obsidian-vault-mcp

A filesystem-based MCP server for Obsidian vaults. Works when Obsidian is closed.

The problem

Every existing Obsidian MCP connector requires Obsidian to be running and the Local REST API plugin active. When Obsidian goes to the background or is closed, the connector drops — silently, mid-session.

Related MCP server: obsidian-mcp-complete

The solution

This server reads and writes your vault directly from disk via Node's fs module. No Obsidian process required. No plugin dependencies. No background disconnects.

Tools

• list_vault_files — list vault files, optionally filtered by directory

• get_vault_file — read a file's content

• append_to_vault_file — append content (creates file and dirs if needed)

• create_vault_file — create or overwrite a file

• patch_vault_file — insert/replace content relative to a heading

• search_vault_simple — plain-text substring search across all notes

patch_vault_file supports three operations relative to any heading:

• append — add content after the heading's section

• prepend — add content immediately after the heading line

• replace — replace the entire heading section with new content

Install

Option A — Double-click install (recommended)

Download obsidian-vault-mcp.mcpb from the latest release and double-click it. Claude Desktop handles the rest.

Option B — Build from source

Requires Node.js 18+.

git clone https://github.com/WhiteWolf-Cyber/obsidian-vault-mcp cd obsidian-vault-mcp npm install npm run build

Claude Desktop config

Add to mcpServers in ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

macOS / Linux

{ "Obsidian Vault": { "command": "node", "args": ["/absolute/path/to/obsidian-vault-mcp/dist/index.js"], "env": { "OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH": "/Users/yourname/ObsidianVault" } } }

Windows

{ "Obsidian Vault": { "command": "node", "args": ["C:\Users\yourname\dev\obsidian-vault-mcp\dist\index.js"], "env": { "OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH": "C:\Users\yourname\Documents\ObsidianVault" } } }

Restart Claude Desktop after saving.

Vault path

The vault path resolves in this order:

1. OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH environment variable

2. ~/ObsidianVault (fallback)

Security

Paths are validated at runtime — requests that resolve outside VAULT_PATH are rejected. The server never traverses above the vault root.

Built by

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