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stonematt

mcp-obsidian-cli

by stonematt

Server Configuration

Describes the environment variables required to run the server.

NameRequiredDescriptionDefault
OBSIDIAN_VAULTYesTarget vault by name
XDG_CONFIG_HOMENoBase path for config file~/.config
OBSIDIAN_CLI_PATHNoPath to CLI binaryobsidian-cli
OBSIDIAN_TIMEOUT_MSNoCommand timeout in milliseconds15000

Instructions

Guidance the server publishes about itself, which clients place ahead of the tool catalog so the model reads it before choosing anything.

This server publishes no instructions, or was last inspected before Glama recorded them.

Capabilities

Features and capabilities supported by this server

Protocol revision2025-11-25

CapabilityDetails
tools
{
  "listChanged": true
}
prompts
{
  "listChanged": true
}
resources
{
  "listChanged": true
}

Tools

Functions exposed to the LLM to take actions

NameDescription
obsidianA

Run any Obsidian CLI command. Pass the full command string exactly as you would on the terminal (minus the leading 'obsidian' binary name). Leading vault=NAME overrides the active vault and is cached for subsequent calls.

Intent -> verb cheatsheet. Use the canonical verb on the right; the convenience tools (obsidian_*) wrap the same verbs with typed args.

PUT put new note from template -> templater:create-from-template template=… file=… create plain note -> create path=… content=… append to today's daily -> daily:append content=… GET read note -> read path=… (or file=…) search content -> search:context query=… [path=… limit=…] list properties / read one -> properties [file=…] | property:read name=… file=… list backlinks -> backlinks file=… MOVE/RENAME move or rename note -> move file=… to=… (or path=…) DELETE delete note -> delete path=… DISCOVER list files -> files [folder=… ext=…] list tags with counts -> tags counts [sort=name|count] list tasks -> tasks [daily todo done path=…] recently opened -> recents CLI reference -> help [verb]

If you don't see the intent here, the CLI's help verb is the source of truth.

obsidian_daily_readA

Read today's daily note contents.

Returns the full markdown content of today's daily note. Returns an error if no daily note exists for today.

obsidian_daily_pathA

Get the file path of today's daily note.

Returns the vault-relative path (e.g. 'Daily/2026-04-03.md'). Useful for constructing paths for other tools.

obsidian_daily_appendA

Append content to today's daily note.

Parameters: content (required) — markdown text to append at the end of today's daily note

Examples: obsidian_daily_append({ content: "- Meeting with team at 3pm" }) obsidian_daily_append({ content: "> [!tip] Remember\n> Review PR before EOD" })

obsidian_readA

Read a note by file name (wikilink-style) or exact path.

Parameters: file (optional) — note name using wikilink resolution (e.g. 'My Note') path (optional) — exact vault-relative path (e.g. 'folder/My Note.md') One of file or path is required.

Examples: obsidian_read({ file: "Meeting Notes" }) obsidian_read({ path: "Projects/todo.md" })

obsidian_searchA

Full-text search across the vault with line context.

Parameters: query (required) — search terms, supports Obsidian query syntax path (optional) — restrict results to a folder path limit (optional) — max number of files to return

Examples: obsidian_search({ query: "meeting notes" }) obsidian_search({ query: "project status", path: "Work/", limit: 5 })

obsidian_tagsA

List tags in the vault with counts.

Returns structured JSON content (an array of { tag, count } objects) alongside the text form, so clients can consume it without re-parsing.

Parameters: sort (optional) — 'name' or 'count' (default: name)

Examples: obsidian_tags({}) obsidian_tags({ sort: "count" })

obsidian_tasksA

List tasks from vault notes.

Returns structured JSON content (an array of task objects with status, text, file, and line) alongside the text form, so clients can consume it without re-parsing.

Parameters: daily (optional) — true to show only today's daily note tasks todo (optional) — true to show only incomplete tasks done (optional) — true to show only completed tasks path (optional) — filter by file path

Examples: obsidian_tasks({ daily: true }) obsidian_tasks({ todo: true, path: "Projects/" })

obsidian_propertiesA

List or read frontmatter properties.

Parameters: file (optional) — note name for wikilink resolution path (optional) — exact file path name (optional) — specific property name to read (requires file or path)

Examples: obsidian_properties({}) — list all properties with counts obsidian_properties({ file: "My Note" }) — properties of a specific note obsidian_properties({ file: "My Note", name: "status" }) — read one property

obsidian_createA

Create a new PLAIN note (no Templater expansion).

This wraps the CLI's create verb. It does NOT expand Templater placeholders like <% tp.date.now() %> — if your template contains placeholders, use obsidian_create_from_template instead, which routes to templater:create-from-template.

