Mcp Obsidian Cli

io.github.stonemattPublished by GitHub account stonemattv2.1.0Updated Oct 24, 2026

Save chat notes from Claude Desktop to your vault — MCP on Obsidian CLI. Keep what matters.

VerifiedSTDIODesktop onlyProductivity & WorkflowFiles & StorageKnowledge & Memory

Overview

AI-generated overview

Lets an assistant save chat notes into an Obsidian vault and read backlinks, search results, tasks and properties from it.

What you can do
Wraps the official Obsidian command line interface as MCP tools, so an assistant can create notes, append to daily notes, set frontmatter properties, and read or search existing notes. A generic pass-through tool covers the full CLI surface of more than 80 commands, alongside typed tools for daily notes, search, tags, tasks, properties, backlinks, file listing and recents. It talks to the running Obsidian instance, so it sees the vault as Obsidian does, including Templater templates and the resolved link graph.
When to use it
Useful when you draft or research in a chat client and want the result filed into your vault without copy-paste, or when you want the assistant to pull existing vault content such as backlinks and full-text search results into the conversation. It is aimed at desktop chat clients rather than browser use.
Requirements
Runs locally over stdio as an npm package, so Node.js 18 or newer is needed. Obsidian must be running with its command line interface enabled. The obsidian-cli binary is auto-detected on macOS; on Linux and Windows set OBSIDIAN_CLI_PATH. Set OBSIDIAN_VAULT to name the target vault, or the server asks on first tool use. Optional OBSIDIAN_TIMEOUT_MS and a YAML config file are supported.
Before you install
The server can write to your vault: it creates notes, appends to daily notes and sets frontmatter properties, so mistakes can alter or add content. It needs no API keys and no REST plugin, and it talks to the local Obsidian instance rather than a third-party service. Review the install prompt before running it, since it edits your Claude Desktop configuration.

Installation

In SourceWeft

  1. Open Mcp Obsidian Cli in the dashboard and add it to a workspace.
  2. Enable the server for the chats that should use its tools.

Desktop only via STDIO. STDIO servers start a local process, so they need the SourceWeft desktop host.

Other MCP clients

Follow the launch instructions in the repository.

README

mcp-obsidian-cli

[Obsidian CLI] [npm version] [npm downloads] [MCP Registry] [Node] [License: MIT]

Your thinking starts in Claude Desktop, not in Obsidian. You research, draft, argue with the model, and when something's worth keeping you say "save this to my vault." It lands in the right place: your template, your properties, today's daily note, wired into your link graph. No tab-switch, no copy-paste.

Installing this? Start at Install. One prompt in Claude Code handles the whole setup.

[Saving a Claude Desktop conversation into an Obsidian vault, then searching the vault from chat]

Two halves:

  • Capture — turn a conversation into a real note, filed where it belongs.
  • Augment — pull what's already in the vault (backlinks, full-text search) back into the chat to inform or update a note.

Needs Obsidian running. It can sit minimized, so you never switch to it.

Using this from Claude Code? The native obsidian-cli skill fits better there: direct CLI, no MCP layer. Installing is separate. The prompt below runs in Claude Code.

Install

Run the prompt below in Claude Code. It checks Node, enables the Obsidian CLI, writes your Claude Desktop config, and verifies the connection. Only hand-edit the config if that path fails.

text
Fetch https://raw.githubusercontent.com/stonematt/mcp-obsidian-cli/master/docs/INSTALL.mdand follow it end to end to install the mcp-obsidian-cli MCP server for my Claude Desktop.Ask me for my Obsidian vault name and folder path, then handle everything else — check Node,enable the Obsidian CLI, edit my Claude Desktop config, and verify it works.

Full walkthrough, including failure modes: docs/INSTALL.md.

