Obsidian MCP Server

What does “Obsidian” MCP Server do?

The Obsidian MCP Server is a connector that enables Claude Desktop—or any Model Context Protocol (MCP) client—to read and search directories containing Markdown notes, such as those found in an Obsidian vault. This server bridges the gap between AI assistants and your personal or team knowledge bases stored in Markdown format, making it easier to access, search, and utilize notes within development workflows. By integrating with external data sources like Obsidian, the server empowers AI tools to perform tasks such as searching for information, retrieving specific notes, or summarizing content, thereby enhancing productivity and knowledge management for developers and knowledge workers.

List of Prompts

No prompt templates were explicitly mentioned in the available documentation.

List of Resources

No specific resources are detailed in the provided documentation.

List of Tools

From the documentation and available images, after installation, the following tools are listed (though not described in code):

• Read Note: Allows reading the content of a specific note in the Obsidian vault.
• Search Notes: Enables searching for notes within the vault based on keywords or queries.

Note: Exact tool names and descriptions are inferred from the available documentation and images; further details are not specified.

Use Cases of this MCP Server

• Personal Knowledge Management: Seamlessly search, read, and retrieve information from personal Obsidian vaults using Claude Desktop, making your notes accessible to LLMs for summarization or answering questions.
• Team Documentation Search: Integrate shared Markdown directories as searchable resources for team members or AI assistants, improving knowledge sharing and onboarding.
• Contextual AI Assistance: Provide relevant information from your notes as context to LLMs, enhancing the relevance and accuracy of AI-generated responses during development or research.
• Automated Note Summarization: Use AI to summarize lengthy notes or documents within your Obsidian vault, saving time on manual summarization.

How to set it up

Windsurf

1. Ensure Node.js and Windsurf are installed.
2. Open your Windsurf configuration file.
3. Add the following to your mcpServers section:

   {
     "obsidian": {
       "command": "npx",
       "args": ["-y", "mcp-obsidian", "<path-to-your-vault>"]
     }
   }
   

4. Save the file and restart Windsurf.
5. Verify the MCP server is running and accessible.

Claude

1. Make sure Claude Desktop and Node.js are installed.
2. Install Obsidian MCP using Smithery:

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

3. Restart Claude Desktop.
4. Confirm that Obsidian MCP tools appear in the Claude Desktop interface.

Cursor

1. Ensure Node.js and Cursor are installed.
2. Open your Cursor configuration file.
3. Add the Obsidian MCP server as follows:

   {
     "obsidian": {
       "command": "npx",
       "args": ["-y", "mcp-obsidian", "<path-to-your-vault>"]
     }
   }
   

4. Save and restart Cursor.
5. Check Cursor’s tool listing for the Obsidian MCP server.

Cline

1. Install Node.js and Cline.
2. Edit your Cline configuration file.
3. Include the Obsidian MCP server:

   {
     "obsidian": {
       "command": "npx",
       "args": ["-y", "mcp-obsidian", "<path-to-your-vault>"]
     }
   }
   

4. Save the configuration and restart Cline.
5. Validate the setup by checking for Obsidian MCP in the interface.

Securing API Keys

If the Obsidian MCP server or your vault requires authentication or API keys, use environment variables for security:

{
  "obsidian": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y", "mcp-obsidian", "<path-to-your-vault>"],
    "env": {
      "OBSIDIAN_API_KEY": "${env:OBSIDIAN_API_KEY}"
    },
    "inputs": {
      "vaultPath": "<path-to-your-vault>"
    }
  }
}

How to use this MCP inside flows

Using MCP in FlowHunt

To integrate MCP servers into your FlowHunt workflow, start by adding the MCP component to your flow and connecting it to your AI agent:

Click on the MCP component to open the configuration panel. In the system MCP configuration section, insert your MCP server details using this JSON format:

{
  "obsidian": {
    "transport": "streamable_http",
    "url": "https://yourmcpserver.example/pathtothemcp/url"
  }
}

Once configured, the AI agent is now able to use this MCP as a tool with access to all its functions and capabilities. Remember to change “obsidian” to whatever the actual name of your MCP server is and replace the URL with your own MCP server URL.

Overview

Based on the above, the Obsidian MCP Server is straightforward and easy to set up for Obsidian vault search and retrieval, but lacks detailed prompt templates, explicit resource definitions, and advanced MCP features such as sampling or roots. Still, it provides essential tools for making Obsidian notes AI-accessible.

MCP Score

Given the simplicity and clarity of its purpose, ease of installation, and specific utility for Obsidian users, I would rate this MCP server a 6/10. It is well-suited for its use case but lacks advanced MCP features and documentation depth for broader extensibility.