📝 Joplin MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server for Joplin that enables note access through the Model Context Protocol. Perfect for integration with AI assistants like Claude.

✨ Features

• 🔍 Search Notes: Full-text search across all notes

• 📚 List Notebooks: Browse available notebooks and sub-notebooks

• 🗂️ Create Notebooks: Create notebooks and nested sub-notebooks

• 📖 Read Notes: Retrieve individual notes

• ✏️ Edit Notes: Create new notes and update existing ones

• 🗑️ Delete Notes: Move notes to trash or delete permanently

• 📥 Markdown Import: Import markdown files as notes

• 🤖 AI Integration: Seamless integration with Claude and other MCP-capable AI assistants

Related MCP server: Obsidian MCP

🚀 Installation

Prerequisites

• Python 3.10 or higher

• Joplin Desktop with Web Clipper Service enabled

• uv (Python package manager)

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/dweigend/joplin-mcp.git
cd joplin-mcp

# Create and activate virtual environment
uv venv
source .venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate

# Install dependencies
```bash
uv pip install -e .

⚙️ Configuration

Joplin API Token

1. Open Joplin Desktop

2. Go to Tools -> Options -> Web Clipper

3. Enable the Web Clipper Service

4. Copy the API Token

Create a .env file in the project directory:

JOPLIN_TOKEN=your_api_token_here

Claude Desktop Setup

1. Install Claude Desktop

   • Download Claude Desktop

   • Ensure you have the latest version (Menu: Claude -> Check for Updates...)

2. Configure MCP Server

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "joplin": {
         "command": "/PATH/TO/UV/uv",
         "args": [
           "--directory",
           "/PATH/TO/YOUR/PROJECT/joplin_mcp",
           "run",
           "src/mcp/joplin_mcp.py"
         ]
       }
     }
   }

   • Replace /PATH/TO/UV/uv with the absolute path to your uv installation

     • Find the path with: which uv

     • Example macOS: /Users/username/.local/bin/uv

     • Example Windows: C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps\uv.exe

   • Replace /PATH/TO/YOUR/PROJECT/joplin_mcp with the absolute path to your project

   Important: Claude Desktop needs the full path to uv as it cannot access shell environment variables.

🛠️ Available Tools

search_notes

Search for notes in Joplin.

Parameters:

• query (string): Search query

• limit (int, optional): Maximum number of results (default: 100)

get_note

Retrieve a specific note by its ID.

Parameters:

• note_id (string): ID of the note

list_notebooks

List all available notebooks as a tree.

Parameters:

• None

create_notebook

Create a new notebook.

Parameters:

• title (string): Notebook title

• parent_id (string, optional): Parent notebook ID

• parent_notebook_name (string, optional): Parent notebook title or full path

create_note

Create a new note.

Parameters:

• title (string): Note title

• body (string, optional): Note content in Markdown

• parent_id (string, optional): ID of parent folder

• notebook_name (string, optional): Notebook title or full path such as Work/Projects

• is_todo (boolean, optional): Whether this is a todo item

update_note

Update an existing note.

Parameters:

• note_id (string): ID of note to update

• title (string, optional): New title

• body (string, optional): New content

• parent_id (string, optional): New parent folder ID

• notebook_name (string, optional): New notebook title or full path such as Work/Projects

• is_todo (boolean, optional): New todo status

delete_note

Delete a note.

Parameters:

• note_id (string): ID of note to delete

• permanent (boolean, optional): If true, permanently delete the note

import_markdown

Import a markdown file as a new note.

Parameters:

• file_path (string): Path to the markdown file

• parent_id (string, optional): ID of parent folder

• notebook_name (string, optional): Notebook title or full path such as Work/Projects

🧪 Development

Debug Mode

To start the server in debug mode:

MCP_LOG_LEVEL=debug mcp dev src/mcp/joplin_mcp.py

This starts the MCP Inspector at http://localhost:5173 where you can test the tools.

📄 License

MIT License - Copyright (c) 2025 David Weigend

👤 Author

David Weigend

• Website: weigend.studio

• GitHub: @dweigend

🤝 Contributing

Contributions, issues and feature requests are welcome! Visit the issues page.