# Obsidian - Bases Insider Release (2025) ![[images/Obsidian-Bases-Insider-Release-2025.webp]] [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxR9JdxDmlU) · 35:18 · Josh Plunkett · 2025-05-22 ## Outline ### 00:00 Intro - Bases has just dropped for **Insiders**, the early-access beta program you get with a **Catalyst license** (about $25 USD, at obsidian.md/pricing). It isn't in the public release yet. - The feature had sat on the Obsidian roadmap for a while as "dynamic views" or "dynamic tables": tables built from data stored in note properties. People wondered whether it would replace Dataview or Database Folder. - Josh's first read is that it's a bit of both: very like Database Folder's editable tables, with some Dataview-style querying. ### 02:21 What Is A Base - He's in his new Patreon vault, released two hours before Obsidian "hot dropped" Bases, so he now has to update everything. - His homepage tabs use Dataview queries (last 10 modified NPCs, notes, locations, party members, session journals). He shows a Dataview query: a table with columns, from a folder, where rules are true, limit 10, sorted. - The same homepage rebuilt with Bases: a party-members view with filters. Filters come in two scopes, **all views** and **this view**. - One base can hold several **views**, each with its own rules, shown as a menu or dropdown at the top, where Dataview needed one hardcoded query per table. - The **Properties** panel lets you type any property name from your vault (he adds "Obsidian UI mode") and turn it on as a column. You can edit values right in the table, with tab rather than enter to commit. ![[images/Obsidian-Bases-Insider-Release-2025-t0320.webp]] - The value suggestions seem to come from the same source as note properties: only values already used appear (his "template-player" didn't). He'd like to set custom rules for what options show. ### 08:43 Create a new Base - Right-click a folder and choose **New base**. That creates a new `.base` file type, much like Canvas files sit alongside `.md` notes. It starts as a table of everything in the vault. - **Configure view** lets you rename the view (he makes a "Hubs" view), choose the layout (only table for now; he expects lists next) and limit results (10). - Right-click a column to rename it ("Hub name"), sort, or hide it. ![[images/Obsidian-Bases-Insider-Release-2025-t1000.webp]] - **Filters**: a this-view filter of `folder is 2-World/Hubs` shows City of Trade. Creating a new hub note (City of Thieves) shows up straight away, and he's impressed by how snappy it is. - Filter logic has "all of the following are true", "any of the following are true" and "none of the following are true", plus filter groups. Adding `folder is 2-World/Places` brings in Shop of Sails. - He adds a second **Places** view. A folder with an odd icon briefly broke the filter; he left that bug in the video for the developers. - His homepage now has a dropdown to switch between the last 10 hubs, people, groups and so on, each a custom view. - **Properties**: folder, created time and modified time come built in. Search adds vault properties (category, container) and you drag columns to reorder and resize. - Page preview on hover needs **Ctrl** held for now, as Bases isn't part of the core Page Preview settings yet. - **Add property** and **formulas**: formula properties are calculated, not written into notes. He hasn't explored them much and points to the functions in the [Bases help](https://help.obsidian.md/bases), such as concatenation and adding two properties together. ### 18:33 Bases in Canvas - Live test: a base dragged into a **Canvas** works fully, and you can add more than one. - He tries dragging one into an **Excalidraw** drawing and, to his surprise, it embeds and mostly works, though with limited editing. ![[images/Obsidian-Bases-Insider-Release-2025-t1910.webp]] - Give plugin and theme developers time to catch up, since this landed only about a day ago. ### 20:13 Bases Roadmap - From Obsidian's roadmap: a **Bases API** so plugins can add custom functions and new view types; more **view types** beyond tables (lists, cards); **grouping** of files; **aggregation functions** (sum, average); and **Obsidian Publish support**. - Josh expects cards to bring images, which people will want for things like book databases. Native Publish support excites him, as getting Dataview onto Publish needs a hack. ### 21:38 Create a Base Code-Block - A `.base` file can be embedded in another note and stays fully working. But Josh doesn't love splitting a note across two files. - Instead, open a code block with ` ```base `, just like starting a Dataview query, and a working base appears inside the note. - He sets a limit of 10 and a tag filter (after some fiddling, `tags contains category`), then turns on some columns. ![[images/Obsidian-Bases-Insider-Release-2025-t2410.webp]] - In source mode you can see every change made in the UI written live into the block as YAML. New users don't need to learn a SQL-like query language, and blocks can be copied and pasted. - His home embed note has one big base with many views. Rather than build each view by hand, he made one, read the YAML (each view runs from one `- type:` line to the next: name, column order, column sizes, sort, limit, filters such as `folder == 2-Regions`), then pasted and edited copies to make new views, like "My new view" for groups. ### 28:21 Closing Thoughts - This is an early sneak peek and will change. Insider also gets you a chat channel to report bugs and request features from the developers on day-one releases. - For him it's one of Obsidian's most exciting updates in a while: clean, smooth and much faster than Dataview on big notes. - TTRPG ideas: queries like grassland monsters between levels 1 and 5, using range filters on properties. - He doesn't think it will fully replace Dataview. **DataviewJS** can do complex things, like writing **Meta Bind** queries or the Mermaid relationship chart in his person template (adding Bob and Fred as children updates the chart). There's also no sign yet of inline values pulled into note text, which TTRPG users do a lot (his preference is Meta Bind for that). - It should replace Dataview tables and lists for the most part, and it's a full replacement for **Database Folder**, which he'd stopped recommending because it went unmaintained and buggy. - Wishes: image cards, an image property type, and custom rules for which options a property shows, for example picking from notes in an items folder for what a player owns. ### 34:13 Outro - Everything shown is his new Patreon vault, but he won't add Bases to it yet, since it would break things for people without Insider. The current vault is on the Patreon GitHub. Thanks to patrons and the community. ## Things mentioned ### Obsidian features and plugins - **Obsidian Bases** (core feature; Insiders-only at the time): `.base` files, views, filters, properties, formulas and ` ```base ` code blocks. See the [Bases help](https://help.obsidian.md/bases). - **Dataview** and **DataviewJS** (free community plugin) - **Database Folder** (free community plugin, no longer recommended by Josh because it's unmaintained) - **Meta Bind** (free community plugin), his choice for inline values - **Excalidraw** (free community plugin), where bases can be embedded - **Canvas** (core) and **Page Preview** (core plugin) - **Mermaid** charts, driven by DataviewJS in his person template - **Obsidian Publish** (paid add-on), with Bases support on the roadmap ### Products, pricing and websites - [Obsidian](https://obsidian.md/) (free) - **Catalyst license** for Insider early access, about $25 USD one-off ([pricing](https://obsidian.md/pricing)) - [Josh Plunkett's Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/JPlunkett) and its vault with new templates (paid) - [Obsidian TTRPG Tutorials](https://obsidianttrpgtutorials.com) (free site) ### TTRPG uses and examples - Homepage tables of recent NPCs, hubs, places, groups, party members and session journals - Example world notes: City of Trade, City of Thieves, Shop of Sails, 2-World folders (hubs, places, regions, groups) - Monster queries by habitat and level range - Player-owned items picked from an items folder (a wished-for feature) ## Bios ### Josh Plunkett An Australian game master and YouTuber behind Obsidian TTRPG Tutorials. He makes long-form guides to running tabletop RPGs in Obsidian, keeps a Patreon-funded TTRPG vault, and runs an active Discord community. ### Obsidian developers The team behind Obsidian, who released Bases to Catalyst-license Insiders in May 2025 and listed an API, more view types, grouping, aggregation and Publish support on its roadmap.