Obsidian MCP Server

# Obsidian MCP Setup for Amp Connect your Obsidian vault to Amp (Sourcegraph's AI coding assistant) to enable AI-powered note-taking, documentation generation, and knowledge management. ## 🎯 What This Does This setup allows Amp to: - ✅ **Create notes** in your Obsidian vault - ✅ **Read notes** and search your knowledge base - ✅ **Save code snippets** with automatic formatting - ✅ **Document projects** as you code - ✅ **Create knowledge graphs** with linked notes - ✅ **Save thread summaries** from your Amp sessions ## 📋 Prerequisites 1. **Obsidian** installed ([download here](https://obsidian.md/)) 2. **Amp** installed ([Sourcegraph Amp](https://ampcode.com/)) 3. **Node.js** v18+ ([download here](https://nodejs.org/)) 4. **Obsidian MCP Server** cloned and built ([GitHub](https://github.com/Kynlos/Obsidian-MCP)) ## 🚀 Quick Start ### Step 0: Setup Obsidian MCP Server 1. **Clone the Obsidian MCP repository:** ```bash git clone https://github.com/Kynlos/Obsidian-MCP.git cd Obsidian-MCP npm install npm run build ``` 2. **Note the installation path** (you'll need it for configuration) ### Step 1: Configure MCP Server 1. **Copy the configuration template:** ```bash cp obsidian-config.json ~/.config/amp/mcp-config.json ``` Or on Windows: ```powershell copy obsidian-config.json %APPDATA%\Amp\mcp-config.json ``` 2. **Edit the configuration** and set your paths: ```json { "mcpServers": { "obsidian": { "command": "node", "args": [ "C:/path/to/Obsidian-MCP/build/index.js" ], "env": { "OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH": "C:/Users/YourName/Documents/MyVault" } } } } ``` **Important**: Use absolute paths for both the MCP server and your vault! ### Step 2: Verify Installation 1. **Restart Amp** 2. **Test the connection** in Amp: ``` You: "List my Obsidian vaults" Amp: [should show your vault(s)] ``` 3. **Create a test note:** ``` You: "Create a note in Obsidian called 'Test' with content 'Hello from Amp!'" Amp: [creates the note] ``` 4. **Verify in Obsidian** - You should see the new note! ## 📁 Configuration Options ### Basic Configuration **Minimal setup** (single vault): ```json { "mcpServers": { "obsidian": { "command": "node", "args": [ "/absolute/path/to/Obsidian-MCP/build/index.js" ], "env": { "OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH": "/absolute/path/to/vault" } } } } ``` ### Advanced Configuration **Multiple vaults** or custom settings: ```json { "mcpServers": { "obsidian": { "command": "node", "args": [ "/absolute/path/to/Obsidian-MCP/build/index.js" ], "env": { "OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH": "/path/to/main/vault", "OBSIDIAN_DEFAULT_VAULT": "MainVault", "OBSIDIAN_DEBUG": "false" } } } } ``` ### Environment Variables Create a `.env` file in your vault directory: ```bash # .env OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH=/Users/you/Documents/MyVault OBSIDIAN_DEFAULT_VAULT=MyVault OBSIDIAN_DEBUG=false ``` ## 💡 Usage Examples ### 1. **Save Code Snippets** ``` You: "Save this Python function to Obsidian as a code snippet" [paste your code] ``` Amp will create a formatted note with: - Code block with syntax highlighting - Description and tags - Automatic filename ### 2. **Document a Project** ``` You: "Document the architecture of this project in Obsidian" ``` Amp will: - Analyze your codebase - Create architecture documentation - Add diagrams and code examples - Link related concepts ### 3. **Create Knowledge Notes** ``` You: "Save this explanation about React hooks to Obsidian with tags react, hooks, javascript" ``` Creates a note with: - Title - Content in Markdown - Tags for searchability - Automatic linking ### 4. **Save Thread Summaries** ``` You: "Save a summary of our conversation to Obsidian" ``` Amp creates: - Thread summary - Key insights - Code snippets discussed - Tags and references ### 5. **Search Your Notes** ``` You: "Search my Obsidian notes for 'authentication patterns'" ``` Amp will: - Search your vault - Show relevant notes - Provide summaries ## 🔧 Platform-Specific Setup ### Windows **Config location:** ``` %APPDATA%\Amp\mcp-config.json ``` **Example path:** ```json { "OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH": "C:/Users/YourName/Documents/ObsidianVault" } ``` **PowerShell setup:** ```powershell # Create config directory New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path "$env:APPDATA\Amp" # Copy config Copy-Item obsidian-config.json "$env:APPDATA\Amp\mcp-config.json" # Edit with notepad notepad "$env:APPDATA\Amp\mcp-config.json" ``` ### macOS **Config location:** ``` ~/.config/amp/mcp-config.json ``` **Example path:** ```json { "OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH": "/Users/YourName/Documents/ObsidianVault" } ``` **Terminal setup:** ```bash # Create config directory mkdir -p ~/.config/amp # Copy config cp obsidian-config.json ~/.config/amp/mcp-config.json # Edit with default editor open -e ~/.config/amp/mcp-config.json ``` ### Linux **Config location:** ``` ~/.config/amp/mcp-config.json ``` **Example path:** ```json { "OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH": "/home/yourname/Documents/ObsidianVault" } ``` **Terminal setup:** ```bash # Create config directory mkdir -p ~/.config/amp # Copy config cp obsidian-config.json ~/.config/amp/mcp-config.json # Edit with nano nano ~/.config/amp/mcp-config.json ``` ## 🎨 Best Practices ### 1. **Organize with Tags** Always tag your notes for easy retrieval: ``` You: "Save this with tags: python, async, patterns" ``` ### 2. **Use Descriptive Titles** Let Amp generate good titles: ``` You: "Save this code snippet about API rate limiting" ``` → Creates: `api-rate-limiting-implementation.md` ### 3. **Link Related Notes** Amp automatically creates links between related notes using `[[wikilinks]]` ### 4. **Save Thread Context** After solving a problem: ``` You: "Save a summary of how we solved this bug to Obsidian" ``` ### 5. **Create Learning Logs** Document what you learn: ``` You: "Save what I learned about GraphQL subscriptions to Obsidian" ``` ## 📚 Example Workflows ### Workflow 1: **Document a New Codebase** ``` 1. You: "Analyze this repository and create an architecture overview in Obsidian" 2. You: "Document the API endpoints in Obsidian" 3. You: "Create a developer onboarding guide in Obsidian" 4. You: "Save code examples for common tasks to Obsidian" ``` ### Workflow 2: **Learning & Research** ``` 1. You: "Search my Obsidian notes for 'microservices patterns'" 2. You: "Read the note about event sourcing from Obsidian" 3. You: "Save this new pattern I learned about CQRS to Obsidian" 4. You: "Create a comparison note between different patterns" ``` ### Workflow 3: **Bug Fixing Session** ``` 1. [Start debugging with Amp] 2. You: "Save the root cause of this bug to Obsidian" 3. You: "Save the solution as a code snippet in Obsidian" 4. You: "Create a note about how to prevent this in the future" ``` ## 🐛 Troubleshooting ### Issue: "Vault not found" **Solution:** 1. Check your vault path is **absolute**, not relative 2. Use forward slashes `/` even on Windows 3. No trailing slash: `C:/Vault` not `C:/Vault/` 4. Verify the path exists: `ls /path/to/vault` or `dir C:\path\to\vault` ### Issue: "Permission denied" **Solution:** 1. Ensure Obsidian isn't locking the vault 2. Close Obsidian temporarily 3. Check file permissions on the vault directory 4. On Linux/Mac: `chmod -R 755 /path/to/vault` ### Issue: "MCP server not responding" **Solution:** 1. Restart Amp 2. Check Node.js is installed: `node --version` 3. Clear npm cache: `npx clear-npx-cache` 4. Reinstall MCP: `npm install -g @kynlos/obsidian-mcp` ### Issue: "Notes not appearing in Obsidian" **Solution:** 1. Refresh Obsidian: `Ctrl/Cmd + R` 2. Check the vault path is correct 3. Verify notes are created: check the file system directly 4. Ensure Obsidian is pointed to the correct vault ## 🔐 Security & Privacy - ✅ **Local only** - All data stays on your machine - ✅ **No cloud sync** - Unless you configure Obsidian sync - ✅ **No tracking** - MCP server is open source - ✅ **Full control** - You own your notes ## 🔗 Links & Resources - **Obsidian MCP Server**: https://github.com/Kynlos/Obsidian-MCP - **Amp Documentation**: https://ampcode.com/manual - **Obsidian**: https://obsidian.md/ - **MCP Specification**: https://modelcontextprotocol.io/ ## 🆘 Support **Having issues?** 1. Check the [troubleshooting section](#-troubleshooting) 2. Open an issue on [GitHub](https://github.com/Kynlos/Obsidian-MCP/issues) 3. Ask in the Amp Discord community ## 📄 License MIT License - See the Obsidian MCP repository for details. --- **Happy note-taking with Amp + Obsidian! 🚀**