Obsidian Tasks

npm version

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for extracting and querying Obsidian Tasks from markdown files. Designed to work with Claude via the MCP protocol to enable AI-assisted task management.

Features

• Extract tasks from Obsidian markdown files with a format compatible with the Obsidian Tasks plugin
• Identify completed and pending tasks
• Access task metadata including:
  • Status (complete/incomplete)
  • Due dates
  • Scheduled dates
  • Start dates
  • Created dates
  • Tags
  • Priority
  • Recurrence rules

Tools

This MCP server provides the following tools:

list_all_tasks

Extracts all tasks from markdown files in a directory, recursively scanning through subfolders.

Input Parameters:

• path (string, optional): The directory to scan for markdown files. If not specified, defaults to the first allowed directory.

Returns: A JSON array of task objects, each containing:

{
  "id": "string",          // Unique identifier (filepath:linenumber)
  "description": "string", // Full text description of the task
  "status": "complete" | "incomplete", // Task completion status
  "filePath": "string",    // Path to the file containing the task
  "lineNumber": "number",  // Line number in the file
  "tags": ["string"],      // Array of tags found in the task
  "dueDate": "string",     // Optional - YYYY-MM-DD format 
  "scheduledDate": "string", // Optional - YYYY-MM-DD format
  "startDate": "string",   // Optional - YYYY-MM-DD format
  "createdDate": "string", // Optional - YYYY-MM-DD format
  "priority": "string",    // Optional - "high", "medium", or "low"
  "recurrence": "string"   // Optional - recurrence rule
}

query_tasks

Searches for tasks based on Obsidian Tasks query syntax. Applies multiple filters to find matching tasks.

Input Parameters:

• path (string, optional): The directory to scan for markdown files. If not specified, defaults to the first allowed directory.
• query (string, required): The query string using Obsidian Tasks query syntax. Each line is treated as a filter.

Returns: A JSON array of task objects that match the query, with the same structure as list_all_tasks.

Supported Query Syntax:

• Status filters:

  • done - Show completed tasks
  • not done - Show incomplete tasks

• Date filters (due):

  • Note on semantics: due today is an exact match (only tasks due exactly today). Use range operators to include earlier/later dates.
  • due today - Tasks due today
  • due before today - Tasks due before today (exclusive)
  • due after today - Tasks due after today (exclusive)
  • due on or before today - Tasks due today or earlier (inclusive)
  • due on or after today - Tasks due today or later (inclusive)
  • due on YYYY-MM-DD or due YYYY-MM-DD - Tasks due on a specific date
  • due before YYYY-MM-DD - Tasks due before a date (exclusive)
  • due after YYYY-MM-DD - Tasks due after a date (exclusive)
  • due on or before YYYY-MM-DD - Tasks due on/before a date (inclusive)
  • due on or after YYYY-MM-DD - Tasks due on/after a date (inclusive)
  • no due date - Tasks with no due date
  • has due date - Tasks with a due date

• Start date filters:

  • Note on semantics: starts today is an exact match (only tasks that start today). Use range operators to include earlier/later dates.
  • starts today - Tasks starting today
  • starts on YYYY-MM-DD or starts YYYY-MM-DD - Start on a specific date
  • starts before YYYY-MM-DD - Start before a date (exclusive)
  • starts after YYYY-MM-DD - Start after a date (exclusive)
  • starts on or before YYYY-MM-DD - Start on/before a date (inclusive)
  • starts on or after YYYY-MM-DD - Start on/after a date (inclusive)
  • no start date - Tasks with no start date
  • has start date - Tasks with a start date

• Tag filters:

  • no tags - Tasks with no tags
  • has tags - Tasks with at least one tag
  • tag includes #tag - Tasks with tags containing "tag"
  • tag does not include #tag - Tasks without tags containing "tag"

• Path filters:

  • path includes string - Tasks in files with paths containing "string"
  • path does not include string - Tasks in files with paths not containing "string"

• Description filters:

  • description includes string - Tasks with descriptions containing "string"
  • description does not include string - Tasks with descriptions not containing "string"

• Priority filters:

  • priority is highest - Tasks with highest priority
  • priority is high - Tasks with high priority
  • priority is medium - Tasks with medium priority
  • priority is low - Tasks with low priority
  • priority is lowest - Tasks with lowest priority
  • priority is none - Tasks with no priority

Example Query:

not done
due before 2025-05-01
tag include #work

This would return all incomplete tasks due before May 1, 2025, that have the #work tag.

Inclusive OR example (single line):

due on or before today OR starts on or before today

Usage

Installation

From npm (recommended):

# Install globally
npm install -g @jfim/obsidian-tasks-mcp

# Or use directly with npx without installing
npx @jfim/obsidian-tasks-mcp /path/to/obsidian/vault

From source:

git clone https://github.com/jfim/obsidian-tasks-mcp.git
cd obsidian-tasks-mcp
npm install
npm run build

Running the Server

Using npm package (recommended):

# If installed globally
obsidian-tasks-mcp /path/to/obsidian/vault

# Or with npx (no installation required)
npx @jfim/obsidian-tasks-mcp /path/to/obsidian/vault

From source:

node dist/index.js /path/to/obsidian/vault

Testing

To run the test suite:

npm test

See TESTING.md for detailed information about the test suite.

Using with Claude

Add this configuration to your Claude client that supports MCP:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian-tasks": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "@jfim/obsidian-tasks-mcp",
        "/path/to/obsidian/vault"
      ]
    }
  }
}

If you installed from source:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian-tasks": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/path/to/obsidian-tasks-mcp/dist/src/index.js",
        "/path/to/obsidian/vault"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Docker

Build the Docker image:

docker build -t @jfim/obsidian-tasks-mcp .

Run with Docker:

docker run -i --rm --mount type=bind,src=/path/to/obsidian/vault,dst=/projects/vault @jfim/obsidian-tasks-mcp /projects

Claude Desktop configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian-tasks": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "-i",
        "--rm",
        "--mount", "type=bind,src=/path/to/obsidian/vault,dst=/projects/vault",
        "@jfim/obsidian-tasks-mcp",
        "/projects"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Task Format

The server supports both Obsidian Tasks emoji format and Dataview format for task metadata.

• Task syntax: - [ ] Task description
• Completed task: - [x] Task description
• Due date:
  • 🗓️ YYYY-MM-DD
  • 📅 YYYY-MM-DD
• Scheduled date: ⏳ YYYY-MM-DD
• Start date: 🛫 YYYY-MM-DD
• Created date: ➕ YYYY-MM-DD
• Priority: ⏫ (high), 🔼 (medium), 🔽 (low)
• Recurrence: 🔁 every day/week/month/etc.
• Tags: #tag1 #tag2

Example task: - [ ] Complete project report 🗓️ 2025-05-01 ⏳ 2025-04-25 #work #report ⏫

License

MIT License