Obsidian Markdown Notes

The Obsidian Model Context Protocol server bridges the gap between an AI assistant and a personal knowledge base stored in Markdown. By exposing a vault directory to the MCP ecosystem, it lets Claude Desktop—or any compliant client—search, retrieve, and even modify notes on demand. This eliminates the need for manual copy‑and‑paste or API wrappers, making the vault a first‑class data source that the assistant can query as naturally as it queries a database.

At its core, the server translates standard file‑system operations into MCP resources. When a user asks the assistant to find information on a topic, the server performs a full‑text search across all Markdown files in the specified vault. Results are returned as structured objects containing file paths, snippets, and metadata such as tags or headings. This tight integration means developers can build workflows where the assistant not only answers questions but also suggests relevant notes, creates new entries, or updates existing ones—all without leaving the chat interface.

Key capabilities include:

• Full‑text search across an entire vault, with optional filtering by tags or folder structure.
• Contextual snippet extraction that preserves formatting, making it easy for the assistant to present information in a readable form.
• Metadata access (e.g., YAML front matter, tags) enabling advanced queries and dynamic content generation.
• Write‑back support for creating or updating notes, allowing the assistant to act as a collaborative writer.
• Custom input prompts for specifying vault paths, which can be shared across projects via VS Code settings.

Real‑world scenarios that benefit from this server are plentiful. Knowledge workers can ask their assistant to pull the latest research on a project, automatically generate meeting notes that link back to related vault pages, or even draft a blog post by aggregating insights from multiple notes. Educators can use it to pull lesson plans or student work, while developers might integrate the server into CI pipelines to auto‑document changes directly from Markdown sources.

Integration is straightforward: once installed, the MCP client discovers a new “Obsidian” tool. The assistant can then invoke it by name, passing search queries or file paths as arguments. Because the server follows MCP conventions, developers can compose complex chains—search → summarize → update—without writing custom connectors. This composability, coupled with the natural language interface of Claude, gives teams a powerful way to make their Markdown vaults conversational and actionable.