Set it up
- 1
Turn on Obsidian in your AI
In Claude: open Settings → Connectors and add Obsidian. In ChatGPT: Settings → Apps & Connectors.
- 2
Add it to your app once
Copy the short config below into your app. It just tells your AI where to find Obsidian.
- 3
Just ask
Tell it what you want in plain words — no special commands.
For example, say
“Search my Obsidian vault for notes mentioning 'pricing' and list the top 5”
Need the exact config? Show it +
Add to your client
{
"mcpServers": {
"obsidian": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["mcp-obsidian"],
"env": {
"OBSIDIAN_API_KEY": "<your-local-rest-api-key>"
}
}
}
}Paste into your client's MCP configuration file.
Get the skill
A ready-made skill that teaches your AI agent to use Obsidian well. By Obsidian's CEO — skills for Markdown, Bases, Canvas and the Obsidian CLI.
npx skills add kepano/obsidian-skills Quick skills
Copy one, paste it to your AI, watch it work.
Vault-Wide Search
“Find all my notes tagged #product-ideas and summarize the main themes”
Daily Note Capture
“Create today's daily note with a summary of what I worked on and tomorrow's priorities”
Note Synthesis
“Find all my notes about product-market fit and synthesize them into a single essay note”
In the wild
“I work with financial data and I have created an mcp that automates some of my job. Running model locally allows me to not worry about the information I feed it”
“This guide covers how I've setup a practical personal executive assistant using the Claude desktop app and Obsidian MCP.”
“When you set up the Obsidian MCP connector in Claude Desktop, Claude can directly read and write files in your Vault.”
Good to know
- · The server reads and writes files directly — back up your vault before heavy automation
- · File path encoding and special characters in note names can cause edge cases
- · Large vaults (10k+ notes) may take time to search — scope queries by folder when possible
When to use
- ✓ You use Obsidian as your knowledge base and want AI to help navigate it
- ✓ You want to capture new notes from conversation without context-switching
- ✓ You're building a second-brain workflow with AI-assisted synthesis
- ✓ You need to search across a large vault by topic, tag, or link
When not to use
- × You use Notion, Roam, or a cloud-only notes app (use notion-mcp for Notion)
- × Your vault is in iCloud on a path the MCP can't reach reliably
- × You need heavy plugin integration — the server can't execute Obsidian plugins
About
Imagine asking your AI: 'Find my notes about that product launch idea' or 'Create a daily note with today's tasks' — and it reads and writes your Obsidian vault directly. This server connects your AI to your local Obsidian vault so it can search, read, create, and update markdown notes.
The Obsidian MCP server connects AI assistants to your Obsidian vault. Read and write notes, search across your knowledge base, follow links between notes, and leverage your personal knowledge graph through conversation.
Ideal for researchers, writers, and knowledge workers who use Obsidian as their second brain and want AI to interact with their notes.
Workflows That Use Obsidian MCP
Works With
Also Consider
FAQ
What does Obsidian MCP do? +
Imagine asking your AI: 'Find my notes about that product launch idea' or 'Create a daily note with today's tasks' — and it reads and writes your Obsidian vault directly. This server connects your AI to your local Obsidian vault so it can search, read, create, and update markdown notes.
Do I need to know how to code? +
No. Turn it on in your AI's settings and ask in plain English — no terminal, no coding.
When should I use Obsidian MCP? +
Reach for it when you need to: You use Obsidian as your knowledge base and want AI to help navigate it; You want to capture new notes from conversation without context-switching; You're building a second-brain workflow with AI-assisted synthesis; You need to search across a large vault by topic, tag, or link.
When should I avoid Obsidian MCP? +
Skip it when: You use Notion, Roam, or a cloud-only notes app (use notion-mcp for Notion); Your vault is in iCloud on a path the MCP can't reach reliably; You need heavy plugin integration — the server can't execute Obsidian plugins.
How do I install Obsidian MCP? +
In Claude Code, run: claude mcp add obsidian -e OBSIDIAN_API_KEY=<key> -- uvx mcp-obsidian. Copy-paste configs for Claude Desktop, Cursor, and Windsurf are at the top of this page.
