Obsidian MCP servers: experiences and recommendations?

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Yesterday I learned about MCP (Model Context Protocol): “an open-source protocol developed by Anthropic that enables AI systems like Claude to securely connect with various data sources”.

A quick search on mcp.so gives me 24 MCP servers targeted to Obsidian.

I’m curious to learn how this could benefit me, and how to select the right one for me.

I guess, for now, my main application would be to generate new content based on my knowledge base in Obsidian.

Would you share your experiences and recommendations please?

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Showcased thread:

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I watched this, but it’s totally Windows based. As a not too technical Mac person I wouldn’t know how to convert this into usable knowledge. But thanks anyway.

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After watching several video’s I think this one from Paul Dickson was the easiest to follow (albeit a bit long).

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Hey guys,

Thank you for the shout out :wink:

If you’re looking for a Mac based tutorial Zen van Riel video is a good one. https://youtu.be/VeTnndXyJQI?si=D7ggza0YXVytV7iD

Just under 13 minutes which is a bit shorter than mine :slight_smile:

Sidenote:
I managed to get the Obsidian MCP Servers working in Visual Studio Code + Cline as well https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQMaVvrhVLE&t=1327s

MAC Cline Configuration with MCP Tools installed in Obsidian

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian-mcp-tools": {
      "autoApprove": [
        "fetch",
        "get_server_info",
        "get_active_file",
        "update_active_file",
        "append_to_active_file",
        "patch_active_file",
        "delete_active_file",
        "show_file_in_obsidian",
        "search_vault",
        "search_vault_simple",
        "list_vault_files",
        "get_vault_file",
        "create_vault_file",
        "append_to_vault_file",
        "patch_vault_file",
        "delete_vault_file",
        "search_vault_smart",
        "execute_template"
      ],
      "disabled": true,
      "timeout": 60,
      "command": "/Users/yourfolder/ObsidianVaultName/obsidian/plugins/mcp-tools/bin/mcp-server", \\ Might be different for MAC
      "env": {
        "OBSIDIAN_API_KEY": "yourLocalRESTAPIkeygoeshere"
      },
      "transportType": "stdio"
    }
  }
}

Windows Cline Configuration with MCP Tools installed in Obsidian

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian-mcp-tools": {
      "autoApprove": [
        "fetch",
        "get_server_info",
        "get_active_file",
        "update_active_file",
        "append_to_active_file",
        "patch_active_file",
        "delete_active_file",
        "show_file_in_obsidian",
        "search_vault",
        "search_vault_simple",
        "list_vault_files",
        "get_vault_file",
        "create_vault_file",
        "append_to_vault_file",
        "patch_vault_file",
        "delete_vault_file",
        "search_vault_smart",
        "execute_template"
      ],
      "disabled": true,
      "timeout": 60,
      "command": "D:\\YourVaultLocation\\.obsidian\\plugins\\mcp-tools\\bin\\mcp-server.exe",
      "env": {
        "OBSIDIAN_API_KEY": "yourLocalRESTAPIkeygoeshere"
      },
      "transportType": "stdio"
    }
  }
}

You will need the Local Rest API Plugin + MCP Tools installed
The MCP Tools plugin needs to be added to config above
I use Claude 3.7 with Obsidian AI Tools in this configuration but you could use your own Claude API if you like

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My experiences:

  1. Claude Desktop takes about 5-10 minutes to output per prompt which is slow.
  2. You can’t interject half way through Claude making changes
  3. VS Code MCP Tools is a little different than Claude Desktop and seems to be a bit faster.
  4. The AI can see your whole vault (privacy concerns)
  5. MCP Servers and Tools should be used carefully

The best way to answer your question is to get in and try as many Obsidian MCP Server as you can in “test” Vault(s).

I’m finding it interesting to play with these MCP Tools but as it stands it isn’t something that I have enabled permenantly in my main Vault.

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Thanks so much for this. That screenshot w/the obsidian plugins was just what I couldn’t figure out to get search_vault_smart working. Great API plugin, and a great MCP functionality, now working on Cline + GPT4.1 + Obsidian as a bleeding edge “AI OS”

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