# Obsidian MCP Server (MCP server)

> Obsidian MCP Server is an MCP server that adds productivity tools to AI assistants such as Claude Desktop, Claude Code and Cursor. Read, write, search, and surgically edit Obsidian notes, tags, and frontmatter via MCP. It has 692 GitHub stars, is released under the Apache-2.0 license and runs locally with npx -y obsidian-mcp-server.

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

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Repository | https://github.com/cyanheads/obsidian-mcp-server |
| GitHub stars | 692 |
| License | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript |
| Transport | stdio |
| Packages | npm: obsidian-mcp-server |
| Remote URL | none |
| Needs API key | yes |
| Official | no |
| Works with | Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code |
| Category | Productivity |
| Latest release | v3.7.0 (Oct 6, 2026) |
| Last commit | Oct 6, 2026 |
| MCP registry name | io.github.cyanheads/obsidian-mcp-server |

## Install

### Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json)

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian-mcp-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "obsidian-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "OBSIDIAN_API_KEY": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Settings > Developer > Edit Config. macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/, Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\. Restart Claude Desktop afterwards.

### Claude Code

```sh
claude mcp add --env OBSIDIAN_API_KEY=your-value --transport stdio obsidian-mcp-server -- npx -y obsidian-mcp-server
```

### Cursor (.cursor/mcp.json)

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian-mcp-server": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "obsidian-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "OBSIDIAN_API_KEY": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Project file; use ~/.cursor/mcp.json to enable it in every project.

### VS Code (.vscode/mcp.json)

```json
{
  "inputs": [
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "obsidian_api_key",
      "description": "OBSIDIAN_API_KEY",
      "password": true
    }
  ],
  "servers": {
    "obsidian-mcp-server": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "obsidian-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "OBSIDIAN_API_KEY": "${input:obsidian_api_key}"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Config formats checked against the official docs on 2026-10-07.

## Environment variables

- `OBSIDIAN_API_KEY` (secret) (required): Bearer token for the Obsidian Local REST API plugin (Settings → Community Plugins → Local REST API).
- `OBSIDIAN_BASE_URL`: Base URL of the Obsidian Local REST API. Default: http://127.0.0.1:27123 (enable "Non-encrypted (HTTP) Server" in plugin settings). Use…
- `OBSIDIAN_VERIFY_SSL`: Whether to verify the TLS certificate on the Obsidian endpoint. Default false because the plugin uses a self-signed cert.
- `OBSIDIAN_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS`: Per-request timeout in milliseconds.
- `OBSIDIAN_ENABLE_COMMANDS`: Opt-in flag for the command-palette pair (obsidianlistcommands + obsidianexecutecommand). Off by default — Obsidian commands are opaque and can be destructive.
- `OBSIDIAN_READ_PATHS`: Optional comma-separated vault-relative folder allowlist for reads. Prefix-based with implicit recursion; case-insensitive; trailing slashes normalized. Unset…
- `OBSIDIAN_WRITE_PATHS`: Optional comma-separated vault-relative folder allowlist for writes. Same syntax as OBSIDIANREADPATHS. Unset = full vault. Example: 'projects/,scratch/'.
- `OBSIDIAN_READ_ONLY`: Global read-only kill switch. When true, every write is denied regardless of OBSIDIANWRITEPATHS, and the command-palette pair is suppressed (commands can…
- `OBSIDIAN_DELETE_ELICITATION`: Opt-in delete confirmation. When true, obsidiandeletenote asks the user to confirm each delete through an elicitation round (the client must support…
- `OBSIDIAN_OMNISEARCH_URL`: Override URL for the Omnisearch plugin HTTP server. Unset derives from OBSIDIANBASEURL host with port 51361. Required only if the Omnisearch plugin is not on…
- `MCP_LOG_LEVEL`: Sets the minimum log level for output (e.g., 'debug', 'info', 'warn').

## Tools

- `obsidian_get_note`: Read a note as raw content, full structured form, document map, or a single section
- `obsidian_list_notes`: List notes and folders under a vault path, recursively, with extension and name filters
- `obsidian_list_tags`: List vault tags with usage counts, most-used first
- `obsidian_search_notes`: Search by text, JSONLogic, or BM25-ranked Omnisearch when that plugin is reachable
- `obsidian_write_note`: Create a note, replace one section, or overwrite a whole file with overwrite: true
- `obsidian_append_to_note`: Append to a note (creating it if missing) or to one heading, block, or frontmatter field
- `obsidian_patch_note`: Append, prepend, or replace against one heading, block reference, or frontmatter field
- `obsidian_replace_in_note`: Literal or regex search-replace inside one note, body-only by default
- `obsidian_manage_frontmatter`: Get, set, or delete one frontmatter key
- `obsidian_manage_tags`: Add, remove, or list a note's tags in frontmatter, inline, or both
- `obsidian_delete_note`: Permanently delete a note, optionally after the user confirms (OBSIDIANDELETEELICITATION)
- `obsidian_open_in_ui`: Open a file in the Obsidian app, optionally in a new pane
- `obsidian_list_commands`: List command-palette commands (opt-in via OBSIDIANENABLECOMMANDS)
- `obsidian_execute_command`: Run a command-palette command by ID (opt-in via OBSIDIANENABLECOMMANDS)

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