetimes, booleans, text)
• Generates a .base file that filters to the exported folder and provides a default Table view
• Idempotent by default (overwrites files with the same name)

Install

Recommended (pipx):

pipx install mysql-to-obsidian-bases

Or pip (user site):

python3 -m pip install --user mysql-to-obsidian-bases
# Ensure ~/.local/bin is on PATH (Linux/macOS)

PyPI: https://pypi.org/project/mysql-to-obsidian-bases/

Usage

Preferred (console script):

mysql-to-bases \
  --host 127.0.0.1 \
  --user root \
  --password secret \
  --database mydb \
  --table books \
  --output /absolute/path/to/output \
  --id-column id \
  --title-column title

Export all tables:

mysql-to-bases \
  --host 127.0.0.1 \
  --user root \
  --password secret \
  --database mydb \
  --all-tables

Or via module:

python -m mysql_to_obsidian_bases --help

• You must specify either --table <name> or --all-tables.
• --host/--user/--password/--database/--port: MySQL connection
• --table: Table name to export
• --all-tables: Export every base table found in the database
• --output: Output directory for the base folder (default: ./output/<table>-base)
• --id-column: Column used for filenames (default: id or first column)
• --title-column: Column used as the H1 title inside the note (optional)

After running, you'll have:

• output/<table>-base/notes/ with one .md file per row
• output/<table>-base/<table>.base with a default Table view filtered to the above folder

Example

mysql-to-bases \
  --host 127.0.0.1 --user root --password secret --database library \
  --table books --id-column id --title-column title

This creates something like:

output/books-base/
  books.base
  notes/
    1.md
    the-hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy.md
    ...

Tip: Move the generated folder into your Obsidian vault. The .base file includes a filter that limits results to the notes/ subfolder.

Notes on Types and Formatting

• Dates (DATE) are formatted as YYYY-MM-DD
• Datetimes (DATETIME, TIMESTAMP) are formatted as YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss
• Booleans (TINYINT(1)) become true/false
• Numbers remain numbers
• Strings are emitted as YAML strings when necessary

The .base file sets a global filter file.inFolder("<table>-base/notes") to scope the view to the generated notes.

Stretch Goals (not yet implemented)

• --query to use a custom SQL query (type inference is trickier when not tied to a single table)
• Incremental updates (append-only or merge strategies)
• Per-column type overrides via a config file

Development

Project structure:

mysql_to_obsidian_bases/
  __init__.py
  __main__.py
  cli.py
  mysql_utils.py
  type_inference.py
  markdown_generator.py
  base_generator.py

Developer install:

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
pip install -e .

Run locally:

mysql-to-bases --help

License

MIT