Obsidian Sync MCP

Give any AI agent access to your Obsidian vault over MCP. Run it locally against your vault files, or pair it with Self-hosted LiveSync and deploy to the cloud so it works even when your machine is off.

Example: From your phone, ask your AI: "What's in my daily note for today?" — and get the full content back, with a link to open it in Obsidian.

How it works

The server connects to your vault in two ways:

• Filesystem mode — reads .md files directly from your vault folder. No database needed.

• CouchDB mode — reads from a CouchDB database, locally or in the cloud. Your vault syncs to CouchDB via Self-hosted LiveSync, the community Obsidian plugin (600k+ downloads). The MCP server reads from CouchDB directly using livesync-commonlib — the same library that powers the plugin — for proper chunk handling and E2E encryption support.

Both modes expose the same MCP tools over HTTP, so any MCP-compatible agent can connect: Claude, Copilot, custom agents, anything that speaks the Model Context Protocol.

Choose your setup

A. Deploy MCP to the cloud

You already have LiveSync and CouchDB on an always-on server. You just need the MCP server deployed alongside it.

Using Fly.io setup script (macOS/Linux, or WSL on Windows):

git clone https://github.com/es617/obsidian-sync-mcp.git
cd obsidian-sync-mcp
./deploy/setup.sh    # choose option 2 (MCP only)

The script asks for your CouchDB connection details, vault name, and encryption passphrase.

Or run the Docker image on any always-on server:

docker run -p 8787:8787 \
  -v mcp-data:/data -e DATA_DIR=/data \
  -e COUCHDB_URL=https://your-couchdb:5984 \
  -e COUCHDB_USER=admin -e COUCHDB_PASSWORD=yourpassword \
  -e COUCHDB_DATABASE=obsidian -e VAULT_NAME=MyVault \
  -e COUCHDB_PASSPHRASE=your-encryption-passphrase \
  -e MCP_AUTH_TOKEN=yourpassword \
  -e BASE_URL=https://your-server-url \
  ghcr.io/es617/obsidian-sync-mcp:latest

Set COUCHDB_PASSPHRASE if you use E2E encryption in LiveSync. Set BASE_URL to your public URL (required for OAuth callbacks when agents connect over HTTPS).

Your MCP endpoint is https://your-app.fly.dev/mcp (Fly.io) or https://your-server:8787/mcp (Docker behind HTTPS).

See Cost for Fly.io pricing.

Requires flyctl for the Fly.io path:

curl -L https://fly.io/install.sh | sh
export PATH="$HOME/.fly/bin:$PATH"  # add to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc
fly auth login

B. Deploy everything to the cloud

Starting fresh — no LiveSync yet. Deploy CouchDB and MCP together, then set up LiveSync in Obsidian.

Using Fly.io setup script (macOS/Linux, or WSL on Windows):

git clone https://github.com/es617/obsidian-sync-mcp.git
cd obsidian-sync-mcp
./deploy/setup.sh    # choose option 1 (CouchDB + MCP)

The script generates credentials, creates the database, and deploys. Save the credentials it prints.

Or with Docker Compose on any always-on server:

git clone https://github.com/es617/obsidian-sync-mcp.git
cd obsidian-sync-mcp

cat > .env <<EOF
COUCHDB_PASSWORD=changeme
VAULT_NAME=MyVault
EOF

docker compose up -d

After deployment:

1. In Obsidian, install Self-hosted LiveSync and configure it with the credentials from the setup output

2. Your MCP endpoint is https://your-app.fly.dev/mcp (Fly.io) or http://your-server:8787/mcp (Docker)

3. The MCP_AUTH_TOKEN is the password you enter when an agent connects

Always-on server
├── CouchDB + persistent storage
└── MCP server
      ↑                    ↑
Obsidian + LiveSync    AI agents

Requires flyctl for the Fly.io path:

curl -L https://fly.io/install.sh | sh
export PATH="$HOME/.fly/bin:$PATH"  # add to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc
fly auth login

Cost (Fly.io)

Applies to both Setup A and Setup B.

As of March 2026, Fly.io may waive charges under $5/month, which could make this effectively free with a shared IPv4. Either way, cheaper than Obsidian Sync ($4/month) and you own the data.

C. Run on your machine

Run the MCP server locally. Works with filesystem mode (reads vault files directly) or CouchDB mode (if you have LiveSync). Machine must stay on for agents to reach it.

