obsidian-mcp-server

What it does

The server bridges Claude to an Obsidian vault via the Local REST API plugin, enabling read, write, search, and surgical edit operations on notes, tags, and frontmatter. It exposes fourteen tools spanning content retrieval (raw markdown or structured format with metadata), vault search (text, JSONLogic, or BM25 ranking), targeted patches (append, prepend, replace at heading or block level), frontmatter management, and tag orchestration. Supports both STDIO and Streamable HTTP transports.

Who it's for

Knowledge workers and researchers who maintain local Obsidian vaults and want Claude to query, analyze, or contribute to their notes programmatically. Also useful for writers and note-takers automating workflows around their personal knowledge base.

Common use cases

• Query a local Obsidian vault to surface and analyze notes on a specific topic or tag.
• Generate new notes from Claude's research or analysis and store them directly in the vault.
• Update frontmatter fields (status, due-date, category) based on Claude's assessment of note content.
• Search vault contents by text, regex, or structured logic to find related information.
• Append Claude-generated insights, summaries, or follow-ups to existing notes without overwriting them.

Setup pitfalls

• The Obsidian Local REST API plugin must be installed and enabled in the vault; without it, the server cannot communicate with Obsidian.
• OBSIDIAN_API_KEY env var must be set to the API key generated by the plugin; the server will fail to authenticate without it.
• Command execution (via obsidian_execute_command) requires OBSIDIAN_ENABLE_COMMANDS=true; disabled by default for safety.
• Network calls go directly to the plugin's HTTP endpoint; ensure it is reachable from the server's network context (may require localhost verification if running remotely).