Vault Gate

Let AI assistants read, search, and write your Obsidian notes — without leaving your computer.

Vault Gate runs a small MCP server inside Obsidian. Turn it on, click Connect next to Claude or Cursor, and your assistant can work with your vault. No terminal, no Node install, no vault path to configure.

Setup

1. Install Vault Gate from Obsidian's community plugins and enable it.

2. The setup guide opens. Choose what assistants may do — reading and searching are on, writing is off.

3. Click Connect next to the assistant you use. Restart that app.

That's it. Ask it something:

Connecting writes the settings into the assistant's own config file and leaves a .gate-backup copy beside it. You can undo it any time with Disconnect.

Assistants Gate can set up for you

Claude Desktop · Claude Code · Cursor · VS Code (Copilot) · Windsurf

Anything else that speaks MCP works too — hit Copy configuration and paste it into that client's config.

Related MCP server: obsidian-mcp

What your assistant can do

Nine tools, gated by the three permissions you set in settings.

Notes are also readable as MCP resources at obsidian://{vault}/{path}.

Privacy and safety

• Nothing leaves your machine. The server binds to 127.0.0.1 and there is no cloud component. Your assistant sends your notes wherever it normally sends your conversation — Gate itself uploads nothing and phones nowhere.

• Only while Obsidian is open. Close Obsidian and the door closes.

• Every request needs the token Gate generates for you. Regenerate it any time.

• Requests from web pages are refused. A page you have open in a browser can otherwise reach localhost; Gate checks the Origin header and turns those away.

• Write access is off by default. Turn it on when you want an assistant editing notes, not before.

• The .obsidian config folder is off limits, and paths that try to climb out of the vault are rejected.

Settings

Commands: Start or stop the MCP server, Copy MCP configuration to clipboard, Open setup guide.

Manual configuration

For a client Gate doesn't know about:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://127.0.0.1:22360/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" }
    }
  }
}

Copy the filled-in version from Settings → Vault Gate → Copy configuration. VS Code puts this under servers rather than mcpServers.

Troubleshooting

The assistant doesn't see the vault. Restart the assistant — most read their MCP config only at startup. Check the status bar says Gate :22360.

"Port already in use." Something else has 22360. Change the port in settings, then Connect again so the new URL is written out.

Connected, but every call fails. The token was regenerated after you connected. Click Reconnect.

Nothing happens on mobile. Gate is desktop-only — Obsidian mobile can't open a local port.

Development

npm install
npm run dev     # esbuild watch → main.js
npm run build   # typecheck + production bundle
npm test        # node:test suite

To try it in a real vault, symlink this folder into <vault>/.obsidian/plugins/vault-gate and reload Obsidian.

The tests cover the parts that don't need an Electron runtime: the markdown and frontmatter helpers, the tool dispatcher and its permission checks, the MCP protocol layer, the HTTP server's auth and origin handling, and the client-config writer. src/vault.ts talks to the Obsidian API and is exercised by hand in a vault.

Layout

manifest.json      the plugin, as the community store reads it
src/
  main.ts          plugin lifecycle, status bar, commands
  settings-tab.ts  the settings screen
  wizard.ts        first-run setup
  server.ts        the localhost HTTP endpoint
  mcp.ts           MCP over JSON-RPC
  tools.ts         the nine tools and their permissions
  vault.ts         vault access through Obsidian's API
  markdown.ts      frontmatter, links, tags, dates
server/            standalone CLI version — a separate Node MCP server
                   that reads a vault off disk. Not needed for the plugin.

Releasing

npm version patch   # updates manifest.json and versions.json too
git push --follow-tags

The tag triggers .github/workflows/release.yml, which builds and attaches main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css to a GitHub release — the layout Obsidian's installer expects.

MIT — build on it, ship it, sell it. Built by Riley G.