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Obsidian Brain

Searches, analyzes, and edits local Obsidian vaults through one Node-based MCP process.

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Install Obsidian Brain

Pick your client, then add it in one click or paste the config.

STDIONode.js
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
claude_desktop_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian-brain": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "cache"
      ],
      "env": {
        "VAULT_PATH": "YOUR_VALUE_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Settings → Developer → Edit Config, merge this into mcpServers, then fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop.

Values are written into the snippet above so you can paste it as is. They never leave your browser.

We couldn’t confirm it starts correctly

We ran the install command but it didn't respond within our test window — this can mean a slow first-time install rather than a real problem.

npx -y cache

Process exited before answering initialize.

This is an experimental automated check and can have false negatives — missing environment variables, a slow cold install, etc. It doesn’t necessarily mean something’s wrong. Last checked 5d ago.

Overview

The obsidian-brain MCP server gives MCP clients semantic search, knowledge-graph analysis, and editing access to an Obsidian vault. It reads Markdown files directly from disk and communicates with clients over local stdio, so Obsidian, an HTTP bridge, and an API key are not required. A SQLite index combines heading-level embeddings with FTS5 BM25 search, while graph tools analyze links between notes. Reach for it when an agent needs local vault retrieval, relationship discovery, or controlled note changes.

Use cases

  • Search a local Markdown vault by meaning and exact text
  • Explore note relationships and graph paths
  • Identify themes and highly connected notes
  • Create and update vault notes from an MCP client
  • Reindex a vault after file changes

Key features

  • Heading-level hybrid semantic and BM25 search
  • Knowledge-graph traversal and analytics
  • Note creation, editing, linking, moving, and deletion
  • Local SQLite indexing with incremental updates
  • Optional active-note, Dataview, and Bases access

Security & health

What it can reach and how reliably it runs — from our own checks, not the maintainer’s claims.

ActiveLast checked 1d ago

Recent health check succeeded.

6/6 checks healthy over the last 45d

Supply-chain signal

No high-severity advisories surfaced by our automated scan.

Critical 0High 0Medium 0Low 0

Scanned 9d ago via OSV.dev · cache (npm)

Adoption & maintenance

Factual signals from GitHub, npm, and our automated checks — not a rating.

GitHub stars13Stargazers on the source repository.
npm downloads23kPackage downloads in the last 30 days.
Last commit2mo agoMost recent push to the default branch.
Install checkInconclusiveDidn't respond in our test window — often a slow first install.
Directory activity4 viewsConfig copies, upvotes, and views on AllMCPs.

How Obsidian Brain works

What obsidian-brain MCP server does

The obsidian-brain MCP server connects an MCP client to an Obsidian vault or any directory containing Markdown files. It supports three main workflows: finding and reading content, examining relationships between notes, and changing files. The server can create, edit, link, move, and delete notes, with an edit-preview operation available before applying a change.

Its retrieval tools include semantic search, note listing, and note reading. Graph operations can find related notes, calculate paths between two notes, identify themes, and rank notes using graph structure. The project lists 18 tools in total, including indexing and index-status operations. Optional live-editor tools are available only when the companion Obsidian plugin is installed.

How it works

The process runs locally as a Node application and exchanges JSON-RPC messages with the MCP client through stdio. It reads vault files from disk, parses their contents, and stores searchable data in SQLite. The index contains note nodes, link edges, full-text data, and vector embeddings.

Content is split into heading-aware chunks, with code and LaTeX blocks preserved. Search can use hybrid retrieval, combining semantic ranking with SQLite FTS5 BM25 results through Reciprocal Rank Fusion. When a note changes, the server writes to the vault immediately and incrementally re-indexes the affected file. A first launch indexes the vault and downloads an embedding model of about 34 MB; later launches avoid that initial work.

Setup and configuration

The obsidian-brain MCP server requires Node.js 20 or newer and a configured VAULT_PATH. A typical client configuration starts the package with npx -y obsidian-brain@latest server and passes the vault location as an environment variable. The supplied example targets Claude Desktop, while the project also documents setup for other MCP clients.

No Obsidian installation is needed for the core server, and Obsidian may be closed while files are read or edited. The repository also provides a macOS installer that configures dependencies and the Claude Desktop connection. Users who prefer manual setup can add the MCP server entry themselves.

Tools and capabilities

Available capabilities include:

  • Search, list, and read Markdown notes.
  • Find connections and paths across the vault graph.
  • Detect themes and rank notes with graph analytics.
  • Create, edit, preview, link, move, and delete notes.
  • Rebuild the index and inspect indexing status.
  • Query the active note, Dataview, and Bases through the optional companion plugin.

The optional plugin exposes live Obsidian runtime state through a localhost HTTP endpoint and requires Obsidian to be running. Server and plugin releases should use the same major and minor versions.

Limitations and notes

The obsidian-brain MCP server is local and uses the configured filesystem path; it does not provide a hosted endpoint. The core feature set does not include live editor state, Dataview results, or Bases rows without the companion plugin. Initial indexing can delay tool availability for 30–60 seconds.

A missing VAULT_PATH prevents startup. Native SQLite dependencies can also fail when built for a different Node ABI, requiring a rebuild. The documentation notes that stale npx caches may cause an older release to load. Vault content is intended to remain on the local machine according to the project description.

Read the full README View source on GitHub

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Frequently Asked Questions about Obsidian Brain

obsidian-brain is an MCP server that connects MCP clients to an Obsidian vault or local Markdown folder. Its main tools provide semantic and full-text search, note reading, knowledge-graph analysis, note editing, linking, moving, deletion, and index maintenance. It runs locally over stdio without requiring an Obsidian plugin for core features.

Install it by configuring your MCP client to run `npx -y obsidian-brain@latest server` and setting `VAULT_PATH` to the absolute vault path. Node.js 20 or newer is required. The repository also provides a macOS installer for Claude Desktop.

Yes, obsidian-brain works with Cursor through its local stdio MCP configuration. Set the server command to run the package and provide `VAULT_PATH`; the project includes Cursor-specific installation guidance.

No, the core obsidian-brain MCP server does not require a plugin or even an open Obsidian application. An optional companion plugin is needed only for `active_note`, `dataview_query`, and `base_query`.

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