Install Obsidian MCP Server

Pick your client, copy the command, done.

Manual setup required. The maintainer's config contains paths only you know — edit the placeholders below before adding it to Claude Code.

Run this once before adding it to Claude Code.

cd ~/obsidian-mcp-server
npm install
npm run build

claude mcp add -e "OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH=${OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH}" obsidian-mcp-server -- node /path/to/obsidian-mcp-server/dist/index.js

Replace any placeholder paths in the command with the real path on your machine.

Required:OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH+ 1 optional

Environment Variables

Set these before running Obsidian MCP Server.

VariableDescriptionRequired

OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATHThe absolute file system path to the Obsidian vault directoryYes

OBSIDIAN_CONFIG_PATHPath to the optional config.json fileNo

Once configured, Obsidian MCP Server gives your AI agent access to:

searchPerform keyword or semantic search across the Obsidian vault

querytypelimit

read_noteRead the content of a specific note from the vault

path

write_noteCreate or update a note in the vault

pathcontent

After setup, try these prompts with your AI agent:

→Search my vault for notes related to 'project architecture' and summarize the key decisions.

→Find all notes tagged with #meeting and extract the action items.

→Create a new note titled 'Meeting Notes' with the summary of our current conversation.

→Read the note 'Daily Journal' from yesterday and tell me what I worked on.

Prerequisites & system requirements

An MCP-compatible client (Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Claude Desktop, or Codex)
Node.js 18+ with npm/npx installed
OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH — The absolute file system path to the Obsidian vault directory

Alternative installation methods

cd /path/to/obsidian-mcp-server && npm install && npm run build

Save the docs, env vars, and workflow around Obsidian MCP Server in Conare so Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor remember it next time.