obsidian-mcp

What is obsidian-mcp?

obsidian-mcp is an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server designed to allow AI assistants to interact with your Obsidian vaults. It provides a set of tools that enable AI to read, create, edit, and manage notes and tags within your Obsidian notes.

How to use obsidian-mcp?

To use obsidian-mcp, you need Node.js 20 or higher and an Obsidian vault. You can install it manually by adding a configuration to your Claude Desktop settings (for macOS or Windows) or via Smithery (though manual installation is encouraged by the developer). The configuration involves specifying the command to run obsidian-mcp and the absolute paths to your Obsidian vaults. After configuration, restart Claude for Desktop.

Key Features of obsidian-mcp

Note Management: Read, create, edit, move, and delete notes.
Directory Management: Create new directories.
Tag Management: Add, remove, and rename tags across notes.
Search Functionality: Search notes and vault contents.
AI Interaction: Provides tools for AI assistants to interact with your Obsidian vault.

Use Cases of obsidian-mcp

AI-powered Note Taking: Allow AI assistants to help you organize, summarize, and generate notes within Obsidian.
Automated Knowledge Management: Automate tasks like tagging, linking, and structuring your knowledge base with AI.
Enhanced Productivity: Leverage AI to quickly find information, create new content, and manage your Obsidian vault more efficiently.

FAQ from obsidian-mcp

Q: What are the requirements for running obsidian-mcp? A: You need Node.js 20 or higher and an Obsidian vault.

Q: How do I install obsidian-mcp? A: You can install it manually by modifying your Claude Desktop configuration or via Smithery. Manual installation is recommended.

Q: I'm having issues with the server not showing up in Claude Desktop. What should I do? A: Verify your configuration file syntax, ensure the vault path is absolute and exists, and restart Claude Desktop.

Q: What if I encounter permission errors? A: Ensure the vault path is readable/writable and check file permissions in your vault.

Q: Where can I find logs for troubleshooting tool execution failures? A: Logs are located at ~/Library/Logs/Claude/mcp*.log on macOS and %APPDATA%\Claude\logs\mcp*.log on Windows.

Obsidian MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that enables AI assistants to interact with Obsidian vaults, providing tools for reading, creating, editing and managing notes and tags.

Warning!!!

This MCP has read and write access (if you allow it). Please. PLEASE backup your Obsidian vault prior to using obsidian-mcp to manage your notes. I recommend using git, but any backup method will work. These tools have been tested, but not thoroughly, and this MCP is in active development.

Features

Read and search notes in your vault
Create new notes and directories
Edit existing notes
Move and delete notes
Manage tags (add, remove, rename)
Search vault contents

Requirements

Node.js 20 or higher (might work on lower, but I haven't tested it)
An Obsidian vault

Install

Installing Manually

Add to your Claude Desktop configuration:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "obsidian": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": ["-y", "obsidian-mcp", "/path/to/your/vault", "/path/to/your/vault2"]
        }
    }
}

Replace /path/to/your/vault with the absolute path to your Obsidian vault. For example:

MacOS/Linux:

"/Users/username/Documents/MyVault"

Windows:

"C:\\Users\\username\\Documents\\MyVault"

Restart Claude for Desktop after saving the configuration. You should see the hammer icon appear, indicating the server is connected.

If you have connection issues, check the logs at:

MacOS: ~/Library/Logs/Claude/mcp*.log
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\logs\mcp*.log

Installing via Smithery

Warning: I am not affiliated with Smithery. I have not tested using it and encourage users to install manually if they can.

To install Obsidian for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install obsidian-mcp --client claude

Development

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/StevenStavrakis/obsidian-mcp
cd obsidian-mcp

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build
npm run build

Then add to your Claude Desktop configuration:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "obsidian": {
            "command": "node",
            "args": ["<absolute-path-to-obsidian-mcp>/build/main.js", "/path/to/your/vault", "/path/to/your/vault2"]
        }
    }
}

Available Tools

read-note - Read the contents of a note
create-note - Create a new note
edit-note - Edit an existing note
delete-note - Delete a note
move-note - Move a note to a different location
create-directory - Create a new directory
search-vault - Search notes in the vault
add-tags - Add tags to a note
remove-tags - Remove tags from a note
rename-tag - Rename a tag across all notes
manage-tags - List and organize tags
list-available-vaults - List all available vaults (helps with multi-vault setups)

Documentation

Additional documentation can be found in the docs directory:

creating-tools.md - Guide for creating new tools
tool-examples.md - Examples of using the available tools

Security

This server requires access to your Obsidian vault directory. When configuring the server, make sure to:

Only provide access to your intended vault directory
Review tool actions before approving them

Troubleshooting

Common issues:

Server not showing up in Claude Desktop
- Verify your configuration file syntax
- Make sure the vault path is absolute and exists
- Restart Claude Desktop
Permission errors
- Ensure the vault path is readable/writable
- Check file permissions in your vault
Tool execution failures
- Check Claude Desktop logs at:
  - macOS: ~/Library/Logs/Claude/mcp*.log
  - Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\logs\mcp*.log

License

MIT

obsidian-mcp Overview