# Notes Vault **Category:** 🧠 Knowledge & Memory **Repository:** https://github.com/gronare/notes-vault-mcp **Views:** 0 **Installs:** 0 **Upvotes:** 0 **Directory Page:** https://allmcps.com/mcp/notes-vault ## Description Indexed search, schema-checked writes and session hooks for a markdown notes vault ## Claude Desktop Quick Installation Heuristic fallback — verify the package name and runner against the repository README before running it. Uses `npx` (confidence: low): ```json "mcpServers": { "notes-vault": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y","notes-vault"] } } ``` ## Documentation & README # notes-vault-mcp An MCP server for a vault of markdown notes — the kind Obsidian keeps: a folder of `.md` files with YAML frontmatter. The vault lives either in a local directory or in an S3 bucket (MinIO included), and the server gives an agent a cheap, indexed way to read and write it. The point is that an agent should be able to answer "what do we already know about this?" in one call, and should be told when the vault has drifted away from the code. So the server does more than read and write files: - **A local SQLite index.** Every tool call refreshes it, fetching only the notes whose version changed. Search never downloads the vault. - **Full-text search with BM25 ranking**, folder weights, recency decay and a status factor, so the living system note outranks a two-year-old archived plan on the same words. - **A schema.** The frontmatter contract lives in the vault as `.vault/schema.yml`: which folders exist and what each is for, which fields are required, which statuses and kinds are legal, which folders must link an `area`. Writes are validated against it and refused when they do not hold. - **A lifecycle.** `close` archives a finished note and stamps its status; `log_append` writes one dated line per repo per session; `lint` reports every kind of drift it can see. - **Session hooks** for Claude Code: `session-start` hands the agent the system notes for the repo it is about to touch — plus the commits made since each note was last updated — and `stop` refuses to end a session that left commits unlogged or notes stale. Swedish or English notes both work: the index folds diacritics, and the schema carries a synonym list so `bokning` finds `booking`. ## Install ### As a Claude Code plugin ```sh claude plugin marketplace add https://github.com/gronare/claude-plugins claude plugin install vault@gronare ``` The plugin asks for the vault settings and passes them as `CLAUDE_PLUGIN_OPTION_*` environment variables, which this server reads as if they were the bare names. ### As an MCP server, straight from PyPI ```sh claude mcp add vault -s user \ -e VAULT_PATH=$HOME/vault \ -- uvx notes-vault-mcp ``` Or against S3 / MinIO: ```sh claude mcp add vault -s user \ -e S3_ENDPOINT=https://minio.example.com \ -e S3_ACCESS_KEY=... \ -e S3_SECRET_KEY=... \ -e S3_BUCKET=vault \ -- uvx notes-vault-mcp ``` ### As a container ```sh claude mcp add vault -s user -- \ docker run --rm -i \ -e S3_ENDPOINT -e S3_ACCESS_KEY -e S3_SECRET_KEY -e S3_BUCKET \ ghcr.io/gronare/notes-vault-mcp:latest ``` ## Configuration Every variable is also read from `CLAUDE_PLUGIN_OPTION_`, which is how the Claude Code plugin passes its user config. The bare name wins when both are set. | Variable | Required | Meaning | | --- | --- | --- | | `VAULT_PATH` | for a local vault | Directory holding the vault. Selects the local backend. | | `S3_ENDPOINT` | for an S3 vault | Endpoint URL, e.g. `https://minio.example.com`. | | `S3_ACCESS_KEY` | for an S3 vault | Access key. | | `S3_SECRET_KEY` | for an S3 vault | Secret key. | | `S3_BUCKET` | for an S3 vault | Bucket holding the vault. | | `S3_PREFIX` | no | Key prefix inside the bucket. | | `S3_REGION` | no | Region, default `us-east-1`. | | `VAULT_CACHE_DIR` | no | Where the index lives, default `~/.cache/notes-vault-mcp`. | | `VAULT_SCHEMA` | no | Local path to a schema file, overriding the one in the vault. | | `VAULT_TOKEN` | for HTTP | Bearer token. Required by `--transport http`. | | `VAULT_STOP_HOOK` | no | `off` disables the stop hook. | Set `VAULT_PATH` **or** the four `S3_*` variables. With neither, the server exits with one line saying so. ## First run ```sh uvx notes-vault-mcp init ``` `init` writes into the vault, and refuses to overwrite anything without `--force`: - `.vault/schema.yml` — the frontmatter contract, copied from the built-in default so you can edit it. - `Areas.base`, `Open tasks.base`, `Resources.base` — Obsidian Bases views over the same structure. It then prints a CLAUDE.md snippet to stdout: the workflow rules an agent needs on its side of the conversation. ## The schema `.vault/schema.yml` is deep-merged over the built-in default, so it only needs to carry what differs. The default lays out five folders: | Folder | Kind | Weight | Role | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | `Areas/` | system | 3.0 | One living note per system. Current state only. The hubs of the graph. | | `Resources/` | reference | 2.0 | Traps, how-tos and decisions with their reasons. | | `Projects/` | task | 1.0 | Open work spanning sessions. Closed with `close`. | | `Log/` | log | 1.0 | Append-only log per repo, one note per repo. | | `Archive/` | archive | 0.3 | History. Searched only on request. | and the contract for a note: ```yaml frontmatter: required: [title, date, updated, tags, status] optional: [kind, area, summary, path, superseded_by] area_required_in: [Projects, Resources, Log] status_values: [draft, active, complete, superseded] kind_values: [system, task, trap, howto, decision, reference, log] ``` `path` is what ties a note to code: a comma-separated list of directories (`~` is kept as written and also indexed expanded). That is what `context` and the session hook match against. The repo log is one note per repo, and both its filename and its line format are schema settings: ```yaml log: folder: Log file_format: "{repo}-log.md" entry_format: "- [{date}] {line} | commits: {commits} | {area}" ``` `file_format` takes a single `{repo}` placeholder, and the default suffix is what keeps the log clear of the hub note: with `Areas/greenhouse.md` and `Log/greenhouse.md` both in the vault, Obsidian cannot resolve `[[greenhouse]]`. Every place that builds the log path reads this setting — `log_append`, the log tail in `context`, the stop hook's unlogged-commit check, `changelog` and `lint` — so changing it moves all of them at once. Rename the existing files to match when you change it. Also configurable: the tag vocabulary and whether it is enforced, the synonym groups search expands, `stale_after_days`, and the search weights. ## Tools Every call refreshes the index first, throttled to at most once every 20 seconds. | Tool | Cost | What it does | | --- | --- | --- | | `search` | cheap | Full-text over the index. Title, summary, tags and body, with synonyms, prefixes, quoted phrases and folded diacritics. A bare commit sha finds the notes that mention it. Hides archive and superseded notes and says how many. | | `context` | cheap | The session-start call: the system notes covering a path, the open tasks, the reference notes and the tail of the repo log, in one answer. | | `list_files` | cheap | Paths only. | | `read_file` | moderate | One note, prefixed with `etag: `. A superseded note carries a warning callout. | | `lint` | moderate | Reads every note and reports drift. | | `write_file` | write | Validates against the schema and refuses the write if it does not hold. Stamps `updated`, fills `date`. Pass `expected_etag` to make the write conditional. | | `append_file` | write | Appends and bumps `updated`. Creates the note when missing. | | `close` | write | Sets status complete (or superseded, with `superseded_by`, when `merged_into` is given) and moves the note into the archive. | | `log_append` | write | One dated line in the repo log, with the commits it produced. Creates the log when missing. | | `move_file` | write | Moves or renames. | | `delete_file` | write | Deletes for good. Prefer `close`. | `search` filters: `folder`, `status`, `tag`, `kind`, `area`, `path_prefix`, `since`, `include_archive`, `include_superseded`, `limit`. ### What lint reports `broken_frontmatter`, `missing_required` (per field), `missing_area`, `unknown_tags` (only when the vocabulary is strict), `unresolved_links`, `orphans` (no inbound wikilink; log and archive ignored), `stale_active`, `archive_status_mismatch`, `duplicate_stems`, `superseded_target_missing`. ```sh uvx notes-vault-mcp lint uvx notes-vault-mcp lint --write "Log/lint-$(date +%F).md" ``` ## Hooks Two Claude Code hooks, both reading the hook JSON on stdin and both exiting 0 whatever happens. `session-start` prints the context bundle for the working directory, then — for each system note it returned — the commits touching that note's `path` since the note was last updated. That is the answer to "is this note still true?" before the agent believes it. `stop` blocks the end of a session that left work unrecorded: commits from the last 24 hours whose sha does not appear in the repo log, and open task notes older than 14 days. It returns `{"decision": "block", "reason": ...}`, or nothing at all when the vault is up to date. Set `VAULT_STOP_HOOK=off` to silence it. ```json { "hooks": { "SessionStart": [ { "hooks": [{ "type": "command", "command": "uvx notes-vault-mcp hook session-start" }] } ], "Stop": [ { "hooks": [{ "type": "command", "command": "uvx notes-vault-mcp hook stop" }] } ] } } ``` ## Other commands ```sh notes-vault-mcp serve --transport stdio # the default notes-vault-mcp sync --rebuild # drop the index and read every note again notes-vault-mcp search "bokning" --limit 5 # the same ranking, from a shell notes-vault-mcp changelog greenhouse 2026-08 --repo-path ~/projects/greenhouse notes-vault-mcp changelog greenhouse 2026-08 --repo-path ~/projects/greenhouse --write notes-vault-mcp changelog --all # this month (and last month during its first week) ``` `changelog` prints the log lines, the git commits grouped by day, and the repo's notes dated inside the period. With `--write` it keeps that as a period page, `Log/-.md`, between the markers `` and ``; prose above the markers (a summary written by an agent at month end) is left alone, and the page's status follows the calendar. `--all` does it for every repo the session-start hook has seen on this machine, and the stop hook runs that once a day, so the pages stay current without a cron. ## Backlog ```sh notes-vault-mcp backlog --area greenhouse --priority high ``` A backlog item is a task note with `status: backlog`, an `area`, a one-line `summary`, an optional `priority` (`urgent`, `high`, `medium`, `low`) and an optional `source` (who said it and when, or a sha). `backlog_add` files one from a conversation the moment something is deferred; `backlog` lists them by priority then age, filtered by area or family; `context` shows the ones relevant to the current repo apart from the open tasks. Picking an item up is setting its status to `active`; finishing it is `close`. Lint leaves backlog notes alone however old they get, and flags a `complete` note that was never closed. `init` writes `Backlog.base` next to the other Obsidian bases. ## HTTP transport ```sh VAULT_TOKEN=$(openssl rand -hex 32) notes-vault-mcp serve --transport http --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8765 ``` Streamable HTTP on `/mcp`. Every request must carry `Authorization: Bearer $VAULT_TOKEN`; anything else gets 401 before it reaches the server. `VAULT_TOKEN` is mandatory in this mode — the command refuses to start without it. ## Development ```sh uv sync uv run pytest uv run ruff check . ``` The test suite runs against a fixture vault under `tests/fixtures/vault/` and a moto-mocked S3 bucket. It never touches a real bucket. ## License MIT. See [LICENSE](https://github.com/gronare/notes-vault-mcp/blob/HEAD/LICENSE).