Parameters: name (optional) — file name for the new note path (optional) — vault-relative path content (optional) — initial markdown content (literal, no placeholder expansion)

Examples: obsidian_create({ name: "Meeting 2026-04-03", content: "# Meeting Notes\n\n- Attendees: ..." }) obsidian_create({ path: "Projects/new-idea.md", content: "# New idea" })

obsidian_create_from_templateA

Create a new note from a Templater template, expanding placeholders.

This wraps the CLI's templater:create-from-template verb. Use this whenever the template contains Templater placeholders such as <% tp.date.now() %>, <% tp.file.title %>, or any other <% ... %> expression — those are evaluated by Obsidian's Templater plugin and substituted into the output. For plain notes with no placeholder expansion, use obsidian_create.

Parameters: template (required) — vault-relative path to the Templater template (e.g. "Templates/daily.md") file (required) — vault-relative output path for the new note (e.g. "Daily/2026-05-18.md")

Examples: obsidian_create_from_template({ template: "Templates/daily.md", file: "Daily/2026-05-18.md" }) obsidian_create_from_template({ template: "Templates/project.md", file: "Projects/new-idea.md" })

obsidian_property_setA

Set a frontmatter property on a note.

Parameters: name (required) — property name value (required) — property value (see type for multi-valued props) type (optional) — property type: text (default) | list | number | checkbox | date | datetime file (optional) — note name (wikilink resolution) path (optional) — exact file path One of file or path is required.

Multi-valued properties (tags, aliases, Links, etc.): You MUST pass type="list" AND a JSON-array string as value. Without type="list" the value is written as a single scalar string — a comma-separated value is NOT split into YAML list items, and bracketed wikilinks are never split. Use a JSON array universally; it is unambiguous for both plain strings and wikilinks.

Examples: obsidian_property_set({ name: "status", value: "done", file: "My Task" }) obsidian_property_set({ name: "tags", value: "["project", "active"]", type: "list", path: "Work/todo.md" }) obsidian_property_set({ name: "Links", value: "["[[plan]]", "[[baseline]]"]", type: "list", file: "My Task" })

obsidian_backlinksA

List backlinks to a note.

Parameters: file (optional) — note name (wikilink resolution) path (optional) — exact file path

Examples: obsidian_backlinks({ file: "Project Plan" }) obsidian_backlinks({ path: "Ideas/brainstorm.md" })

obsidian_filesA

List files in the vault or a specific folder.

Parameters: folder (optional) — filter by folder path ext (optional) — filter by file extension (e.g. 'md', 'canvas')

Examples: obsidian_files({}) obsidian_files({ folder: "Projects/", ext: "md" })

obsidian_moveA

Move or rename a note, selecting it by file name or exact path.

Wraps the CLI's move Verb. Provide one of file or path to select the note, and to for the destination. Setting to to a new name in the same folder renames the note.

Parameters: file (optional) — note name using wikilink resolution (e.g. 'My Note') path (optional) — exact vault-relative path (e.g. 'folder/My Note.md') to (required) — destination folder or vault-relative path One of file or path is required.

Examples: obsidian_move({ file: "My Note", to: "Archive/" }) obsidian_move({ path: "Inbox/idea.md", to: "Projects/idea.md" })

obsidian_outlineA

List the heading outline of a note, selecting it by file name or exact path.

Wraps the CLI's outline Verb. Provide one of file or path. Optional format controls the output shape; optional total returns just the heading count.

Parameters: file (optional) — note name using wikilink resolution (e.g. 'My Note') path (optional) — exact vault-relative path (e.g. 'folder/My Note.md') format (optional) — output format: 'tree' (default), 'md', or 'json' total (optional) — true to return the heading count instead of the outline One of file or path is required.

Examples: obsidian_outline({ file: "Meeting Notes" }) obsidian_outline({ path: "Projects/plan.md", format: "json" }) obsidian_outline({ file: "Long Doc", total: true })

obsidian_commandA

Execute an Obsidian command by its canonical command ID.

Wraps the CLI's command Verb. Triggers any core or plugin command exactly as the user would from the command palette — identified by its stable command ID (e.g. 'editor:toggle-bold', 'app:go-back', 'daily-notes').

Discovering IDs: run the generic obsidian tool with the commands verb to list every available command ID, or commands filter=<prefix> to narrow by prefix (e.g. 'commands filter=editor:').

Parameters: id (required) — the command ID to execute

Examples: obsidian_command({ id: "editor:toggle-bold" }) obsidian_command({ id: "daily-notes" })

obsidian_historyA

List the saved file-history versions of a note, selecting it by file name or exact path.

Wraps the CLI's history Verb. Returns the version history (snapshots/sync revisions) recorded for a single note — not a list of recently-modified notes. Provide one of file or path to select the note.