Run the server directly. This starts the server in your terminal and installs nothing:

bash
npx mcp-obsidian-cli

Requirements

The install prompt checks each of these. Listed here for reference:

  • Obsidian running with its command line interface enabled (Settings → General → Advanced → Command line interface). The CLI ships built into Obsidian — nothing extra to install.
  • obsidian-cli reachable. macOS auto-detects it inside the Obsidian app bundle, so there is nothing to configure. Linux and Windows have no auto-detection: point OBSIDIAN_CLI_PATH at the binary yourself.
  • Node.js >= 18

How it works

The server exposes Obsidian CLI commands as MCP tools. A generic pass-through tool handles the full CLI surface (80+ commands), plus typed convenience tools for common operations:

ToolDescription
obsidianGeneric pass-through — run any CLI command (ships intent→verb cheatsheet, pre-call manifest validation, reload detection)
obsidian_helpManifest-backed help — list verbs by category, or look up a single verb / doc topic
obsidian_daily_readRead today's daily note
obsidian_daily_appendAppend to daily note
obsidian_readRead a note by name or path
obsidian_searchFull-text search with context
obsidian_tagsList tags with counts
obsidian_tasksQuery tasks (daily, todo, done)
obsidian_propertiesRead frontmatter properties
obsidian_createCreate a new plain note (no Templater expansion)
obsidian_create_from_templateCreate a note from a Templater template (expands <% ... %> placeholders)
obsidian_property_setSet a frontmatter property
obsidian_backlinksList backlinks to a note
obsidian_filesList vault files
obsidian_recentsRecently opened files

The generic obsidian tool means the MCP server never falls behind the CLI — new CLI commands work immediately without a server update.

What it can do

It talks to the running Obsidian instance, so it works with your vault the way Obsidian sees it:

  • Backlinks and full-text search across your resolved link graph and search index (the augment half).
  • Templater templates and typed frontmatter properties when creating or updating notes.
  • Daily notes, task queries, and tag counts.
  • 80+ commands through the generic pass-through. No API keys, no REST plugin. Just the official Obsidian CLI.
Manual config (if you're not using Claude Code)

Automated installers should use the prompt under Install, which handles vault name, CLI path, and verification. This block is the hand-edit fallback.

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

json
{  "mcpServers": {    "obsidian": {      "command": "npx",      "args": ["-y", "mcp-obsidian-cli"],      "env": {        "OBSIDIAN_VAULT": "my-vault"      }    }  }}

Environment variables

VariableDefaultDescription
OBSIDIAN_VAULT(none)Target vault by name
OBSIDIAN_CLI_PATHobsidian-cliPath to CLI binary
OBSIDIAN_TIMEOUT_MS15000Command timeout
XDG_CONFIG_HOME~/.configBase path for config file

Config file

The server can read settings from a YAML config file:

  • Default: ~/.config/mcp-obsidian-cli/config.yaml
  • With XDG_CONFIG_HOME: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/mcp-obsidian-cli/config.yaml

Config file format:

yaml
vault: "my-vault"cliPath: "obsidian-cli"timeoutMs: 15000

Config precedence: env vars > config file > hardcoded defaults

Bugs / requests

File an issue: https://github.com/stonematt/mcp-obsidian-cli/issues/new/choose. Bug template asks for version, MCP client, tool call, and response — quick to fill, fast to act on.

License

MIT

[ko-fi]

Maintained by @stonematt Licensed under the MIT License

Trademark Notice: "Obsidian" is a trademark of Obsidian Publishing, Inc. This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by Obsidian Publishing.

Source: README.md at commit 9a75c30

Tools

0
SourceWeft has not started this package in its sandbox yet, so its tools are not known.

Version history

1
  1. v2.1.0LatestSep 16, 2026

Score

50% of the applicable checks met

How complete this listing is, computed from the registry entry, the endpoint and public sources. Not a rating of the server and not a statement that it is safe or working today: reachability is a dated check, and no installs or reviews go into the score.

  • Reached in the last 30 days25 pts

    Keep the endpoint answering the MCP handshake; SourceWeft probes it every 30 days.

  • Auth declared10 pts

    Declare the credential headers in the registry entry, or keep the endpoint answering the probe so its auth can be classified.

  • Tools listed15 pts

    Answer tools/list without a credential, or ship a package that starts in a sandbox without one.

  • DescriptionRequired15 pts
  • Logo10 pts
  • Documentation15 pts
  • License10 pts