diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c2acbed3..5d30cd67 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -11,6 +11,10 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ### Added
 
+- Added function `obsidian.api.set_checkbox`
+  - api function `set_checkbox [state]` takes an optional state param, if no param is
+    passed then it takes the next char input as the state and validates that
+    against `Obsidian.opts.checkbox.order`
 - Allow custom directory and ID logic for templates
 - When filling out a template with user-provided substitution functions, pass a "context" object to each invocation so that users can respond accordingly.
   - Added `obsidian.InsertTemplateContext` and `obsidian.CloneTemplateContext` as these new "context" objects.
diff --git a/lua/obsidian/api.lua b/lua/obsidian/api.lua
index 10bd4b51..134f0baa 100644
--- a/lua/obsidian/api.lua
+++ b/lua/obsidian/api.lua
@@ -722,4 +722,60 @@ M.smart_action = function()
   return legacy and "<cmd>ObsidianToggleCheckbox<cr>" or "<cmd>Obsidian toggle_checkbox<cr>"
 end
 
+---Set the checkbox on the current line to a specific state.
+---
+---@param state string|nil Optional string of state to set the checkbox to (e.g., " ", "x").
+M.set_checkbox = function(state)
+  if not util.in_node { "list", "paragraph" } or util.in_node "block_quote" then
+    return
+  end
+
+  if state == nil then
+    local ok, key = pcall(vim.fn.getchar)
+    if not ok then
+      log.err "set_checkbox: unable to get state input"
+      return
+    end
+    state = string.char(key + 0)
+  end
+
+  local found = false
+  for _, value in ipairs(Obsidian.opts.checkbox.order) do
+    if value == state then
+      found = true
+    end
+  end
+
+  if not found then
+    log.err(
+      "state passed '"
+        .. state
+        .. "' is not part of the available states: "
+        .. vim.inspect(Obsidian.opts.checkbox.order)
+    )
+    return
+  end
+
+  local cur_line = vim.api.nvim_get_current_line()
+
+  if util.is_checkbox(cur_line) then
+    if string.match(cur_line, "^.* %[.%].*") then
+      cur_line = string.gsub(cur_line, "%[.%]", "[" .. state .. "]", 1)
+    end
+  elseif Obsidian.opts.checkbox.create_new then
+    local unordered_list_pattern = "^(%s*)[-*+] (.*)"
+    if string.match(cur_line, unordered_list_pattern) then
+      cur_line = string.gsub(cur_line, unordered_list_pattern, "%1- [" .. state .. "] %2")
+    else
+      cur_line = string.gsub(cur_line, "^(%s*)", "%1- [" .. state .. "] ")
+    end
+  else
+    goto out
+  end
+
+  local line_num = vim.fn.getpos(".")[2]
+  vim.api.nvim_buf_set_lines(0, line_num - 1, line_num, true, { cur_line })
+  ::out::
+end
+
 return M
diff --git a/lua/obsidian/commands/init.lua b/lua/obsidian/commands/init.lua
index 9095e887..ef0ed468 100644
--- a/lua/obsidian/commands/init.lua
+++ b/lua/obsidian/commands/init.lua
@@ -260,6 +260,8 @@ M.register("follow_link", { nargs = "?", note_action = true })
 
 M.register("toggle_checkbox", { nargs = 0, range = true, note_action = true })
 
+M.register("set_checkbox", { nargs = "?", range = true, note_action = true })
+
 M.register("rename", { nargs = "?", note_action = true })
 
 M.register("paste_img", { nargs = "?", note_action = true })