Parameters: file (optional) — note name using wikilink resolution (e.g. 'My Note') path (optional) — exact vault-relative path (e.g. 'folder/My Note.md') One of file or path is required.

Examples: obsidian_history({ file: "Project Plan" }) obsidian_history({ path: "Daily/2026-05-20.md" })

obsidian_template_readA

Read the content of a template by name from the vault's templates folder.

Wraps the CLI's template:read Verb. Returns the raw template text. Set resolve to expand the template's variables (e.g. Templater placeholders) instead of returning them literally; pass title to supply the title used during that variable resolution.

Parameters: name (required) — template name (as it appears in the templates folder) resolve (optional) — true to resolve/expand template variables title (optional) — title used for variable resolution (with resolve)

Examples: obsidian_template_read({ name: "daily" }) obsidian_template_read({ name: "meeting", resolve: true, title: "Standup 2026-05-20" })

obsidian_renameA

Rename a note, selecting it by file name or exact path.

Wraps the CLI's rename Verb. Provide one of file or path to select the note, and name for the new file name. Renaming changes only the name within the same folder; use obsidian_move to relocate a note to a different folder.

Parameters: file (optional) — note name using wikilink resolution (e.g. 'My Note') path (optional) — exact vault-relative path (e.g. 'folder/My Note.md') name (required) — the new file name One of file or path is required.

Examples: obsidian_rename({ file: "Draft", name: "Final" }) obsidian_rename({ path: "Inbox/idea.md", name: "refined-idea.md" })

obsidian_deleteA

Delete a note, selecting it by file name or exact path.

Wraps the CLI's delete Verb. DESTRUCTIVE: by default the note is moved to the system trash (recoverable). Pass permanent: true to skip the trash and delete irrecoverably — there is no undo for a permanent delete.

Parameters: file (optional) — note name using wikilink resolution (e.g. 'My Note') path (optional) — exact vault-relative path (e.g. 'folder/My Note.md') permanent (optional) — true to skip trash and delete permanently (irreversible) One of file or path is required.

Examples: obsidian_delete({ file: "Old Draft" }) — moves to trash obsidian_delete({ path: "Inbox/spam.md", permanent: true }) — irreversible

obsidian_recentsA

List recently opened files.

Returns the most recently opened files in the vault, ordered by last access time.

obsidian_helpA

Get Obsidian help: a live verb index from the CLI, or reference docs by slug.

Parameters: topic (optional) — a verb name (e.g. "read", "daily:append", "property:set") OR a reference-doc slug (cli, markdown, bases, canvas)

Behavior:

  • No topic — returns the live, category-grouped verb index parsed from the CLI's help output (Read, Write, Edit, Discover, Tasks, Daily, Properties, Plugins, Dev, Eval).

  • Verb name — returns that verb's description and flag list from the live manifest.

  • Doc slug — returns the Kepano-derived reference prompt (markdown / bases / canvas / cli syntax).

  • Collision rule: the four reserved doc slugs (cli, markdown, bases, canvas) always return their reference doc, even when a CLI verb shares the name (e.g. bases). The shadowed verb still appears in the no-arg verb index.

Examples: obsidian_help({}) — browse the verb catalog obsidian_help({ topic: "read" }) — live verb help for read obsidian_help({ topic: "markdown" }) — Obsidian-flavored markdown reference obsidian_help({ topic: "bases" }) — Bases YAML schema, filters, formulas obsidian_help({ topic: "canvas" }) — JSON Canvas reference obsidian_help({ topic: "cli" }) — CLI command syntax reference

Prompts

Interactive templates invoked by user choice

NameDescription
obsidian-cliCLI usage patterns, parameter syntax, and command examples for the Obsidian CLI. Adapted from kepano/obsidian-skills (MIT License, https://github.com/kepano/obsidian-skills).
obsidian-markdownWikilinks, embeds, callouts, properties, tags, and other Obsidian-specific markdown syntax. Adapted from kepano/obsidian-skills (MIT License, https://github.com/kepano/obsidian-skills).
obsidian-basesBases syntax for database-like views: filters, formulas, view types, and summaries. Adapted from kepano/obsidian-skills (MIT License, https://github.com/kepano/obsidian-skills).
obsidian-canvasJSON Canvas format for visual canvases: node types, edges, groups, and layout. Adapted from kepano/obsidian-skills (MIT License, https://github.com/kepano/obsidian-skills).

Resources

Contextual data attached and managed by the client

NameDescription
vaultThe connected vault: name, root path, file and folder counts, and total size.
vault-filesFile count for the connected vault plus a capped sample of vault-relative file paths.
vault-tagsTags in the connected vault with their usage counts.

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