Obsidian MCP

Obsidian MCP here means the open source Python project MarkusPfundstein/mcp-obsidian. It lets an MCP client list, read and search the notes in an Obsidian vault, and also add to, edit and delete them, by talking to the Obsidian Local REST API community plugin. It is not read-only.

Several projects share this name. The npm package also called mcp-obsidian is a different, read-only project. If you run npx -y mcp-obsidian you get that one, not this one. See "A read-only alternative" below.

Quick facts (as of October 8, 2026)

The seven tools

There is no dedicated tool for backlinks, tags or a link graph. patch_content can target a heading, block reference or frontmatter field, but it is an insert tool, not a metadata query.

Setup

1. In Obsidian, install and enable the Local REST API community plugin and copy its API key.
2. Add the server to your client's config. For Claude Desktop, edit claude_desktop_config.json (macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/, Windows: %APPDATA%/Claude/):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-obsidian": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mcp-obsidian"],
      "env": {
        "OBSIDIAN_API_KEY": "<your_api_key_here>",
        "OBSIDIAN_HOST": "<your_obsidian_host>",
        "OBSIDIAN_PORT": "<your_obsidian_port>"
      }
    }
  }
}

1. If your client cannot find uvx, run which uvx and use the full path.
2. Tell the assistant to use Obsidian at the start of a chat. The README notes it then calls the tools reliably.

The README also documents a Docker route (docker compose run --rm -T mcp-obsidian), where OBSIDIAN_HOST defaults to host.docker.internal.

Limitations and things to watch

• It can change and delete your notes. Append, patch and delete are all exposed. The README documents no read-only mode. Keep your client's tool-approval prompts on, and back up the vault (version control, Obsidian Sync history or a copy) before you connect it.
• Obsidian must be running with the Local REST API plugin enabled. The server talks to the plugin, not to the files directly.
• Your notes reach your AI provider. Anything the assistant reads becomes part of the conversation sent to the model service you use. Keep sensitive material in a vault the plugin is not serving.
• Python and SDK pinning. It needs Python 3.11 or newer and pins the mcp package to at least 1.1.0 and below 2.0.0. The README warns that installing it against mcp 2.0 or later crashes at import.
• Search is a text search through the plugin. We did not test how it handles very large vaults.

A read-only alternative

The npm package mcp-obsidian (published by calclavia, version 1.0.0, November 29, 2024) is a separate project. From its published code it exposes two tools, read_notes and search_notes, and only reads files. Its search matches note file names, not note contents. You start it with the path to your vault, for example npx -y mcp-obsidian /path/to/vault. It has had one release, and its npm entry lists no source repository, so we could not check where the code is maintained. If you only want reads, it is worth a look, or use a Filesystem MCP server limited to the vault folder (check whether the one you pick can be made read-only).

Pros and cons

Pros

• Reads, searches and writes through the plugin, so an assistant can summarize meeting notes and file the summary as a new note.
• Seven focused tools, easy to reason about.
• Docker option for people who do not want Python installed.
• Recent release: PyPI shows version 0.2.3, uploaded August 20, 2026.

Cons

• Not read-only, and the README documents no way to make it so.
• Setup has two moving parts: the Obsidian plugin and the Python tool.
• No backlink or tag query tools.
• Requires Obsidian to be open.

Who it is for

A good fit if:

• You want an assistant that can find, read and add to notes in your Obsidian vault.
• You are comfortable backing up your vault and approving writes.

Not the right tool if:

• You want strictly read-only access (see the alternative above).
• You keep notes in Notion. See the Notion MCP server.
• You cannot run the Local REST API plugin.

What we could not verify

• How the search tool ranks or limits results. The README gives a one-line description only.
• The source repository of the npm package mcp-obsidian. Its npm entry has no repository field and the GitHub paths we tried were not found.
• The star count. The star figure comes from the listing's stored repository data, not from a fresh check.
• Behavior with every Obsidian and plugin version. We did not run it.

How this page was put together

We read the MarkusPfundstein/mcp-obsidian README, its PyPI entry (version, Python requirement, upload date) and the published npm package mcp-obsidian including its source, on September 30, 2026, and rechecked the README, PyPI entry, npm entry and LICENSE file on October 8, 2026. We did not run either project against a vault.

Sources

• GitHub: MarkusPfundstein/mcp-obsidian
• PyPI: mcp-obsidian
• GitHub: coddingtonbear/obsidian-local-rest-api (linked from the README, not read)
• npm: mcp-obsidian (a different project)