MCP Joplin Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that integrates with Joplin notes, allowing AI clients (like Perplexity) to access and manipulate your notebooks and notes through Joplin's Web Clipper API.

Features

🔍 Search Functionality: Search notes and notebooks
📖 Content Reading: Get complete content of specific notes
📝 Creation Features: Create new notes and notebooks
🗑️ Deletion Features: Delete notes and notebooks (supports trash or permanent deletion)
🔄 Move Functionality: Move notes to different notebooks
📋 List Functionality: List all notebooks and notes within specific notebooks

Requirements

Joplin Desktop - Ensure it's installed and running
Node.js 18+ - Required to run the MCP server
Web Clipper Enabled - Enable Web Clipper service in Joplin

Installation & Setup

1. Enable Joplin Web Clipper

Open Joplin desktop application
Go to Tools → Options → Web Clipper
Check Enable Web Clipper Service
Note the port number displayed (usually 41184)
Copy the API Token (if authentication is required)

2. Install MCP Joplin Server

# Clone or download this project
cd mcp-joplin

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Compile TypeScript
npm run build

3. Test Execution

# Run directly (will auto-detect Joplin service)
npm start

# Or specify port
npm start -- --port 41184

# Or specify token (if needed)
npm start -- --token YOUR_API_TOKEN

# View help
npm start -- --help

4. Using npx

# Global installation (recommended)
npm install -g .

# Then use anywhere
npx mcp-joplin

# Or run locally
npx . --port 41184

MCP Client Configuration

Configure Perplexity or other MCP clients

Add the following configuration to your MCP client configuration file:

🔐 Configuration (API Token Required)

This MCP server requires a Joplin API token to function properly:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "joplin": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "/ABSOLUTE/PATH/TO/mcp-joplin",
        "--port",
        "41184",
        "--token",
        "YOUR_API_TOKEN"
      ]
    }
  }
}

💡 Important: The API token is required for this MCP server to work properly.

Claude Desktop Configuration Example

Claude Desktop Configuration

In ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "joplin": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "/Users/yourusername/path/to/mcp-joplin",
        "--token",
        "YOUR_API_TOKEN"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Available MCP Tools

1. get_note_content

Get the complete content of a specific note

Parameters: noteId (string) - The ID of the note

2. search_notes

Search for notes

Parameters: 
- query (string) - Search keywords
- limit (number, optional) - Result limit (default: 20)

3. search_notebooks

Search for notebooks

Parameters: query (string) - Search keywords

4. list_notebooks

List all notebooks

Parameters: None

5. list_notes

List notes in a specific notebook

Parameters:
- notebookId (string) - The ID of the notebook
- limit (number, optional) - Result limit (default: 50)

5.1. list_sub_notebooks

List sub-notebooks within a specific notebook

Parameters:
- parentNotebookId (string) - The ID of the parent notebook

6. create_note

Create a new note

Parameters:
- title (string) - Note title
- body (string) - Note content (Markdown format)
- notebookId (string, optional) - Target notebook ID

7. create_notebook

Create a new notebook

Parameters:
- title (string) - Notebook title
- parentId (string, optional) - Parent notebook ID (for sub-notebooks)

8. delete_note

Delete a note

Parameters:
- noteId (string) - ID of the note to delete
- permanent (boolean, optional) - Whether to permanently delete (default: false, moves to trash)

9. delete_notebook

Delete a notebook

Parameters:
- notebookId (string) - ID of the notebook to delete
- permanent (boolean, optional) - Whether to permanently delete (default: false, moves to trash)

10. move_note

Move a note to a different notebook

Parameters:
- noteId (string) - ID of the note to move
- targetNotebookId (string) - Target notebook ID

11. list_sub_notebooks

List sub-notebooks within a specific notebook

Parameters:
- parentNotebookId (string) - The ID of the parent notebook

12. scan_unchecked_items

Scan notebooks and sub-notebooks for uncompleted todo items (- [ ])

Parameters:
- notebookId (string) - ID of the notebook to scan
- includeSubNotebooks (boolean, optional) - Whether to recursively scan sub-notebooks (default: true)

Usage Examples

Conversation examples in AI clients:

You: "Search for notes containing 'Python'"
AI: Using search_notes tool to search for relevant notes...

You: "Create a new notebook called 'Learning Plan'"
AI: Using create_notebook tool to create a new notebook...

You: "Create a note about JavaScript in the Learning Plan notebook"
AI: Using list_notebooks to find the notebook ID, then using create_note to create the note...

You: "Show the complete content of a specific note"
AI: Using get_note_content tool to retrieve note content...

You: "Scan my project notebook for all uncompleted todo items"
AI: Using scan_unchecked_items tool to scan all sub-notebooks...

Troubleshooting

Connection Issues

Confirm Joplin is running
- Joplin desktop application must remain open
Check Web Clipper settings
- Ensure Web Clipper service is enabled
- Check port settings (default 41184)
View error messages
# Use verbose mode to see errors DEBUG=* npm start

Common Errors

"Joplin Web Clipper service not found": Ensure Joplin is running and Web Clipper is enabled
"Connection refused": Check if port settings are correct
"Unauthorized" or "403 Forbidden": API token is required (see instructions below)

🔑 API Token Required

API Token is required for this MCP server to function properly.

Getting an API Token

In Joplin go to Tools → Options → Web Clipper
Copy the displayed token
Add --token YOUR_TOKEN to the startup command

Development

# Run in development mode
npm run dev

# Compile
npm run build

# Prepare for publishing
npm run prepublishOnly

Technical Architecture

Language: TypeScript/Node.js
MCP SDK: @modelcontextprotocol/sdk
HTTP Client: axios
CLI: commander
API: Joplin Web Clipper API

Technical Details

Notebook Search: Due to limitations in Joplin's search API for folder searches, we use client-side filtering to implement notebook search functionality
Pagination Handling: Automatically handles Joplin API's pagination mechanism (default 100 items per page), ensuring complete notebook and note lists are retrieved, solving the issue of incomplete sub-notebook display
Error Handling: Complete error handling mechanism, including Joplin API errors and network connection errors
Auto-detection: Supports automatic detection of Joplin Web Clipper port (41184-41194)

License

MIT License

Contributing

Issues and Pull Requests are welcome!

Support

If you encounter problems, please:

Check if Joplin Web Clipper is running normally
Review error messages and logs
Submit an Issue with detailed error information