Kobsidian MCP Server

TypeScript MCP server for Obsidian with a filesystem-first LLM Wiki layer, Dataview / Canvas / Kanban / Mermaid / Marp / Templates tools, and both

Local serverstdio

What is the Kobsidian MCP server?

Connect Kobsidian to Claude, Cursor or any other MCP client and it stops being a tab you switch to. TypeScript MCP server for Obsidian with a filesystem-first LLM Wiki layer, Dataview / Canvas / Kanban / Mermaid / Marp / Templates tools, and both stdio and Streamable HTTP transports. The kobsidian mcp server is what makes that connection.

What the server does

Inspired by Andrej Karpathy's LLM Wiki idea. You curate the sources; the LLM does the bookkeeping.

  • Filesystem-first. — Operates on your vault directly. Obsidian doesn't need to be running for 55+ of the 66 tools
  • Both transports. — Classic stdio for local MCP clients and Streamable HTTP (Hono) for remote, with CORS preflight, MCP-Protocol-Version handling, origin 403, and optional bearer auth — all per the 2025-11-25 spec

Available tools

The toolset is worth reading before you wire it up, because it tells you what the integration is really for:

  • Smithery — The Smithery tool exposed by this server
  • TLDR — No combination of plugins makes kObsidian depend on Obsidian being running — the REST-bridged tools just return a clear error if the plugin isn't

Credentials and setup notes

Configuration is passed through the environment: OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH, OBSIDIAN_API_URL, OBSIDIAN_REST_API_KEY. Treat anything key-shaped as a real credential — scope it to the minimum the server needs, and rotate it if it ever lands in a shared config.

Installation

The server ships on npm as kobsidian-mcp, so your MCP client can launch it on demand — there is no separate build step. Add the server block to your client's configuration, restart it, and the tools register themselves.

Where it fits

Plenty of file and storage access servers cover similar ground. The differences that matter in practice are scope of access and how much setup stands between you and a working tool call. Kobsidian's toolset — Smithery, TLDR — is a fair guide to whether it matches your workflow. It is maintained by bezata; worth a glance at recent repository activity before you build anything load-bearing on it.

We check each listing at SyncDev against the project's documentation before it goes live — if something here drifts out of date, it is a bug worth reporting.

Worth knowing first

  • It runs with your machine's permissions. That is convenient and also the reason to think about what you point it at before you approve a tool call.
  • Missing credentials fail quietly in some clients — if no tools show up, check the environment block first.
  • Keep per-call confirmation enabled while you learn its behaviour; it is the cheapest safeguard you have.

Available tools

ToolWhat it does
SmitheryThe Smithery tool exposed by this server.
TLDRNo combination of plugins makes kObsidian depend on Obsidian being running — the REST-bridged tools just return a clear error if the plugin isn't reachable, and the filesystem-first tools keep working.

How to install the Kobsidian MCP server

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kobsidian": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "kobsidian-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH": "your-value",
        "OBSIDIAN_API_URL": "your-value",
        "OBSIDIAN_REST_API_KEY": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}

Add to claude_desktop_config.json, then restart Claude Desktop.

Configuration

VariableDescriptionRequired
OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATHFilesystem location the server is allowed to use.Optional
OBSIDIAN_API_URLEndpoint or connection string the server talks to.Yes
OBSIDIAN_REST_API_KEYCredential the server authenticates with.Yes

Example prompts to try

  • Use Kobsidian to Smithery.
  • Use Kobsidian to TLDR.

Frequently asked questions

It connects Kobsidian to MCP-compatible AI assistants such as Claude and Cursor, exposing 2 tools (Smithery, TLDR) that the assistant can call on your behalf. Instead of copying data back and forth by hand, the assistant works with Kobsidian directly.