Send Obsidian Notes via Gmail Automatically with n8n

1. What This Workflow Does

This workflow sends Obsidian notes as emails automatically using Gmail. It reads email details from the note’s YAML frontmatter and sends attachments too. This saves time copying, pasting, and attaching files manually.

When triggered, it receives the note from Obsidian via webhook, extracts email metadata like recipient and subject, checks for attachments, then sends the email with or without files. Finally, it confirms email sending back to Obsidian with a timestamp.

2. Who Should Use This Workflow

This workflow is for people who write notes in Obsidian and need to email them fast. It fits users who want to avoid manual email composing. If email content lives in markdown with YAML metadata, this tool helps a lot.

It is useful for consultants, teams sharing reports, or anyone emailing detailed notes with attachments from Obsidian. It reduces mistakes and speeds delivery.

3. Tools and Services Used

• Obsidian Post Webhook plugin: Sends notes as POST requests.
• n8n: Hosts and runs the email automation workflow.
• Gmail OAuth2 node: Sends emails securely with attachments.

Using self-host n8n is recommended for hosting n8n workflows with stable endpoints.

4. Beginner Step-by-Step: How To Use This Workflow In n8n

Importing The Workflow

1. Download the workflow file from this page.
2. Inside the n8n editor, select “Import from File” and upload the downloaded workflow.

Configuring The Workflow

1. Open the imported workflow.
2. Set up required credentials, such as the Gmail OAuth2 credentials, in n8n credentials manager.
3. Update any preset emails, folder IDs, or channel details if the workflow uses them. Use the YAML frontmatter in your notes for email metadata.

Testing and Activating

1. Run the workflow once to verify everything works as expected.
2. Fix any errors from the run logs if needed.
3. Activate the workflow to let it run automatically when triggered from Obsidian.

Now the workflow will handle incoming webhook calls and send emails with attachments as specified.

5. Inputs, Processing, and Outputs Explained

Inputs

• Obsidian sends note via a webhook POST request.
• Note content includes markdown text and YAML frontmatter with email fields (to, cc, subject, etc.).
• Attachments come encoded as base64 strings in the payload.

Processing Steps

1. Webhook node receives the request and holds connection for response.
2. IF node checks if attachments exist.
3. If attachments: split and clean base64 data, convert to binary files using Set and ConvertToFile nodes.
4. Attachments are grouped back into one set.
5. Email data from YAML frontmatter is extracted.
6. Gmail node sends message with or without attachments.
7. DateTime node captures current timestamp after sending email.
8. RespondToWebhook node sends confirmation message back to Obsidian.

Output

• Email arrives at specified recipients with proper subject, body, and attachments.
• Obsidian note receives confirmation with send date and time appended.

6. Edge Cases and Failure Handling

• Workflow skips attachments if none found, sending email without them.
• If a test flag is set in YAML (test: true), email sending is blocked.
• OAuth2 failures cause email errors—reconnect credentials if seen.
• Base64 prefix must be correctly stripped; otherwise files get corrupted.
• If RespondToWebhook node is misconfigured, Obsidian can hang waiting for response.

Monitoring recent executions in n8n helps spotting such issues early.

7. Customization Ideas

• Change sender-name in YAML to modify email sender display.
• Use send-replies-to YAML field to add custom reply-to addresses.
• Customize subject per note via YAML frontmatter.
• Add image resizing or format conversion nodes after attachment processing for different file types.
• Use the IF node to filter test emails based on YAML boolean flag to avoid unwanted sends.

8. Summary

✓ Saves time by automating email creation from Obsidian notes.
✓ Reduces errors in including attachments.
✓ Sends secure Gmail emails with OAuth2.
✓ Confirms sending inside Obsidian to keep user informed.
→ Emails include metadata like To, CC, BCC, Subject, and Reply-To from YAML.
→ Easily handle notes with or without attachments without manual changes.