Filesystem mode (simplest):

VAULT_PATH=~/Documents/MyVault \
VAULT_NAME=MyVault \
npx obsidian-sync-mcp

CouchDB mode (if you have LiveSync):

COUCHDB_URL=http://localhost:5984 \
COUCHDB_USER=admin \
COUCHDB_PASSWORD=yourpassword \
COUCHDB_DATABASE=obsidian \
COUCHDB_PASSPHRASE=your-encryption-passphrase \
VAULT_NAME=MyVault \
npx obsidian-sync-mcp

Omit COUCHDB_PASSPHRASE if you don't use E2E encryption in LiveSync.

Or with Docker:

docker run -p 8787:8787 \
  -v mcp-data:/data -e DATA_DIR=/data \
  -e VAULT_PATH=/vault -v ~/Documents/MyVault:/vault \
  -e VAULT_NAME=MyVault \
  ghcr.io/es617/obsidian-sync-mcp:latest

Your MCP endpoint is http://localhost:8787/mcp.

Want remote access? Add a tunnel (machine must stay on):

cloudflared tunnel --url http://localhost:8787    # free
tailscale funnel 8787                             # or Tailscale
ngrok http 8787                                   # or ngrok

Set BASE_URL to the tunnel URL when using authentication.

Tools

Every tool response includes an Obsidian deep link (obsidian://open?vault=...&file=...) that works on Mac and iOS.

"Add a bullet point to my daily note." "Find my notes about the MCP server and fix the typo in the second one."

Authentication

Set MCP_AUTH_TOKEN to a password to enable authentication:

MCP_AUTH_TOKEN=mysecretpassword npx obsidian-sync-mcp

The server includes a self-contained OAuth 2.1 provider. When an agent connects:

1. A browser window opens with a password page

2. Enter the MCP_AUTH_TOKEN password

3. The agent gets an access token and refreshes it transparently

The session is shared across all your Claude interfaces (Desktop, Web, Mobile) and persists across server restarts. You'll need to re-enter the password after 14 days of inactivity (configurable via MCP_REFRESH_DAYS).

For non-OAuth clients (curl, MCP Inspector, custom agents), you can also pass the token directly as Authorization: Bearer <MCP_AUTH_TOKEN>.

Without MCP_AUTH_TOKEN, the server runs without authentication — suitable for local use or behind a private network.

Environment variables

Set VAULT_PATH for filesystem mode or COUCHDB_URL for CouchDB mode.

Try without an agent

Test the server interactively using the MCP Inspector:

VAULT_PATH=~/Documents/MyVault npx obsidian-sync-mcp &
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector

Set transport to Streamable HTTP, enter http://localhost:8787/mcp, and connect.

How to update

Known limitations

• Single vault per instance. Each server connects to one vault. For multiple vaults, run multiple instances on different ports.

• Single machine on Fly.io. Auth state is in-memory, so multiple machines break the OAuth flow. The setup script enforces this automatically.

• No conflict resolution. If an agent and Obsidian edit the same note simultaneously, last write wins.

• Text only. Binary attachments are not exposed through MCP tools.

• Deep links depend on the client. Obsidian obsidian:// deep links are included in every tool response. They work on Claude Mobile and in browsers, but some clients (Claude Desktop) may not render them as clickable links.

• Node 22+ required.

• Setup script requires bash. The deploy/setup.sh script works on macOS and Linux. On Windows, use WSL or Git Bash.

Safety

This server gives an AI agent read/write access to your Obsidian vault.

Agents can modify and delete notes. Keep backups. Use tool approval deliberately.

Authentication is optional. Always set MCP_AUTH_TOKEN when exposing to the internet.

Use HTTPS in production. Use a tunnel or deploy behind a reverse proxy.

This software is provided as-is under the MIT license. You are responsible for what agents do with your vault.

Development

git clone --recursive https://github.com/es617/obsidian-sync-mcp.git
cd obsidian-sync-mcp
npm install && npm run build
npm test          # unit tests
npm run test:e2e  # integration tests

License

MIT — see LICENSE.

Acknowledgements

• Self-hosted LiveSync by vrtmrz — the Obsidian plugin and CouchDB sync protocol

• livesync-commonlib by vrtmrz — the shared library for reading/writing the LiveSync document format

• FastMCP — TypeScript MCP framework

• CouchDB — document database

• Fly.io — deployment platform