The Obsidian MCP Server provides a TypeScript-based interface to interact with your Obsidian vaults through a collection of tools. It enables core file operations (read, write, append, delete, and listing), access to periodic notes (daily/weekly/monthly) and recent changes, advanced filtering via JsonLogic, graph analytics (orphan detection, centrality, clustering, path finding), and semantic search integration through Smart Connections. You can target multiple vaults by specifying a vaultId with each tool call; if omitted, the server uses the default vault configured via OBSIDIAN_DEFAULT_VAULT or the first vault described in your vaults config. The MCP server exposes a suite of tools such as list_files_in_vault, get_file_contents, put_content, append_content, and delete_file, along with graph and semantic search capabilities, making it suitable for automation, vault analytics, and complex querying across vault data.

Prerequisites:

• Node.js 18+ installed on your system
• Access to an Obsidian vault with the Local REST API plugin enabled
• Optional: Dataview, Periodic Notes, or Smart Connections plugins depending on features you need

Installation steps:

1. Install the MCP server globally via npm: npm install -g @connorbritain/obsidian-mcp-server

2. Verify installation: ensure the mcp server command is available (e.g., mcp obsidian) or follow the npm package docs for usage.

3. Prepare vault configuration. Create an environment configuration (see mcp_config example) providing API keys, vault path, and any vaults JSON/file if using multi-vault mode.

4. Run the MCP server using your preferred runner (e.g., npx or local build as described in the README): npx -y @connorbritain/obsidian-mcp-server

5. If developing from source, clone the repo and build: git clone https://github.com/ConnorBritain/obsidian-mcp-server.git cd obsidian-mcp-server npm install npm run build

   Then run the built server as configured in mcp_config

Tips and notes:

• Multi-vault support requires careful port management. Each vault’s Local REST API must listen on a unique port; update OBSIDIAN_VAULTS_JSON or OBSIDIAN_VAULTS_FILE accordingly.
• The OBSIDIAN_API_KEY, OBSIDIAN_HOST, OBSIDIAN_PORT, and OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH variables drive connectivity to the Obsidian Local REST API; use OBSIDIAN_VAULTS_JSON or OBSIDIAN_VAULTS_FILE to manage multiple vaults.
• If you encounter 401 Unauthorized during vault tests, verify the API key in your vault configuration matches what the Local REST API plugin expects.
• The patch_content tool is currently disabled due to an API issue; use append_content or put_content for modifications.
• When using the MCP client in npx mode, you can provide a JSON config with env vars to tailor per-vault behavior.