A side-by-side look at the MCP Obsidian and XNotepad AI MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose MCP Obsidian for knowledge & memory work as a local process; choose XNotepad AI for knowledge & memory. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
OBSIDIAN_API_KEY.Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Knowledge & Memory | Knowledge & Memory |
| Quality signal | 47/100 · Fair | 31/100 · Emerging |
| Install command | Confirmed | Not confirmed yet |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | — |
| Auth | API key required | Not declared |
| Pricing | Free | Not declared |
| Required env vars | OBSIDIAN_API_KEY | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 4,478 | 0 |
| Directory activity | 3 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | Not listed | Not listed |
| Full listing | View MCP Obsidian | View XNotepad AI |
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
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.
{
"mcpServers": {
"markuspfundstein-mcp-obsidian": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"mcp-obsidian"
],
"env": {
"OBSIDIAN_API_KEY": "YOUR_OBSIDIAN_API_KEY_HERE"
}
}
}
}
No confirmed install command for XNotepad AI yet — follow the setup steps linked from its listing page rather than a guessed package name.
