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Obsidian Collaboration MCP

by rtbarnes
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Obsidian Collaboration MCP

A small Model Context Protocol server for deliberate access to an Obsidian vault. It reads ordinary Markdown files directly, so Obsidian does not need to be open.

The server is intentionally narrower than a “second brain” system:

  • No embeddings, vector database, or background indexing.

  • No automatic chat persistence or agent memory.

  • No delete, move, command execution, or hidden-folder access.

  • Edits require the SHA-256 returned by read_note, which prevents stale overwrites.

  • New notes default to a configurable collaboration folder.

  • An optional folder allowlist can restrict every write.

Tools

Tool

Access

Purpose

vault_info

Read

Show vault details and access boundaries.

list_notes

Read

List Markdown notes without loading their contents.

search_notes

Read

Run case-insensitive literal full-text search.

read_note

Read

Read a note and return its SHA-256.

create_note

Write

Create a note without overwriting an existing file.

append_note

Write

Append after an optimistic-concurrency check.

replace_note_text

Write

Replace one exact, unique text span after a concurrency check.

Set OBSIDIAN_READ_ONLY=1 to omit all write tools.

Related MCP server: Obsidian MCP Server

Requirements

  • Bun 1.3 or newer

  • A local Obsidian vault, which is simply a directory containing Markdown files

  • An MCP client with stdio support

Install

git clone https://github.com/rtbarnes/obsidian-collaboration-mcp.git
cd obsidian-collaboration-mcp
bun install --frozen-lockfile

Configure

Environment variable

Required

Default

Description

OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH

Yes

—

Absolute path to the vault.

OBSIDIAN_DEFAULT_FOLDER

No

ChatGPT

Destination used when create_note omits path.

OBSIDIAN_WRITE_FOLDERS

No

All non-hidden folders

Comma-separated folder allowlist for every write.

OBSIDIAN_READ_ONLY

No

0

Set to 1, true, or yes to omit write tools.

All tool paths are vault-relative. The server rejects traversal, hidden paths, non-Markdown files, and symlink escapes.

Codex

Add the server to ~/.codex/config.toml:

[mcp_servers.obsidian]
command = "bun"
args = ["run", "/absolute/path/to/obsidian-collaboration-mcp/src/index.ts"]

[mcp_servers.obsidian.env]
OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH = "/absolute/path/to/your/vault"
OBSIDIAN_DEFAULT_FOLDER = "ChatGPT"
OBSIDIAN_WRITE_FOLDERS = "ChatGPT"

Restart Codex after editing the configuration.

Other stdio clients

Use bun run /absolute/path/to/obsidian-collaboration-mcp/src/index.ts as the server command and provide the same environment variables. The exact config format depends on the client.

Safe editing model

read_note returns sha256. Pass it as expectedSha256 to append_note or replace_note_text. If Obsidian Sync, another device, or another process changes the note between the read and the write, the edit fails and the client must read the note again.

replace_note_text also requires the search text to occur exactly once. This keeps edits targeted and avoids replacing an unexpected section.

Remote access

This is a stdio server and does not open a network port. Run it beside a trusted MCP tunnel or gateway when a remote client needs access. Keep authentication and authorization in that outer layer.

For an always-on Obsidian Sync bridge, run the server beside Obsidian Headless on a trusted host with encrypted storage.

Development

bun run typecheck
bun test

The integration test starts the real stdio server, inspects its tool surface, and creates a note in a temporary vault.

Security

An MCP client can read any Markdown note that its tools expose. Start with a non-sensitive test vault or OBSIDIAN_READ_ONLY=1. Use OBSIDIAN_WRITE_FOLDERS when the client should write only to a dedicated area.

The server does not authenticate clients because stdio MCP servers inherit the trust boundary of the process that launches them. Do not expose the process directly to a network.

This server cannot be deployed

One endpoint for every MCP toolRayrun runs every MCP server behind one URL and holds the credentials. Each call is decided per client, tool, and argument, then recorded.ray.runAd

Maintenance

ActivityMaintained
ResponsivenessNo issues

Resources

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