This free Obsidian vault template gives traders who already use Obsidian for note-taking a complete, ready-to-use trading journal — no spreadsheet required. It solves the friction gap between keeping detailed trade records and maintaining the linked, searchable knowledge base that Obsidian users already depend on for research and learning. Download the .zip, open it as a vault, and go from zero to logging trades with working performance queries in under 10 minutes.
What’s Included
- Daily Trade Log template — A Templater-powered note with YAML frontmatter covering ticker, direction, entry, exit, shares/contracts, gross P&L, net P&L after commissions, setup link, and emotional-state tags. One keystroke creates a new dated note pre-filled with today’s date.
- Strategy pages — Blank pages in /Strategies/ for each setup you trade. Obsidian’s bidirectional linking means every trade that references [[Opening Range Breakout]] automatically appears in that strategy’s backlinks panel — no manual tracking.
- Four Dataview queries — Pre-written tables for overall win rate, average R by strategy, cumulative P&L by month, and a loss streak detector. All four live in /Stats/Dashboard.md and update the moment you save a new trade note.
- 15-tag taxonomy — A curated list balancing setup tags (#orb, #vwap-reclaim, #bull-flag, #breakdown) with psychology tags (#plan-followed, #fomo, #revenge-trade, #sized-up, #sized-down). Keeping the tag count near 15 prevents tag sprawl and keeps Dataview filtering fast and meaningful.
- Folder structure — Four root directories (/Trades/Daily/, /Strategies/, /Stats/, /Templates/) that the Dataview queries reference by path. This hierarchy is the reason the queries work without customization.
- Plugin configuration notes — Step-by-step instructions for installing Dataview, Templater, and Calendar — the three free community plugins required for the full feature set.
- Calendar plugin integration — A calendar view in the sidebar that highlights days with trade notes, making it easy to navigate to any trading day or spot gaps in your logging consistency.
How to Use
Step 1: Install Required Plugins
Open Obsidian Settings → Community Plugins → Browse. Search for and install three plugins: Dataview, Templater, and Calendar. All three are free. Enable each plugin after installation and restart Obsidian. Dataview alone has over 5 million downloads on the Obsidian community plugins directory — if you already have it installed, check that your version is 0.5.56 or later for the query syntax in this template to work correctly.
Step 2: Import the Vault
Unzip the downloaded file and select File → Open Folder as Vault in Obsidian. Point it to the unzipped folder. The four root directories (/Trades/Daily/, /Strategies/, /Stats/, /Templates/) must remain at the vault root for the Dataview FROM clauses to resolve correctly. Do not rename or move these folders unless you also update the path references in /Stats/Dashboard.md.
Step 3: Log Your First Trade
Open /Templates/Daily Trade Log.md and trigger the Templater hotkey (default Alt+E on Windows/Linux, Option+E on Mac) to generate a new note dated for today in /Trades/Daily/. Fill in the frontmatter fields. For the example trade — 200 shares of NVDA bought at $875 with a stop at $868 and a target of $892 — the entry looks like this:
---
date: 2026-04-19
ticker: NVDA
direction: long
entry: 875
exit: 891.50
shares: 200
gross-pnl: 3300
net-pnl: 3274
risk-r: 2.36
setup: "[[Opening Range Breakout]]"
emotion: "#plan-followed"
tags: [win, plan-followed]
---
The trade closed at $891.50 — $0.50 short of the $892 target — for $3,300 gross and $3,274 net after a $26 commission. The risk-r value of 2.36 is calculated as ($891.50 - $875) / ($875 - $868).
Step 4: Build Your Strategy Library
Navigate to /Strategies/ and create a page for each setup you use. The Strategy page for Opening Range Breakout, for example, should describe your entry criteria, the timeframe, and any filters you apply (e.g., “only trade ORBs on stocks with gap greater than 2% and pre-market volume above 500k shares”). After logging 29 ORB trades, the Dataview query in /Stats/Dashboard.md will show the setup’s win rate (in the NVDA example scenario above, 62% across those 29 trades) and average R (1.8R).
