Organize with Media Library
Import an audio track, see metadata appear automatically, and manage your media notes with Obsidian Bases
The media library is a collection of media notes in your vault. Each media note represents one media file, maybe a local video, audio URL, or an YouTube video you imported.
The library view is built on Obsidian Bases, so you can sort, filter, and add property columns the same way you would in any other base to manage your media library.
What you will learn
In this tutorial you will import a music file, see the plugin populate its metadata, and customize the library view.
Steps
Open the media library
Click the button in the ribbon (left sidebar). A table opens showing your media items.
If you followed earlier tutorials, the Steve Jobs speech and the ECG lecture already appear here with titles and durations. The plugin created media notes for them when you first opened those videos.
Import an audio track
Click New in the toolbar. Select Web URL from the dropdown.
Paste this URL and press Enter:
https://archive.org/download/badpanda074/BenMason-Easy.mp3The plugin downloads the file's metadata and creates a media note. A notification confirms the import.
Check the media note
Click Open in the notification to open the media note. The frontmatter contains metadata the plugin read from the MP3's embedded tags:
---
title: Easy
creator: Ben Mason
album: …
duration: …
---Title, artist, album, and duration were read from the file's embedded tags. The cover art shows as the thumbnail in the media library.
The YouTube videos from earlier tutorials got their metadata the same way — the plugin fetched titles, durations, and thumbnails when you first opened those media notes.
Play from the library
Switch back to the media library tab. The new entry sits at the top with the album cover as its thumbnail.
Click the title or the cover image. The audio track starts playing.
Open a media note from the library
Look at the right side of the row. The button opens the media note for that entry.
Click it. The note opens in a new pane. From here you can add timestamps, write annotations, or link to other notes — the same workflow as any media note.
Add columns
Click Properties in the top toolbar above the table. Add the album property. A new column appears showing the album name from the track's metadata.
Add published_at as well. This column shows the publication date for each media item.
Rearrange and resize columns
Drag the album column header to move it next to the title column.
Drag the right edge of any column header to make it wider or narrower. The library remembers your layout.
Search the library
Click Search in the toolbar. Type Ben. The table filters down to the Ben Mason track.
Clear the search to see all entries again.
Next steps
- Media Library & Media Note — how media notes store metadata and how the library works
- Import Existing Vault Media into the Library — bulk import files you already have in your vault, and turn on auto-import for new ones
- Opening Media — all the ways to open video and audio in Media Extended
- Frontmatter Properties — every property you can set on a media note
- Commands — library management commands like bulk import and metadata refresh