Obsidian MCP server

by cyanheads·io.github.cyanheads/obsidian-mcp-server·v3.8.0·690 stars

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Read, write, search, and surgically edit Obsidian notes, tags, and frontmatter via MCP.

A92/100grade A

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A92/100

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Adoption

Established

690 stars7.8k downloads/wk

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Obsidian tools

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How Obsidian compares

Against every graded Productivity MCP server, from our own scans and uptime checks. Updated after each scan run.

Safety score: 92/100; higher than 90% of 1,299 Productivity servers
GitHub stars: 690; more than 95% of 854 Productivity servers
Downloads a week: 7,786; more than 95% of 427 Productivity servers with a package

Release history: 8 versions in the registry since 2026-09-13, latest 2026-10-31, typically one every 5 days.

Install Obsidian in Claude Code, Cursor or VS Code

Runs npx -y obsidian-mcp-server on your machine. Read the scan report first; the gateway never runs local packages.

claude mcp add obsidian-mcp-server -- npx -y obsidian-mcp-server

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What the publisher says

From the Obsidian repository's README, as published. We do not edit it. Read it on GitHub

obsidian-mcp-server Read, write, search, and surgically edit Obsidian vault notes, tags, and frontmatter via MCP. STDIO or Streamable HTTP. 14 Tools • 3 Resources

Overview

Read, write, search, and surgically edit Obsidian vault notes — sections, frontmatter, tags — over the Local REST API plugin, with folder-scoped read/write permissions built in. Runs as a stdio process or a local Streamable HTTP server.

Tools

Shortened. The full README is on GitHub.

Nothing above is checked by us. What we check is on the safety report.

Obsidian: common questions

Is Obsidian MCP server safe?: Yes, by our scan: it is graded A (92/100). Read the Obsidian safety report
How do I install Obsidian?: It runs on your machine. Copy the Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code or Claude Desktop config from the install section.
Does Obsidian need an API key?: No secret keys are declared. It reads 29 settings from the environment.
Is Obsidian maintained?: The last commit was 41 days ago (2026-09-23). The latest release is v3.8.0.
What can I use instead of Obsidian?: Servers from other publishers that do the same job: Agent-Native Content MCP server, DocsAgent — Zotero, Obsidian & Apple Notes MCP Server and Seekstone MCP server. Compare all Obsidian alternatives.
How does Obsidian compare with other Productivity MCP servers?: safety score 92/100 (higher than 90% of 1,299 Productivity servers); github stars 690 (more than 95% of 854 Productivity servers); downloads a week 7,786 (more than 95% of 427 Productivity servers with a package). Full comparison.

Alternatives to Obsidian

Same job from other publishers: the closest match first, then the best rated.

All Obsidian alternatives →

Agent-Native Content
Open-source Obsidian for MDX - edit local docs with agent assistance
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DocsAgent — Zotero, Obsidian & Apple Notes MCP Server
Instant, private access to your knowledge base: Zotero, Obsidian, Apple Notes (macOS).
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Seekstone
Filesystem-direct Obsidian MCP server — search and edit your vault with low context-tax.
not reviewed
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Obsidian Vault MCP
Local Zotero, MinerU, Obsidian literature workflow with transactional Analysis notes.
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Obsidian Hybrid Search
Search Obsidian vaults with hybrid full-text, fuzzy, semantic, and graph retrieval.
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Obsidian vs Agent-Native Content Obsidian vs DocsAgent — Zotero, Obsidian & Apple Notes MCP Server

Run it through the gateway

Local package. It runs on your machine, not through the gateway.

Rating: —
Safety grade: A · 92/100
Stars: 690
Downloads/wk: 7.8k
Price: Free
Licence: Apache-2.0
Transport: Local · npm
Version: 3.8.0
Category: Productivity
Last release: 2026-09-23

