Obsidian MCP server

The Obsidian Model Context Protocol server connects Claude Desktop (or any MCP client) to your Markdown notes directory, allowing AI assistants to read and search your Obsidian vault or any folder containing markdown files.

Installation Options

Using Smithery (Recommended)

The easiest way to install the Obsidian MCP server is through Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install mcp-obsidian --client claude

After installation, restart Claude Desktop to see the MCP tools available.

Manual Installation

You can also install and run the server directly:

npm install -g mcp-obsidian

Running the Server

To start the server, point it to your Obsidian vault or any directory containing markdown files:

mcp-obsidian /path/to/your/notes

Replace /path/to/your/notes with the actual path to your markdown files directory.

VS Code Integration

VS Code Settings Configuration

You can configure the Obsidian MCP server in VS Code by adding the following to your user settings JSON file:

{
  "mcp": {
    "inputs": [
      {
        "type": "promptString",
        "id": "vaultPath",
        "description": "Path to Obsidian vault"
      }
    ],
    "servers": {
      "obsidian": {
        "command": "npx",
        "args": ["-y", "mcp-obsidian", "${input:vaultPath}"]
      }
    }
  }
}

To access these settings, press Ctrl + Shift + P and type Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON).

Workspace Configuration

Alternatively, create a .vscode/mcp.json file in your workspace with the following content (without the outer mcp key):

{
  "inputs": [
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "vaultPath",
      "description": "Path to Obsidian vault"
    }
  ],
  "servers": {
    "obsidian": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-obsidian", "${input:vaultPath}"]
    }
  }
}

Using with Claude Desktop

Once installed and running, the Obsidian MCP server will appear as an available tool in Claude Desktop. You can select it when you want Claude to have access to your notes.

When active, Claude can:

• Search through your markdown files
• Reference specific notes when answering questions
• Understand the structure and content of your knowledge base

Troubleshooting

If the server doesn't appear in Claude Desktop:

• Ensure the server is running
• Restart Claude Desktop
• Check the terminal for any error messages
• Verify the path to your notes directory is correct

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "obsidian" '{"command":"npx","args":["-y","mcp-obsidian","${input:vaultPath}"]}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "obsidian": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "mcp-obsidian",
                "${input:vaultPath}"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "obsidian": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "mcp-obsidian",
                "${input:vaultPath}"
            ]
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect