Typescript MCP Server with Obsidian Integration

A command-line interface for interacting with your Obsidian vault.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 14.x or later

• npm or yarn

• An Obsidian vault

Related MCP server: Obsidian MCP REST Server

Setup

1. Clone the repository

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

3. Create a .env file in the project root with your Obsidian vault path:

   OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH=/path/to/your/obsidian/vault

Development

Starting and Stopping Services

Start All Services

To start the backend, frontend, and health data server simultaneously:

# From the project root directory
npm run dev

This will start:

• Backend server (default: http://localhost:3000)

• Frontend development server (default: http://localhost:5173)

• Health data server (default: http://localhost:8000)

Stop All Services

To stop all running services:

# From the project root directory
npm run stop

Manual Service Management

Backend Server

# Start backend server
cd server
npm run dev

Frontend Development Server

1. Navigate to the client directory:

   cd client

2. Install dependencies (if not already installed):

   npm install

3. Start the development server:

   npm run dev

The application will be available at http://localhost:5173 by default.

Apple Health Data Server

The application includes a server to serve Apple Health data. Follow these steps to set it up:

1. Ensure you have Python 3.8+ installed

2. Install the required Python packages:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Start the server:

   python server/main.py

The server will start on http://localhost:8000 by default.

API Endpoints

• GET / - List all files and directories in the appleHealthData directory

• GET /file/{path} - Get file contents or list directory contents

• GET /docs - Interactive API documentation (Swagger UI)

• GET /redoc - Alternative API documentation (ReDoc)

For more details, see APPLE_HEALTH_SERVER.md.

Available Scripts

This project includes several npm scripts to help with development and testing:

Start the Server Application

npm start

Starts the application using ts-node. The server will be available at http://localhost:3000 by default (or the port specified in your environment variables).

Development Mode with Auto-Reload

npm run dev

Starts the application in development mode using nodemon, which automatically restarts the server when you make changes to any TypeScript file in the src directory.

Build the Project

npm run build

Compiles TypeScript files to JavaScript in the dist directory.

Run Tests

npm test

Runs the test suite (currently no tests are configured).

Run CLI Tool

# Run the CLI tool directly
npm run cli [command]

# Examples:
npm run cli list
npm run cli search "query"
npm run cli read "path/to/note.md"

Environment Variables

The application uses the following environment variables:

• OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH: Path to your Obsidian vault (required)

• PORT: Port number for the server (default: 3000)

Create a .env file in the project root to set these variables:

OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH=/path/to/your/obsidian/vault
PORT=3000

Project Structure

• src/ - Source code

  • tools/ - MCP tool implementations

    • obsidian.ts - Obsidian vault integration

  • index.ts - Main application entry point

  • router.ts - API route definitions

  • types.ts - TypeScript type definitions

• dist/ - Compiled JavaScript (created when running npm run build)

• test-obsidian.ts - Test script for Obsidian tool

• src/cli.ts - Command-line interface

CLI Usage

Getting Started

After setting up your environment, you can use the CLI tool to interact with your Obsidian vault. The tool provides three main commands: search, list, and read.

Search for Notes

Search for notes containing specific text:

# Basic search
npm run cli search "search query"

# Limit the number of results (default: 5)
npm run cli search "search query" -- --limit 10

# Example: Search for notes about "project management"
npm run cli search "project management"

Example output:

Searching for "project management" (max 5 results)...

1. Project Management Best Practices
  Path: 01_Projects/Project Management Best Practices.md
  Modified: 5/25/2025, 2:30:45 PM
  Size: 12 KB
  Project management is the practice of...

2. Team Meeting Notes
  Path: 02_Meetings/Team Meeting Notes.md
  Modified: 5/26/2025, 10:15:22 AM
  Size: 8 KB
  Discussed project management tools and...

List Notes in a Directory

List all notes in a specific directory:

# List notes in the root directory
npm run cli list

# List notes in a specific directory
npm run cli list "00_Slipbox"

# Limit the number of results (default: 10)
npm run cli list "00_Slipbox" -- --limit 5

# Example: List all notes in the "Projects" directory
npm run cli list "01_Projects"

Example output:

Listing notes in "01_Projects" (max 10 results)...

Directory: 01_Projects
Total files: 15

1. Project Alpha
  Path: 01_Projects/Project Alpha.md
  Modified: 5/20/2025, 3:45:12 PM
  Size: 5 KB

2. Project Beta
  Path: 01_Projects/Project Beta.md
  Modified: 5/22/2025, 9:15:33 AM
  Size: 3 KB

Read a Specific Note

View the content of a specific note:

# Read a note by its path relative to your vault root
npm run cli read "00_Slipbox/MyNote.md"

# Example: Read a note from a subdirectory
npm run cli read "01_Projects/Project Alpha/Meeting Notes.md"

Example output:

Reading note: 00_Slipbox/MyNote.md

My Note Title
Path: 00_Slipbox/MyNote.md
Modified: 5/26/2025, 11:00:00 AM
Size: 2 KB

--- CONTENT ---

# My Note

This is the content of my note...

- List item 1
- List item 2
- List item 3

--- END OF CONTENT ---

Global Installation (Optional)

For easier access, you can install the CLI globally:

# From the project directory
npm link

# Now you can use it from anywhere
obsidian-cli list
obsidian-cli search "query"
obsidian-cli read "path/to/note.md"

API Endpoints

If you prefer to use the HTTP API directly:

Search for notes

curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/api/tools/obsidian/search \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query": "project", "limit": 5}'

List notes in a directory

curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/api/tools/obsidian/list \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"directory": "00_Slipbox", "limit": 10}'

Read a specific note

curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/api/tools/obsidian/read \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"filePath": "00_Slipbox/SomeNote.md"}'