Enhanced Obsidian MCP Server

How to use

You connect to the MCP server from an MCP client and issue operations that span reading, creating, updating, and organizing notes, extracting keywords, generating summaries, linking related notes, and visualizing your knowledge graph. Use the client to perform batch operations, search across your vault, and let the AI tools suggest tags, templates, and connections to accelerate your workflow.

How to install

Prerequisites you need before starting are Node.js (v16 or higher) and Obsidian with the Local REST API plugin enabled.

Then choose one of these installation methods and follow the steps exactly as shown.

# Option 1: NPM Installation (Recommended)
# Install globally
npm install -g @jianruidutong/obsidian-mcp

# Or run with npx without installation
npx @jianruidutong/obsidian-mcp

# Option 2: From Source
git clone https://github.com/jianruidutong/obsidian-mcp.git
cd obsidian-mcp
npm install
npm run build
npm start

# Option 3: Docker Installation
git clone https://github.com/jianruidutong/obsidian-mcp.git
cd obsidian-mcp
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your vault settings
docker-compose up -d

Additional setup notes

Configure the MCP client according to how you started the server. If you run via npx, you will typically define an mcpServers entry that points to the Obsidian MCP package and supplies vault paths and API tokens as environment variables.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@jianruidutong/obsidian-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH": "/path/to/your/vault",
        "OBSIDIAN_API_TOKEN": "your_api_token",
        "OBSIDIAN_API_PORT": "27123"
      }
    }
  }
}

Security and tokens

Keep your API token secret. Use a strong, unique token for each instance and restrict access to trusted clients. If you rotate tokens, restart the MCP client to apply changes.

Troubleshooting

If you encounter connection issues, verify that the Obsidian Local REST API plugin is enabled, the API token is correct, and the plugin port matches the one configured in your MCP client. Check vault permissions and ensure Obsidian is running. If environment variables aren’t recognized, restart the MCP client after making changes.

Notes

The server container and client configuration support both HTTP-based remote execution and local, inline execution (stdio). Follow the exact command and environment variable settings shown in the installation sections to ensure proper startup and operation.

list_notes

List all notes in vault with optional folder filtering and metadata such as size and dates.

read_note

Read the content and metadata for a single note.

read_multiple_notes

Batch read multiple notes for efficient content analysis.

create_note

Create a new markdown note with specified content and automatic directory creation.

update_note

Edit notes with precise placement, including text replacement and section edits.

delete_note

Remove notes from the vault with safe handling to preserve vault integrity.

move_note

Move or rename notes and update links accordingly.

manage_folder

Create, rename, move, or delete folders with full hierarchy support.

search_vault

Perform full-text searches across all content with optional regex and relevance scoring.

auto_backlink_vault

Automatically detect note names in content and convert to wikilinks.

add_tags

Add tags to notes, supporting nested tag structures.

list_tags

Show all tags with usage statistics and hierarchy insights.

search_by_tags

Query notes using AND/OR tag logic for complex filtering.

create_template

Create reusable templates with variables for consistent note creation.

list_templates

Browse saved templates and their variable information.

apply_template

Generate new notes from templates with variable substitution.

delete_template

Remove unused templates from the library.

extract_keywords

Identify key terms using TF-IDF with configurable result limits.

generate_summary

Create concise, adaptable summaries of content.

suggest_tags

AI-driven tag recommendations based on content analysis.

find_similar_notes

Find notes with content similarity using cosine similarity.

analyze_note_relationships

Map connections between notes and identify knowledge clusters.

generate_knowledge_graph

Export graph data for visualization tools in JSON or Cytoscape formats.

find_orphan_notes

Identify notes without links to improve vault connectivity.

suggest_connections

AI-powered recommendations for potential new links.