Credentials it needs

OBSIDIAN_API_KEYBearer token for the Obsidian Local REST API plugin (Settings → Community Plugins → Local REST API).
OBSIDIAN_BASE_URLBase URL of the Obsidian Local REST API. Default: http://127.0.0.1:27123 (enable "Non-encrypted (HTTP) Server" in plugin settings). Use https://127.0.0.1:27124 for the always-on HTTPS port (self-signed cert; pair with OBSIDIAN_VERIFY_SSL=false).
OBSIDIAN_VERIFY_SSLWhether to verify the TLS certificate on the Obsidian endpoint. Default false because the plugin uses a self-signed cert.
OBSIDIAN_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MSPer-request timeout in milliseconds.
OBSIDIAN_ENABLE_COMMANDSOpt-in flag for the command-palette pair (obsidian_list_commands + obsidian_execute_command). Off by default — Obsidian commands are opaque and can be destructive.
OBSIDIAN_READ_PATHSOptional comma-separated vault-relative folder allowlist for reads. Prefix-based with implicit recursion; case-insensitive; backslashes read as slashes, repeated and trailing slashes and '.' segments dropped, and names normalized to Unicode NFC; an entry naming the vault root ('.') is rejected at startup. Unset = full vault. Write paths are implicitly readable. Example: 'public/,projects/'.
OBSIDIAN_WRITE_PATHSOptional comma-separated vault-relative folder allowlist for writes. Same syntax as OBSIDIAN_READ_PATHS. Unset = full vault, or the read scope when reads are restricted; paths in OBSIDIAN_DENY_PATHS stay denied. Example: 'projects/,scratch/'.
OBSIDIAN_DENY_PATHSOptional comma-separated vault-relative paths withheld from reads and writes. Same syntax as OBSIDIAN_READ_PATHS. Wins over both allowlists; denied paths are left out of listings, search results, and tag counts. Unset = nothing denied. Example: 'private/,journal/therapy/'.
OBSIDIAN_READ_ONLYGlobal read-only kill switch. When true, every write is denied regardless of OBSIDIAN_WRITE_PATHS, and the command-palette pair is suppressed (commands can mutate). Useful for shared or public-facing deployments.
OBSIDIAN_DELETE_ELICITATIONOpt-in delete confirmation. When true, obsidian_delete_note asks the user to confirm each delete through an elicitation round (the client must support elicitation), and HTTP startup requires a stateful session unless OBSIDIAN_READ_ONLY=true disables the tool. Off by default — the delete runs on the first call, bounded by OBSIDIAN_WRITE_PATHS and OBSIDIAN_READ_ONLY.
OBSIDIAN_OMNISEARCH_URLOverride URL for the Omnisearch plugin HTTP server. Unset derives from OBSIDIAN_BASE_URL host with port 51361. Required only if the Omnisearch plugin is not on the default port.
MCP_LOG_LEVELSets the minimum log level for output (e.g., 'debug', 'info', 'warn').
MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPESelects the HTTP transport.
OBSIDIAN_API_KEYBearer token for the Obsidian Local REST API plugin (Settings → Community Plugins → Local REST API).
OBSIDIAN_BASE_URLBase URL of the Obsidian Local REST API. Default: http://127.0.0.1:27123 (enable "Non-encrypted (HTTP) Server" in plugin settings). Use https://127.0.0.1:27124 for the always-on HTTPS port (self-signed cert; pair with OBSIDIAN_VERIFY_SSL=false).
OBSIDIAN_VERIFY_SSLWhether to verify the TLS certificate on the Obsidian endpoint. Default false because the plugin uses a self-signed cert.
OBSIDIAN_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MSPer-request timeout in milliseconds.
OBSIDIAN_ENABLE_COMMANDSOpt-in flag for the command-palette pair (obsidian_list_commands + obsidian_execute_command). Off by default — Obsidian commands are opaque and can be destructive.
OBSIDIAN_READ_PATHSOptional comma-separated vault-relative folder allowlist for reads. Prefix-based with implicit recursion; case-insensitive; backslashes read as slashes, repeated and trailing slashes and '.' segments dropped, and names normalized to Unicode NFC; an entry naming the vault root ('.') is rejected at startup. Unset = full vault. Write paths are implicitly readable. Example: 'public/,projects/'.
OBSIDIAN_WRITE_PATHSOptional comma-separated vault-relative folder allowlist for writes. Same syntax as OBSIDIAN_READ_PATHS. Unset = full vault, or the read scope when reads are restricted; paths in OBSIDIAN_DENY_PATHS stay denied. Example: 'projects/,scratch/'.
OBSIDIAN_DENY_PATHSOptional comma-separated vault-relative paths withheld from reads and writes. Same syntax as OBSIDIAN_READ_PATHS. Wins over both allowlists; denied paths are left out of listings, search results, and tag counts. Unset = nothing denied. Example: 'private/,journal/therapy/'.
OBSIDIAN_READ_ONLYGlobal read-only kill switch. When true, every write is denied regardless of OBSIDIAN_WRITE_PATHS, and the command-palette pair is suppressed (commands can mutate). Useful for shared or public-facing deployments.
OBSIDIAN_DELETE_ELICITATIONOpt-in delete confirmation. When true, obsidian_delete_note asks the user to confirm each delete through an elicitation round (the client must support elicitation), and HTTP startup requires a stateful session unless OBSIDIAN_READ_ONLY=true disables the tool. Off by default — the delete runs on the first call, bounded by OBSIDIAN_WRITE_PATHS and OBSIDIAN_READ_ONLY.
OBSIDIAN_OMNISEARCH_URLOverride URL for the Omnisearch plugin HTTP server. Unset derives from OBSIDIAN_BASE_URL host with port 51361. Required only if the Omnisearch plugin is not on the default port.
MCP_HTTP_HOSTThe hostname for the HTTP server.
MCP_HTTP_PORTThe port to run the HTTP server on.
MCP_HTTP_ENDPOINT_PATHThe endpoint path for the MCP server.
MCP_AUTH_MODEAuthentication mode to use: 'none', 'jwt', or 'oauth'.
MCP_LOG_LEVELSets the minimum log level for output (e.g., 'debug', 'info', 'warn').

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