Obsidian Publish with Dataview

Obsidian Publish can’t run plugins like Dataview directly, which means Dataview tables often show up as unreadable query text on a published site. The workaround is to convert Dataview query results into plain Markdown files during editing—then publish those generated Markdown notes—so the website displays real tables instead of raw queries.

The setup hinges on two community plugins: Dataview (by Michael Brennan) to define the queries, and Templater to automate turning those query results into Markdown at the moment you trigger a template. Because Publish doesn’t support plugins, the Dataview query must be executed inside Obsidian first, and its output must be written to a file that Publish can serve. The workflow also avoids fragile edits to existing pages: generated tables live in their own dedicated notes, which can be overwritten safely whenever the underlying data changes.

A key example uses a Dataview query that builds a “player list” table from a specific folder, filtering by properties such as player status (e.g., only “active” players). When a player note is added or their status changes, the Dataview query updates automatically inside Obsidian. The problem appears only at publishing time—without this conversion step, the published page can’t interpret the Dataview query and instead shows armored text. The template solves that by mapping Dataview results into Markdown and writing them into a new note (or replacing an existing one) every time the template runs.

The process starts by installing Dataview and Templater, then confirming Templater’s hotkey (Alt+E in this walkthrough) and the template folder location. Next comes adopting a template pattern originally documented by Joshua on joshua.io: a Templater script that contains embedded Dataview query blocks. In the script, the green-highlighted sections define which Dataview queries get executed and where their outputs are written. The user then copies an existing working Dataview query (for example, “recently edited” or “recent new files”) and injects it into the template under a new generated file name.

Once the template is configured, publishing becomes a two-step rhythm. The normal “Publish changes” button is less useful for Dataview-driven content because the generated Markdown must be refreshed via the template first. The user triggers the template (named “update publish files” in the example), which regenerates the Markdown notes, then publishes those updated files. On the website, the table appears as a real Markdown table with working links.

Finally, the approach scales by creating one generated note per Dataview query and embedding those notes into other pages using Templater/Markdown inclusion syntax (the walkthrough emphasizes using a separate note plus an “exclamation mark” include-style link). This keeps the main published pages stable while the generated table notes can be rewritten repeatedly. The result is a practical, repeatable way to get Dataview-powered “Recently Added/Recently Edited” style tables working on an Obsidian Publish site despite Publish’s lack of plugin support.