v0.7.2 MIT License Free

AI + Obsidian = 🚀

Your assistant. Your notes. Zero friction.

This MCP server lets Claude, ChatGPT+, and other assistants access your vault. Locally, safe frontmatter, no cloud sync.

Recent Updates v0.7.2

  • v0.7.2: Security hardening - TOCTOU fixes, regex injection prevention, comprehensive CI/CD (PR #12)
  • v0.7.1: Website improvements and copy accuracy updates (PR #10)
  • v0.7.0: Clickable Obsidian URI links in AI responses (Issue #5)

Quick Install

Get MCP-Obsidian running in seconds with any MCP-compatible platform

1

Configure Your AI Platform

AI Platform Config

📍 Config file locations:

Claude Desktop (JSON)
macOS: ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
Claude Code (CLI)
⚠️ Per-project only: Run claude mcp add-json obsidian '{...}' inside your project directory
ChatGPT+ Desktop (JSON)
macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/ChatGPT/chatgpt_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\ChatGPT\chatgpt_config.json
OpenAI Codex (TOML)
macOS/Linux: ~/.codex/config.toml
Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.codex\config.toml

No pre-installation needed! npx automatically downloads and runs the server when needed.

2

Developers: Test with MCP Inspector

Terminal
# Install MCP Inspector globally
$ npm install -g @modelcontextprotocol/inspector
# Test MCP-Obsidian server
$ mcp-inspector npx @mauricio.wolff/mcp-obsidian@latest /path/to/vault
🌐 Opens interactive web interface at http://localhost:5173

🔍 MCP Inspector provides a web UI to test all MCP methods interactively.

Perfect for:
  • Testing server functionality before integration
  • Debugging MCP method calls and responses
  • Exploring available tools and resources
  • Development and troubleshooting

🌐 Works with all MCP-compatible platforms: Cursor IDE, Windsurf, and more coming soon!
Use the same configuration with your platform's MCP server settings.

🔒 What "private" means:

Your vault files stay on your computer
We never see, store, or transmit your data
Only you and your AI assistant can access your notes
AI providers (Anthropic, OpenAI) process content you share with them

For commercial Claude users: Your data won't be used for AI training.

You're all set!

Restart your AI platform and you'll see MCP-Obsidian connected. Your AI assistant can now safely read, search, and manage your Obsidian vault.

🔍 Search notes 📝 Edit content 🗂️ Organize files ⚡ Batch operations

Core Features

Designed for safety, performance, and developer experience. Every feature gives AI intelligent access without compromising your data.

🎯

🔍 Powerful Search

Fast search across your entire vault. AI can locate notes by content, tags, or metadata instantly.

🛡️

📝 Safe Frontmatter Handling

YAML parser validates and preserves formatting, ensuring safe atomic updates to note metadata.

🚀

⚡ File Operations

Read, write, and manage notes safely. Create, update, and organize your vault with AI assistance.

🔐

🔒 Security First

Path traversal protection and safe file operations. Controlled AI access through MCP protocol.

🟢

Node.js Compatible

Built with Node.js for broad compatibility and ecosystem support.

💰

Token Optimized

Minified JSON field names and compact responses. Less token usage means faster, cheaper API calls.

📘

TypeScript

Fully typed for excellent developer experience.

❤️

Open Source

MIT licensed and community driven.

🛠️

🔧 Complete Toolkit

12 MCP methods for vault management: read/write/patch files, search content, manage tags, update frontmatter, and more. Built for AI assistant integration.

🌐

🎯 Multi-Platform

Works with Claude Desktop, ChatGPT+ Desktop, Cursor IDE, and other MCP-compatible AI platforms.

See It In Action

Watch how AI assistants intelligently interact with your Obsidian vault. These examples show real conversations and outcomes.

AI Desktop Tool - MCP-Obsidian Active
Connected
You

Add the equation for energy-mass equivalence to my physics notes

AI
🔧 MCP-Obsidian: Using patch_note...

Request:
{
  "path": "Physics/Relativity.md",
  "oldString": "## Energy and Mass",
  "newString": "## Energy and Mass\n\nE = mc²",
  "prettyPrint": true
}


Response:
{
  "success": true,
  "message": "Successfully replaced 1 occurrence",
  "matchCount": 1
}


✅ Done! Added Einstein's equation to your notes.
Only the specific section was updated - no full file rewrite needed.

Technical Details

MCP server used patch_note for efficient partial update
Multi-line text replacement performed atomically
Frontmatter and formatting preserved perfectly
10x faster than rewriting entire file
prettyPrint defaults to false for minimal token usage

Ready to experience this level of AI-powered note management?

Get Started Now

Usage Examples

Practical prompts you can try with your AI assistant and MCP-Obsidian.

Search & Read Notes
Search Read Analysis
You

Find my productivity notes and summarize the key concepts

AI

Find notes and read their content for analysis

Update Metadata
Frontmatter Batch Updates
You

Mark all my project notes as completed

AI

Batch update frontmatter across multiple notes

🎯

Example Prompts

Once MCP-Obsidian is set up, these prompts demonstrate search, read, and write operations in a single flow.

Get Started Now

Why Choose MCP-Obsidian?

See how MCP-Obsidian compares to generic filesystem access and direct file manipulation. Purpose-built for Obsidian means better safety, performance, and intelligence.

Feature
MCP-Obsidian
This package
Other MCP-Obsidian
Plugin-based
Generic FS MCP
Basic file access
Direct File Access
Manual approach
Setup Complexity
Simple
Just point to vault path - works instantly
Complex
Requires Obsidian plugin + API key setup
⚠️
Moderate
Basic MCP configuration needed
⚠️
Variable
Depends on chosen approach
Obsidian Running Required
No
Works with closed Obsidian - direct file access
Yes
Obsidian must be running with REST API plugin
No
Direct filesystem access
No
Direct file manipulation
Plugin Dependencies
None
Zero dependencies - pure file system access
Required
Needs Local REST API community plugin
None
Standard filesystem MCP
None
No additional software needed
Frontmatter Safety
Protected
Advanced YAML parsing with validation
⚠️
API-dependent
Safety depends on Obsidian API implementation
Can corrupt
Raw file editing risks corruption
Can corrupt
No safety mechanisms
Built-in Search
Advanced
Semantic + full-text search with rankings
Good
Uses Obsidian's search via API
None
Must manually search directories
None
Basic grep at best
Performance
Fast
Optimized for large vaults with caching
⚠️
API overhead
HTTP API calls add latency
⚠️
Slow
No vault-specific optimizations
⚠️
Variable
Depends on system capabilities
Link Handling
Intelligent
Preserves and updates internal links
Good
Leverages Obsidian's link management
Breaks links
No understanding of Obsidian format
Breaks links
Can corrupt references
Reliability
High
Direct file access - no intermediary failures
⚠️
Plugin-dependent
Can fail if Obsidian crashes or plugin issues
⚠️
Basic
Standard filesystem reliability
⚠️
Variable
Depends on implementation quality
8/8
Features with clear advantage
Zero
Plugin dependencies required
Instant
Setup time (vs hours)