Obsidian MCP server

The Obsidian Model Context Protocol (MCP) enables Claude Desktop and other MCP clients to read and search Markdown notes in any directory, such as an Obsidian vault. This connector bridges the gap between your note collection and AI assistants, allowing them to reference your knowledge base.

Installation Options

Using Smithery

To automatically install the Obsidian MCP for Claude Desktop:

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

After installation, restart Claude Desktop to see the MCP tools in your interface.

Manual Installation

If you prefer manual installation, you'll need to have npm installed first:

npm install -g mcp-obsidian

Then run the server by pointing it to your Obsidian vault or Markdown directory:

mcp-obsidian /path/to/your/vault

VS Code Integration

Quick Installation

VS Code users can take advantage of the VS Code integration for a streamlined workflow.

Manual VS Code Setup

To manually configure Obsidian MCP in VS Code:

1. Open User Settings (JSON) by pressing Ctrl + Shift + P and typing Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON)

2. Add the following configuration:

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

Alternatively, you can create a .vscode/mcp.json file in your workspace with the same configuration (without the mcp key).

Using with Claude

Once installed, Claude can now access your Markdown notes. You can:

1. Ask Claude questions about content in your notes
2. Request summaries of specific documents
3. Find connections between different notes
4. Extract information on specific topics from across your vault

To use it effectively, be specific when referring to files or topics in your Obsidian vault when prompting Claude.

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues:

• Ensure Claude Desktop is properly installed and updated
• Verify your vault path is correct and accessible
• Check that npm is properly installed on your system
• Restart Claude Desktop after installation

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