Obsidian via REST

Obsidian via REST is an MCP server that connects AI assistants directly to local Obsidian vaults using the Obsidian Local REST API. Designed for researchers, software engineers, and knowledge workers who rely on Obsidian for personal notes and documentation, it enables language models to search, retrieve, and inspect note contents on demand. By interfacing with the local REST API, the server allows AI clients to run standard text searches or semantic queries across entire vaults, as well as fetch individual notes and their associated metadata using note path references or dedicated URI resources. The server supports communication through standard input and output (stdio) for local CLI setups, as well as HTTP JSON-RPC with SSE streaming for remote or decoupled architectures. It also includes self-healing connection capabilities such as parallel testing of multiple endpoints, health checks every thirty seconds, and automatic failover, ensuring reliable connections even across complex environments like Docker or Windows Subsystem for Linux.

Category: Files, Documents & PDFs

Tags: knowledge-base, markdown, obsidian, rest-api, vault

Visit Obsidian via REST

How to install and configure Obsidian via REST

1. Obtain your Obsidian Local REST API key and note your local REST API endpoint URL. 2. Export your API key in your shell: bash export OBSIDIAN_API_KEY="your-obsidian-rest-api-key" 3. Add the server to Claude Code using bunx: bash claude mcp add obsidian -- bunx -y @oleksandrkucherenko/mcp-obsidian 4. Alternatively, configure the server in your MCP client configuration using Docker with stdio transport: json { "mcpServers": { "obsidian": { "command": "docker", "args": [ "run", "--name", "mcp-obsidian", "--rm", "-i", "-e", "API_KEY", "-e", "API_URLS", "ghcr.io/oleksandrkucherenko/obsidian-mcp:latest" ], "env": { "API_KEY": "<secret_key>", "API_URLS": "[\"https://127.0.0.1:27124\"]" } } } }

What you can do with Obsidian via REST

• Search Obsidian vaults to locate specific technical documentation and generate structured summaries of logging or metrics tools. - Retrieve full note text and associated frontmatter metadata using specific file paths to answer context-dependent development questions. - Execute semantic search queries across Markdown notes to uncover related ideas, concepts, and cross-referenced vault topics. - Access daily notes and meeting records via Obsidian URIs to extract action items, reminders, and historical project context.

Key facts

• Open Source
• https://github.com/OleksandrKucherenko/mcp-obsidian-via-rest
• Files, Documents & PDFs, Notes & Knowledge Management
• knowledge-base, markdown, obsidian, rest-api, vault

Part of MCP Servers

What is Obsidian via REST?

Obsidian via REST is an open-source Model Context Protocol server that enables AI tools to connect directly to an Obsidian vault. It interfaces with Obsidian's local REST API to provide file retrieval, text searching, and semantic search capabilities directly to compatible AI interfaces.

Which MCP tools does Obsidian via REST provide?

The server exposes three primary tools: get_note_content to retrieve file contents and metadata by path, obsidian_search to run query strings against vault notes, and obsidian_semantic_search to perform semantic retrieval across notes. It also provides an obsidian:// URI resource mapping.

Which MCP clients work with Obsidian via REST?

Obsidian via REST works with any client supporting the Model Context Protocol, including Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, OpenCode, Kilo Code, GitHub Copilot, and Windsurf, operating via either stdio or HTTP streaming transports.

Is Obsidian via REST open source?

Yes, Obsidian via REST is open-source software licensed under the MIT License. Its source code and Docker container recipes are accessible on GitHub and Docker Hub for public inspection, self-hosting, and community contribution.