Step 5: Use the Stats Dashboard
Open /Stats/Dashboard.md after logging at least 5 trades. The win rate query compares your results against the 40–55% average retail trader win rate documented across multiple broker studies — a useful benchmark for early-stage assessment. The loss streak detector flags any sequence of 3 or more consecutive losses, which Barber and Odean’s research on trader record-keeping suggests is a leading indicator of tilt-driven decisions. Review the dashboard weekly, not daily, to avoid overreacting to small sample sizes.
Key Benefits
- Full data ownership — Every trade note is a plain Markdown file on your local drive. No vendor lock-in, no subscription required, no data hosted on a third-party server.
- Linked strategy research — Trade notes link bidirectionally to strategy pages, so the same vault that holds your trade log also holds your research on setups, earnings calendars, and broker notes — all in one graph.
- Queries that update automatically — The four Dataview queries recalculate on every vault open and on every note save. There are no formulas to drag down and no pivot tables to refresh.
- Tag-based pattern detection — Filtering by #revenge-trade or #sized-up across 6 months of notes takes 3 seconds and surfaces behavioral patterns that a plain spreadsheet cannot easily expose.
- Works inside your existing workflow — For traders who already use Obsidian for research or notes, this template eliminates the context-switch to a separate spreadsheet or app.
Template vs JournalPlus App
| Feature | This Template | JournalPlus App |
|---|---|---|
| Setup Time | 10–15 minutes | Under 5 minutes |
| Broker Import | Manual entry only | Automatic from 50+ brokers |
| P&L Calculation | Manual (you enter gross and net) | Auto-calculated from fills |
| Strategy Analytics | 4 Dataview queries, customizable | 30+ pre-built metrics |
| Mobile Logging | Slow on Obsidian mobile | Native quick-log app |
| Data Ownership | 100% local Markdown files | Cloud with CSV export |
| Offline Access | Full offline support | Requires internet |
| Price | Free | $159 one-time |
This template is a genuinely capable system for traders who are already in the Obsidian ecosystem — the linked knowledge graph is something no dedicated trading app replicates. When you need automatic broker imports, real-time P&L from fills, or analytics beyond what four Dataview queries can produce, JournalPlus picks up where the vault leaves off.
Download
Download the free Obsidian Trading Journal vault (.zip) and start logging trades today. No account or email required — unzip and open as a vault in Obsidian.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Obsidian trading journal template work without an internet connection?
Yes. Obsidian is a local-first application and this vault stores all trade notes as plain Markdown files on your drive. The Dataview plugin processes queries entirely offline. No account or internet connection is needed after the initial plugin installation.
Do I need to know how to code to use the Dataview queries?
No coding knowledge is required. The four Dataview queries are pre-written and included in the /Stats/Dashboard.md file — just open that note and the tables populate automatically from your trade logs. The Dataview plugin has over 5 million downloads precisely because it is accessible to non-developers.
Can I use this Obsidian trading journal template alongside an existing vault?
Yes. Copy the four root folders (/Trades/, /Strategies/, /Stats/, /Templates/) into your existing vault. Update the folder paths in the Dataview queries if your vault uses a different structure. The Templater snippet and Calendar plugin work independently of other vault content.
What is the best way to track R-multiples in an Obsidian trading journal?
Add stop and target fields to the Daily Trade Log frontmatter alongside entry and exit. Calculate R manually as (exit - entry) / (entry - stop) for long trades and enter the value in a risk-r field. The average R Dataview query in this template reads the risk-r field and groups results by setup tag — giving you a per-strategy R average after as few as 10 logged trades.
How is an Obsidian trading journal different from a Notion trading journal?
The main differences are data storage and offline access. Obsidian stores files locally on your machine as plain Markdown — your data is always accessible and never dependent on a third-party server. Notion stores data in the cloud, which requires an internet connection. The Notion trading dashboard template is easier to share with collaborators or a trading coach; this Obsidian template is better for traders who want full data ownership and a tightly integrated PKM workflow.
