---
title: "Dataview Dashboard"
description: "Turn your vault into a queryable database."
source: "Obsidian Academy"
source_url: https://obsidian-academy.pages.dev/bonus/02-dataview-dashboard/
saved: 2026-05-16
tags: [obsidian-academy, saved-from-web, bonus]
---

**TL;DR** — Install the Dataview plugin. Now you can write SQL-ish queries inside notes that pull live data from across your vault. Your daily note can show "all open tasks tagged @home" auto-updating. Your project notes can show "all meetings about this project, latest first." Static notes become living dashboards.

## What Dataview does

Dataview queries scan your vault's notes, their tags, their frontmatter, and their inline metadata. Output goes back into the note as a live table or list.

A trivial example — in any note:

````md
```dataview
LIST FROM #project
WHERE status = "active"
SORT file.mtime DESC
```
````

Renders inside the note as a bullet list of every note tagged `#project` with frontmatter `status: active`, sorted by most recently modified.

## Real dashboards you can build

**Today dashboard** (in your daily note template):

````md
## Open tasks

```dataview
TASK
FROM "20-Projects" OR "00-Inbox"
WHERE !completed
SORT created DESC
LIMIT 10
```
````

**People you owe** (in `60-People.md` MOC):

````md
```dataview
TABLE last_contact AS "Last seen", relationship AS "How"
FROM "60-People"
WHERE last_contact AND date(last_contact) < date(today) - dur(30 days)
SORT last_contact ASC
```
````

**Habit heatmap** (using inline metadata `[exercise:: true]` in daily notes):

````md
```dataview
CALENDAR file.day
FROM "10-Daily"
WHERE exercise = true
```
````

## Inline metadata — the secret sauce

Beyond frontmatter, Dataview reads inline metadata. Write:

```md
The meeting [project:: q2-launch] ended with [decision:: ship June 15].
```

`project` and `decision` are now queryable fields.

## How it pairs with Claude Code

- The **MOC Maintainer** skill produces hand-curated MOCs; Dataview produces query-based ones. Use both: a hand-written intro paragraph + a Dataview block listing children.
- The **Weekly Review** skill can dump completed tasks into the review via a Dataview query — saves the skill having to count manually.
- Claude can write Dataview queries for you. "Show me all notes tagged #learn modified in the last 30 days" → it writes the query, pastes it into the note.

## Install

Settings → Community plugins → Browse → "Dataview" → Install → Enable.

That's it. No config needed for basics. Advanced: Settings → Dataview → enable "JavaScript queries" if you want the full DSL.

## Sources

- [Creating a Habits Dashboard with Obsidian and the Dataview JS API](https://rachsmith.com/creating-a-habits-dashboard/)
- [Dataview official docs](https://blacksmithgu.github.io/obsidian-dataview/)

## Related workflows

- **[MOC Maintainer](https://obsidian-academy.pages.dev/workflows/10-moc-maintainer/)** — Pairs naturally — Dataview for the dynamic, MOC for the curated
- **[Weekly Review](https://obsidian-academy.pages.dev/workflows/06-weekly-review/)** — Dataview makes the metrics section trivial