MCP Obsidian
An MCP server that enables AI assistants to interact with Obsidian vaults by providing tools for note management, full-text search, and link analysis. It supports comprehensive file operations, frontmatter manipulation, and daily note creation while
What is MCP Obsidian?
MCP Obsidian is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, and VS Code to mcp server that enables ai assistants to interact with obsidian vaults by providing tools for note management, full-text search, and link analysis. it supports comprehensive file operations, frontmatt...
An MCP server that enables AI assistants to interact with Obsidian vaults by providing tools for note management, full-text search, and link analysis. It supports comprehensive file operations, frontmatter manipulation, and daily note creation while
This server falls under the Knowledge & Memory category on MCPgee, the world's largest MCP server directory with 33,000+ servers.
Features
- An MCP server that enables AI assistants to interact with Ob
Use Cases
Maintainer
Works with
Installation
NPM
npx -y mcp-obsidianManual Installation
npx -y mcp-obsidianConfiguration
Configuration Details
claude_desktop_config.json
Performance
Response Metrics
Resource Usage
How to Set Up and Use MCP Obsidian
mcp-obsidian is an MCP server that gives AI assistants direct read-write access to Obsidian vaults, exposing over 20 tools for note management, full-text search, frontmatter manipulation, link analysis, and daily note creation. It operates on the vault's file system directly — no Obsidian Local REST API plugin required — making it straightforward to set up. Knowledge workers who maintain their second brain in Obsidian can use it to let Claude search across all notes, create and update entries, navigate the knowledge graph, and surface orphaned notes or backlinks through natural conversation.
Prerequisites
- Python 3.10+ with the uv package manager installed
- An existing Obsidian vault on your local filesystem
- An MCP-compatible client such as Claude Desktop
- The absolute path to your Obsidian vault directory
Install uv if not already installed
mcp-obsidian uses uv for dependency management. Install it if you don't already have it.
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | shInstall mcp-obsidian via npx
The package is available on npm and can be run directly with npx without cloning the repository.
npx -y mcp-obsidianLocate your Obsidian vault path
Find the absolute path to your Obsidian vault. On macOS this is typically ~/Documents/ObsidianVault or the path shown in Obsidian under Settings > About.
# Example: find your vault path
ls ~/Documents/ | grep -i obsidianConfigure Claude Desktop
Add the mcp-obsidian server to your Claude Desktop config, setting OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH to the absolute path of your vault.
Restart Claude Desktop
Restart Claude Desktop to load the Obsidian MCP server. Over 20 tools for file operations, search, frontmatter, links, and daily notes will become available.
MCP Obsidian Examples
Client configuration
Claude Desktop configuration for mcp-obsidian with your vault path set as an environment variable.
{
"mcpServers": {
"obsidian": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "mcp-obsidian"],
"env": {
"OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH": "/Users/yourname/Documents/MyVault"
}
}
}
}Prompts to try
Examples of Obsidian vault management tasks you can do through Claude once the server is connected.
- "Search my vault for all notes mentioning 'machine learning'"
- "Create a daily note for today with a template"
- "List all notes that link to my 'Project Alpha' note"
- "Find all orphaned notes in my vault that have no incoming links"
- "Show me the frontmatter of my weekly review notes and update the 'status' field to 'complete'"
- "List all unique tags used across my vault"Troubleshooting MCP Obsidian
OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH not set or vault not found
Ensure the OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH environment variable in your Claude Desktop config is an absolute path (starting with /). Relative paths and ~ home directory shortcuts may not be expanded. Verify the path exists with `ls /your/vault/path`.
npx -y mcp-obsidian fails or hangs
Try installing the package globally first with `npm install -g mcp-obsidian` and then changing the command in your config from `npx` to `mcp-obsidian`. Alternatively, clone the repository and run it via uv directly.
Search returns no results even for existing notes
Full-text search operates on the raw markdown files in your vault. Ensure your vault path is correct and contains .md files. Obsidian's own search index is not used — the MCP server reads files directly, so newly created files appear immediately without waiting for Obsidian to index them.
Frequently Asked Questions about MCP Obsidian
What is MCP Obsidian?
MCP Obsidian is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that mcp server that enables ai assistants to interact with obsidian vaults by providing tools for note management, full-text search, and link analysis. it supports comprehensive file operations, frontmatter manipulation, and daily note creation while It connects AI assistants to external tools and data sources through a standardized interface.
How do I install MCP Obsidian?
Install via npm with the command: npx -y mcp-obsidian. Then add the server configuration to your AI client's JSON config file (e.g., claude_desktop_config.json or .cursor/mcp.json).
Which AI clients work with MCP Obsidian?
MCP Obsidian works with all major MCP-compatible AI clients including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), Windsurf, and Cline.
Is MCP Obsidian free to use?
Yes, MCP Obsidian is open source and available under the MIT License license. You can use it freely in both personal and commercial projects.
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Set Up MCP Obsidian in Your Editor
Choose your AI client for step-by-step setup instructions.
Quick Config Preview
Add this to your claude_desktop_config.json or .cursor/mcp.json
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