Obsidian Memory MCP server

Obsidian Memory MCP is a server that stores AI memories as Markdown files designed for visualization in Obsidian's graph view. It transforms AI memory structures into individual Markdown files with Obsidian-compatible link syntax, allowing you to create an interactive knowledge graph of entities and their relationships.

Installation

Setting up the Obsidian Memory MCP server is straightforward:

git clone https://github.com/YuNaga224/obsidian-memory-mcp.git
cd obsidian-memory-mcp
npm install
npm run build

Configuring with Claude Desktop

After installation, you need to configure Claude Desktop to use the MCP server:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian-memory": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/full/path/to/obsidian-memory-mcp/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "MEMORY_DIR": "/path/to/your/obsidian/vault"
      }
    }
  }
}

Make sure to replace the paths with the actual locations on your system. The MEMORY_DIR environment variable should point to your Obsidian vault where you want the memory files to be stored.

Using with Obsidian

Basic Setup

1. Configure Claude Desktop as described above
2. Restart Claude Desktop
3. Use the MCP memory tools to create entities and relations
4. Open Obsidian and view the graph

Storage Format

Each entity is stored as an individual Markdown file with:

• YAML frontmatter for metadata (entityType, created, updated)
• Obsidian-compatible [[links]] for relations
• Organized sections for observations and relations

Example entity file structure:

---
entityType: person
created: 2025-07-10
updated: 2025-07-10
---

# John Doe

## Observations
- Works at Tech Corp
- Expert in TypeScript
- Lives in Tokyo

## Relations
- [[Manager of::Alice Smith]]
- [[Collaborates with::Bob Johnson]]
- [[Located in::Tokyo Office]]

Knowledge Graph Visualization

When viewed in Obsidian's graph view, your knowledge base will be visualized with:

• Entity files appearing as nodes
• [[links]] appearing as edges between nodes
• Different colors for different entity types (if configured in Obsidian)

Available API Tools

The server exposes several tools you can use through Claude Desktop:

Entity Management

• create_entities: Create new entities
• delete_entities: Delete entities and related data

Relation Management

• create_relations: Create relations between entities
• delete_relations: Remove relations

Observation Management

• add_observations: Add observations to existing entities
• delete_observations: Remove specific observations

Query Tools

• read_graph: Get the entire knowledge graph
• search_nodes: Search entities by query
• open_nodes: Get specific entities by name

By using these tools through Claude Desktop, you can build, maintain, and navigate your knowledge graph, which will be automatically visualized in Obsidian.

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-memory" '{"command":"node","args":["/full/path/to/obsidian-memory-mcp/dist/index.js"],"env":{"MEMORY_DIR":"/path/to/your/obsidian/vault"}}'

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-memory": {
            "command": "node",
            "args": [
                "/full/path/to/obsidian-memory-mcp/dist/index.js"
            ],
            "env": {
                "MEMORY_DIR": "/path/to/your/obsidian/vault"
            }
        }
    }
}

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-memory": {
            "command": "node",
            "args": [
                "/full/path/to/obsidian-memory-mcp/dist/index.js"
            ],
            "env": {
                "MEMORY_DIR": "/path/to/your/obsidian/vault"
            }
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect