Obsidian Vault MCP Server

Official

by OleksandrKucherenko · TypeScript

Access Obsidian vaults via Local REST API - read, search, and interact with notes

This MCP server provides access to Obsidian vaults via a Local REST API. It supports reading, searching, and interacting with notes stored in the vault, using the Model Context Protocol to expose note operations to MCP clients.

🛠️ Key Features

Local REST API access to Obsidian vaults
Read notes
Search notes
Interact with notes
Topics: mcp, mcp-server, obsidian, obsidian-md, obsidian-plugin, obsidianmd

🚀 Use Cases

Query and retrieve content from an Obsidian vault
Perform note search workflows against a local vault
Integrate Obsidian note data into MCP-enabled applications

⚡ Developer Benefits

Straightforward local REST API integration for vault operations
MCP-compatible interface for note read/search/interactions
Repository: OleksandrKucherenko/mcp-obsidian-via-rest

⚠️ Limitations

Designed specifically for Obsidian vault access; scope is limited to read/search/interact operations via the local REST API

Topics

mcpmcp-serverobsidianobsidian-mdobsidian-pluginobsidianmd

readme.md22 KBView on GitHub

mcp-obsidian

Deployed / Usage

NPM Downloads

CI/CD Status

mcp-obsidian

MCP Tools & Resources

This MCP server exposes the following tools and resources to AI assistants:

Tools

Tool	Description	Parameters
`get_note_content`	Retrieve content and metadata of an Obsidian note	`filePath` (string) - Path to the note
`obsidian_search`	Search notes using a query string	`query` (string) - Search query
`obsidian_semantic_search`	Semantic search for notes	`query` (string) - Search query

Resources

Resource	URI Pattern	Description
Obsidian Note	`obsidian://{path}`	Access notes via URI (e.g., `obsidian://Daily/2025-01-16.md`)

Quick Test

bash

# 1. Set your Obsidian API key
export OBSIDIAN_API_KEY="your-obsidian-rest-api-key"

# 2. Add MCP server and test (Claude Code)
claude mcp add obsidian -- bunx -y @oleksandrkucherenko/mcp-obsidian
claude "Search my Obsidian vault for monitoring tools, summarize findings"

# 2. Alternative: Codex CLI
codex mcp add obsidian --command "bunx -y @oleksandrkucherenko/mcp-obsidian"
codex "Find notes about logging frameworks and create a comparison table"

Example use-case: "Find all tools in my Obsidian vault for tracking logs and metrics, make a summary report" — the AI searches your vault, finds notes about OpenTelemetry, Datadog, Prometheus, etc., and generates a structured summary.

For other CLI tools (Gemini, OpenCode, Kilo Code, Copilot), see Manual Testing Guide.

Gemini CLI Example

Configure MCP

Multi-URL Configuration (Recommended)

Use API_URLS for automatic failover and self-healing. The server tests all URLs in parallel, selects the fastest one, and automatically reconnects on failure.

jsonc

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--name", "mcp-obsidian",
        "--rm",
        "-i",  // Keep STDIN open for stdio transport
        "-p", "3000:3000",
        "-e", "API_KEY",
        "-e", "API_URLS",
        "-e", "DEBUG", // for logs
        "ghcr.io/oleksandrkucherenko/obsidian-mcp:latest"
      ],
      "env": {
        "API_KEY": "<secret_key>",
        // JSON array - automatically tests and selects fastest URL
        "API_URLS": "[\"https://127.0.0.1:27124\",\"https://172.26.32.1:27124\",\"https://host.docker.internal:27124\"]",
        "DEBUG": "mcp:*"
      }
    }
  }
}

Self-Healing Features:

✅ Parallel URL testing on startup
✅ Automatic selection of fastest URL
✅ Health monitoring every 30 seconds
✅ Automatic failover on connection loss
✅ Exponential backoff to prevent thrashing

Available transports:

stdio - Standard input/output (default, best for local MCP clients)
http - HTTP JSON-RPC with SSE streaming (best for remote access)

WSL2 Example:

bash

# Automatically determine WSL gateway IP
export WSL_GATEWAY_IP=$(ip route show | grep -i default | awk '{ print $3}')

# Configure with multiple fallback URLs
API_URLS='["https://127.0.0.1:27124", "https://'$WSL_GATEWAY_IP':27124", "https://host.docker.internal:27124"]'

HTTP Transport Configuration

The MCP server supports HTTP transport for remote access with automatic URL failover:

jsonc

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian-http": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--name", "mcp-obsidian-http",
        "--rm",
        "-p", "3000:3000",
        "-e", "API_KEY",
        "-e", "API_URLS",
        "-e", "MCP_HTTP_PATH",
        "ghcr.io/oleksandrkucherenko/obsidian-mcp:latest"
      ],
      "env": {
        "API_KEY": "<secret_key>",
        "API_URLS": "[\"https://127.0.0.1:27124\",\"https://172.26.32.1:27124\",\"https://host.docker.internal:27124\"]",
        "MCP_HTTP_PATH": "/mcp" // endpoint path (default is: /mcp)
      }
    }
  }
}

Decoupled Configuration with Authentication

bash

# Automatically determine WSL gateway IP
export WSL_GATEWAY_IP=$(ip route show | grep -i default | awk '{ print $3}')

# Configure with multiple fallback URLs
API_URLS='["https://127.0.0.1:27124", "https://'$WSL_GATEWAY_IP':27124", "https://host.docker.internal:27124"]'

# run MCP server on docker separately from IDE
docker run --name mcp-obsidian-http --rm \
  -p 3000:3000 \
  -e API_KEY="<secret_key>" \
  -e API_URLS="${API_URLS}" \
  -e MCP_HTTP_TOKEN=<your-secret-token-here> \
  ghcr.io/oleksandrkucherenko/obsidian-mcp:latest

jsonc

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian": {
      "type": "streamable-http",
      "url": "http://localhost:3000/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <your-secret-token-here>"
      }      
    }
  }
}

Clients must include the Authorization header:

http

Authorization: Bearer your-secret-token-here

Stdio Transport Configuration

For local development with stdio transport (default):

jsonc

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--name", "mcp-obsidian-windsurf",
        "--interactive",
        "--rm",
        "-e", "API_KEY",
        "-e", "API_URLS",
        "-e", "DEBUG",
        "ghcr.io/oleksandrkucherenko/obsidian-mcp:latest"
      ],
      "env": {
        "API_KEY": "<secret_key>",
        "API_URLS": "[\"https://127.0.0.1:27124\",\"https://172.26.32.1:27124\"]",
        "DEBUG": "mcp:*" // default: disabled logs
      }
    }
  }
}

--rm - Automatically remove the container and its associated anonymous volumes when it exits
-i, --interactive - Keep STDIN open
-e, --env - Set environment variables
--name string - Assign a name to the container
-p, --publish - Publish container port to host
NPM Package Releases
Docker Image Releases

Legacy Single-URL Configuration

For backward compatibility, you can still use single-URL configuration with API_HOST and API_PORT:

jsonc

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--name", "mcp-obsidian",
        "--rm",
        "-i",
        "-e", "API_KEY",
        "-e", "API_HOST",
        "-e", "API_PORT",
        "ghcr.io/oleksandrkucherenko/obsidian-mcp:latest"
      ],
      "env": {
        "API_KEY": "<secret_key>",
        "API_HOST": "https://172.26.32.1",  // single URL without failover
        "API_PORT": "27124"
      }
    }
  }
}

Note: Single-URL configuration does not provide automatic failover or health monitoring. Use API_URLS for production deployments.

Health Endpoint

When HTTP transport is enabled, the server exposes a health check endpoint at /health:

bash

curl http://localhost:3000/health

Response:

json

{
  "status": "healthy",
  "timestamp": "2025-01-12T12:00:00.000Z",
  "transport": "http",
  "authEnabled": false
}

For comprehensive health status including Obsidian API connection and all transports, you can use the getHealthStatus() function which returns:

json

{
  "healthy": true,
  "obsidian": {
    "connected": true,
    "url": "https://obsidian:27124",
    "lastCheck": 1705065600000
  },
  "transports": {
    "stdio": { "running": true, "enabled": true },
    "http": { "running": true, "enabled": true }
  },
  "uptime": 3600,
  "timestamp": 1705065600000
}

CLI Tools Configuration

This section shows how to configure popular AI CLI tools to use the MCP Obsidian server.

bash

# MacOs or Linux
curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash

# Windows
powershell -c "irm bun.sh/install.ps1 | iex"

Claude Code CLI

Docker:

bash

# Create mcp.json configuration
cat > mcp.json << 'EOF'
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "--rm", "-i", "-e", "API_KEY", "-e", "API_URLS", "ghcr.io/oleksandrkucherenko/obsidian-mcp:latest"],
      "env": {
        "API_KEY": "<your-obsidian-api-key>",
        "API_URLS": "[\"https://host.docker.internal:27124\"]"
      }
    }
  }
}
EOF

# Run Claude with MCP config
claude --mcp-config ./mcp.json

NPX/Bunx:

bash

cat > mcp.json << 'EOF'
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian": {
      "command": "bunx",
      "args": ["-y", "@oleksandrkucherenko/mcp-obsidian"],
      "env": {
        "API_KEY": "<your-obsidian-api-key>",
        "API_URLS": "[\"https://127.0.0.1:27124\"]"
      }
    }
  }
}
EOF

claude --mcp-config ./mcp.json

Gemini CLI

Docker:

bash

gemini mcp add \
  -e API_KEY=<your-obsidian-api-key> \
  -e API_URLS='["https://host.docker.internal:27124"]' \
  obsidian \
  docker run --rm -i ghcr.io/oleksandrkucherenko/obsidian-mcp:latest

NPX/Bunx:

bash

gemini mcp add \
  -e API_KEY=<your-obsidian-api-key> \
  -e API_URLS='["https://127.0.0.1:27124"]' \
  obsidian \
  bunx -y @oleksandrkucherenko/mcp-obsidian

HTTP Transport (remote server):

bash

gemini mcp add --transport http obsidian-http http://localhost:3000/mcp

List and manage servers:

bash

gemini mcp list
gemini mcp remove obsidian

OpenCode CLI

Create opencode.json in your project root:

Docker:

jsonc

{
  "mcp": {
    "obsidian": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": ["docker", "run", "--rm", "-i",
        "-e", "API_KEY", "-e", "API_URLS",
        "ghcr.io/oleksandrkucherenko/obsidian-mcp:latest"],
      "environment": {
        "API_KEY": "{env:API_KEY}",
        "API_URLS": "[\"https://host.docker.internal:27124\"]"
      },
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}

NPX/Bunx:

jsonc

{
  "mcp": {
    "obsidian": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": ["bunx", "-y", "@oleksandrkucherenko/mcp-obsidian"],
      "environment": {
        "API_KEY": "{env:API_KEY}",
        "API_URLS": "[\"https://127.0.0.1:27124\"]"
      },
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}

HTTP Transport:

jsonc

{
  "mcp": {
    "obsidian-http": {
      "type": "remote",
      "url": "http://localhost:3000/mcp",
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}

Kilo Code CLI

Create .kilocode/mcp.json in your project or ~/.kilocode/cli/global/settings/mcp_settings.json globally:

Docker:

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "--rm", "-i", "-e", "API_KEY", "-e", "API_URLS",
        "ghcr.io/oleksandrkucherenko/obsidian-mcp:latest"],
      "env": {
        "API_KEY": "<your-obsidian-api-key>",
        "API_URLS": "[\"https://host.docker.internal:27124\"]"
      }
    }
  }
}

NPX/Bunx:

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian": {
      "command": "bunx",
      "args": ["-y", "@oleksandrkucherenko/mcp-obsidian"],
      "env": {
        "API_KEY": "<your-obsidian-api-key>",
        "API_URLS": "[\"https://127.0.0.1:27124\"]"
      }
    }
  }
}

HTTP Transport:

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian-http": {
      "type": "streamable-http",
      "url": "http://localhost:3000/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <your-token>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Codex CLI

Docker:

bash

# Register MCP server
codex mcp add obsidian \
  --command "docker run --rm -i -e API_KEY -e API_URLS ghcr.io/oleksandrkucherenko/obsidian-mcp:latest" \
  --env API_KEY=<your-obsidian-api-key> \
  --env 'API_URLS=["https://host.docker.internal:27124"]'

NPX/Bunx:

bash

codex mcp add obsidian \
  --command "bunx -y @oleksandrkucherenko/mcp-obsidian" \
  --env API_KEY=<your-obsidian-api-key> \
  --env 'API_URLS=["https://127.0.0.1:27124"]'

GitHub Copilot CLI

Create ~/.copilot/mcp-config.json (or .copilot/mcp-config.json in repo root):

Docker:

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "--rm", "-i", "-e", "API_KEY", "-e", "API_URLS",
        "ghcr.io/oleksandrkucherenko/obsidian-mcp:latest"],
      "env": {
        "API_KEY": "${OBSIDIAN_API_KEY}",
        "API_URLS": "[\"https://host.docker.internal:27124\"]"
      },
      "tools": ["*"]
    }
  }
}

NPX/Bunx:

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": "bunx",
      "args": ["-y", "@oleksandrkucherenko/mcp-obsidian"],
      "env": {
        "API_KEY": "${OBSIDIAN_API_KEY}",
        "API_URLS": "[\"https://127.0.0.1:27124\"]"
      },
      "tools": ["*"]
    }
  }
}

Note: Copilot CLI v0.0.340+ requires ${VAR} syntax for environment variable expansion. Set OBSIDIAN_API_KEY in your shell before running.

Quick Reference

CLI Tool	Config File	Docker Support	HTTP Transport
Claude Code	`mcp.json`	✅	✅
Gemini	`settings.json`	✅	✅
OpenCode	`opencode.json`	✅	✅
Kilo Code	`.kilocode/mcp.json`	✅	✅
Codex	CLI commands	✅	✅
Copilot	`~/.copilot/mcp-config.json`	✅	✅

For detailed testing and verification, see Manual Testing Guide.

Setup and Troubleshooting

Setup

Run Obsidian Desktop Application and enable Local REST API in Settings.

Obsidian Local REST API Setup

This setting will allow you to connect to the Local REST API from any network interface (not only localhost, which is critical for WSL2 setup).

Copy the API Key from Obsidian Settings; you will need it for the MCP configuration.
Verify that the Obsidian Local REST API is running and accessible from your machine.
Next Step is always to verify the network setup on your machine (firewall rules, etc).

Verify that the Obsidian REST API is running (Windows Host, MacOS, Linux)

Run in Windows CMD terminal:

shell

# windows CMD, verify that port is listening (that rest api is running)
netstat -an | findstr 27124
# Expected output:
#   TCP    0.0.0.0:27124           0.0.0.0:0               LISTENING

# Verify that Obsidian Local REST API is working
curl --insecure https://localhost:27124
wget --no-check-certificate -S https://localhost:27124
http --verify=no https://localhost:27124

Expected REST API response:

json

{
  "status": "OK",
  "manifest": {
    "id": "obsidian-local-rest-api",
    "name": "Local REST API",
    "version": "3.2.0",
    "minAppVersion": "0.12.0",
    "description": "Get, change or otherwise interact with your notes in Obsidian via a REST API.",
    "author": "Adam Coddington",
    "authorUrl": "https://coddingtonbear.net/",
    "isDesktopOnly": true,
    "dir": ".obsidian/plugins/obsidian-local-rest-api"
  },
  "versions": {
    "obsidian": "1.8.10",
    "self": "3.2.0"
  },
  "service": "Obsidian Local REST API",
  "authenticated": false
}

WSL2, Docker hosted on Ubuntu

graph LR
    subgraph "Windows Machine"
      obs("Obsidian Application")
    
      subgraph "WSL2"
        subgraph "Ubuntu"
          subgraph "Docker"
            mcp("mcp-obsidian:latest")
          end
        end
      end

      firewall(["Windows Firewall"]) -->|27124| obs

      mcp -->|https://$WSL_GATEWAY_IP:27124| firewall

      IDE -.->|MCP Server Tools| mcp
    end

Run inside the WSL2 Ubuntu Terminal:

bash

export WSL_GATEWAY_IP=$(ip route show | grep -i default | awk '{ print $3}')
echo $WSL_GATEWAY_IP # expected something like: 172.26.32.1

# Verify that Obsidian Local REST API is working 
curl --insecure https://$WSL_GATEWAY_IP:27124
wget --no-check-certificate -S https://$WSL_GATEWAY_IP:27124
http --verify=no https://$WSL_GATEWAY_IP:27124

Verify Windows Firewall

Run GUI and Setup Manual The Rules:

shell

# Windows Defender Firewall / Inbound Rules. Press Win+R and type WF.msc or firewall.cpl
WF.msc
firewall.cpl # and then press 'Advanced settings'

Or Run in Windows PowerShell as Administrator:

shell

# Add firewall rule to allow port 27124 (Run in Admin PowerShell)
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "WSL2 Obsidian REST API" -Direction Inbound -LocalPort 27123,27124 -Protocol TCP -Action Allow

Or Run in Windows CMD terminal:

shell

# check firewall rules (CMD) that manage 27124 port
netsh advfirewall firewall show rule name=all | findstr /C:"Rule Name" /C:"LocalPort" /C:"RemotePort" | findstr /C:"27124"

# display rules that has WSL2 keyword in own name
netsh advfirewall firewall show rule name=all | grep -A 13 WSL2

# display rule definition by port number (4 line after, 9 lines before)
netsh advfirewall firewall show rule name=all | grep -A 4 -B 9 27124

Disable/Enable Firewall

Execute in Windows PowerShell as Administrator:

shell

# Temporarily turn off firewall (for testing ONLY, not recommended for regular use)
Set-NetFirewallProfile -Profile Domain,Public,Private -Enabled False

# Restore Firewall state
Set-NetFirewallProfile -Profile Domain,Public,Private -Enabled True

Verify Connectivity on BusyBox Container

These steps allow us to confirm that the network setup is correct and the container can connect to the Local REST API.

Execute inside the WSL2 Ubuntu terminal:

bash

export WSL_GATEWAY_IP=$(ip route | grep default | awk '{print $3}')
echo "Windows host IP from WSL2: $WSL_GATEWAY_IP"
# Output:
#   Windows host IP from WSL2: 172.26.32.1

# run docker container to verify the connectivity from Docker inside
docker run --rm -it --network=host busybox sh

# inside the container run:
which wget
# /bin/wget

export WINDOWS_HOST_IP="172.26.32.1"
echo $WINDOWS_HOST_IP
# 172.26.32.1

# try to connect to the Local REST API
wget -qO- --no-check-certificate "https://$WINDOWS_HOST_IP:27124"
wget -qO- --no-check-certificate https://172.26.32.1:27124

Dockerized Obsidian

Obsidian Dockerized

Install

Configuration

Environment variables

API_KEYrequiredsecret

Obsidian Local REST API key

API_URLSrequired

JSON array or semicolon-separated list of Obsidian REST API URLs for failover

API_HOST

Obsidian REST API host (legacy single-URL config)

API_PORT

Obsidian REST API port (legacy single-URL config)

MCP_TRANSPORTSdefault stdio,http

Enabled transports (default: stdio,http)

MCP_HTTP_PORTdefault 3000

HTTP transport bind port (default: 3000)

MCP_HTTP_HOST

HTTP transport bind host (default: 0.0.0.0)

MCP_HTTP_TOKENsecret

Bearer token for HTTP transport authentication

Add to VS Code Add to Cursor

claude_desktop_config.json

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-obsidian-via-rest": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@oleksandrkucherenko/mcp-obsidian@1.3.3"
      ],
      "env": {
        "API_KEY": "<YOUR_API_KEY>",
        "API_URLS": "<YOUR_API_URLS>",
        "API_HOST": "<YOUR_API_HOST>",
        "API_PORT": "<YOUR_API_PORT>"
      }
    }
  }
}

🛠️ Key Features

🚀 Use Cases

⚡ Developer Benefits

⚠️ Limitations

Topics

mcp-obsidian

Deployed / Usage

CI/CD Status

MCP Tools & Resources

Tools

Resources

Quick Test

Configure MCP

Multi-URL Configuration (Recommended)

HTTP Transport Configuration

Decoupled Configuration with Authentication

Stdio Transport Configuration

Legacy Single-URL Configuration

Health Endpoint

CLI Tools Configuration

Claude Code CLI

Gemini CLI

OpenCode CLI

Kilo Code CLI

Codex CLI

GitHub Copilot CLI

Quick Reference

Setup and Troubleshooting

Setup

Verify that the Obsidian REST API is running (Windows Host, MacOS, Linux)

WSL2, Docker hosted on Ubuntu

Verify Windows Firewall

Disable/Enable Firewall

Verify Connectivity on BusyBox Container

Dockerized Obsidian

Install

Configuration

Related servers