Vault Cortex vs Obsidian Hybrid Search
A side-by-side look at the Vault Cortex and Obsidian Hybrid Search MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Vault Cortex for knowledge & memory work as a local process; choose Obsidian Hybrid Search for knowledge & memory as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Vault Cortex when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Knowledge & Memory domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- Its auth model fits you: OAuth 2.0.
- You have the keys it needs:
MCP_AUTH_TOKEN, VAULT_PATH.
Choose Obsidian Hybrid Search when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Knowledge & Memory domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- Its auth model fits you: No auth required.
- You have the keys it needs:
OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH, OPENAI_API_KEY, OPENAI_BASE_URL, OPENAI_EMBEDDING_MODEL. - You want tools like
search, read, reindex.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Knowledge & Memory | Knowledge & Memory |
| Quality signal | 52/100 · Good | 64/100 · Good |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | OAuth 2.0 | No auth required |
| Pricing | Free | Not declared |
| Required env vars | MCP_AUTH_TOKENVAULT_PATH | OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATHOPENAI_API_KEYOPENAI_BASE_URLOPENAI_EMBEDDING_MODEL |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 28 | 112 |
| Directory activity | 4 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 3 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | Not listed | 4 |
| Full listing | View Vault Cortex | View Obsidian Hybrid Search |
Tools & capabilities
Vault Cortex tools
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
Obsidian Hybrid Search tools 4
searchSearch the vault. Use `query` for text search (`mode`: hybrid/semantic/fulltext/title) or `path` for semantic similarity. Combine `path` with `related: true` for graph traversal. Pass `queries[]` for multi-query fan-out (parallel search, RRF merge). Supports `scope`, `tag`, `limit`, `threshold`, `d…readFetch one or more notes by vault-relative path. Returns full content, title, aliases, tags, links, and backlinks. On path miss: returns `found: false` with top-3 fuzzy suggestions. Accepts a single path or an array. Use `snippet_length` to cap content sizereindexReindex the vault or a specific filestatusShow total notes, indexed count, last indexed time
Ready-to-paste client configs
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
Vault Cortex
{
"mcpServers": {
"aliasunder-vault-cortex": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"vault-cortex@latest"
],
"env": {
"MCP_AUTH_TOKEN": "YOUR_MCP_AUTH_TOKEN_HERE",
"VAULT_PATH": "YOUR_VAULT_PATH_HERE"
}
}
}
}
Obsidian Hybrid Search
{
"mcpServers": {
"obsidian-hybrid-search": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"-p",
"obsidian-hybrid-search@latest",
"obsidian-hybrid-search-mcp"
],
"env": {
"OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH": "YOUR_OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH_HERE",
"OPENAI_API_KEY": "YOUR_OPENAI_API_KEY_HERE",
"OPENAI_BASE_URL": "YOUR_OPENAI_BASE_URL_HERE",
"OPENAI_EMBEDDING_MODEL": "YOUR_OPENAI_EMBEDDING_MODEL_HERE"
}
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Vault Cortex is categorized under Knowledge & Memory and uses a local stdio subprocess. Obsidian Hybrid Search belongs to Knowledge & Memory and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Vault Cortex for knowledge & memory work and Obsidian Hybrid Search for knowledge & memory.
Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client.
Vault Cortex is listed as free. Auth: oauth 2.0. Obsidian Hybrid Search has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. Auth: no auth required. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.
Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add aliasunder-vault-cortex and obsidian-hybrid-search as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Vault Cortex has a quality signal of 52/100 (Good) with 4 views, 0 installs and 28 GitHub stars. Obsidian Hybrid Search has 64/100 (Good) with 3 views, 0 installs and 112 GitHub stars.