Obsidian Abides

"The Obsidian MCP abides."

A minimal MCP server for Obsidian, built on top of the Obsidian Local REST API plugin.

Prerequisites

• Obsidian running with the Local REST API plugin enabled
• API key from Obsidian Settings > Local REST API
• Node.js 18+ and pnpm

Install & Build

pnpm install
pnpm run build

Produces dist/index.js.

Config

No config file — env vars only:

Variable	Default	Required
OBSIDIAN_API_KEY	—	yes
OBSIDIAN_HOST	127.0.0.1	no
OBSIDIAN_PORT	27123	no

Tools

Tool	Args	Description
list_vault	path (optional)	List files/folders in vault or a subdirectory
read_note	path	Read a note's content
write_note	path, content	Create or replace a note
append_note	path, content	Append content to a note
delete_note	path	Delete a note
list_tags	—	List all tags with occurrence counts

Testing

MCP Inspector — Web UI

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector \
  -e OBSIDIAN_API_KEY=<your-key> \
  node dist/index.js

Opens a browser. Use the form to call tools interactively.

MCP Inspector — CLI

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector --cli \
  -e OBSIDIAN_API_KEY=<your-key> \
  node dist/index.js \
  --method tools/list

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector --cli \
  -e OBSIDIAN_API_KEY=<your-key> \
  node dist/index.js \
  --method tools/call --tool-name list_vault

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector --cli \
  -e OBSIDIAN_API_KEY=<your-key> \
  node dist/index.js \
  --method tools/call --tool-name read_note \
  --tool-arg path="Dashboard.md"

Note: Use -e KEY=value to pass env vars — inline KEY=value node ... does not work with the Inspector.

repl-mcp — Interactive REPL

Install once:

python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install repl-mcp

Create mcp-config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "abides-obsidian-mcp": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "OBSIDIAN_API_KEY": "<your-key>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Run:

source venv/bin/activate
repl-mcp --config mcp-config.json

Key REPL commands:

Command	Description
tools	List all tools
tool <name>	Show a tool's parameters
call <name>	Call a tool (prompts for args interactively)
call <name> {"key": "value"}	Call a tool with JSON args
help	Show all commands
quit	Exit

Wiring into Clients

Claude Desktop

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "abides-obsidian-mcp": {
      "command": "/path/to/node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/abides-obsidian-mcp/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "OBSIDIAN_API_KEY": "<your-key>"
      },
      "type": "stdio"
    }
  }
}

Use the full path to node (which node) — Claude Desktop doesn't inherit your shell PATH.

Claude Code

claude mcp add abides-obsidian-mcp \
  -e OBSIDIAN_API_KEY=<your-key> \
  -- node /absolute/path/to/abides-obsidian-mcp/dist/index.js

Troubleshooting

• REST API not responding — Check Obsidian is running and the Local REST API plugin is enabled
• Auth failures — Verify the key matches Obsidian Settings > Local REST API
• Port — REST API runs HTTP on 27123, HTTPS on 27124