Obsidian Semantic Search

MCP server · by DalecB

Productivity npm v0.2.1

Read-only semantic search MCP server for Obsidian vaults using local Ollama embeddings.

View source ↗ Generate config for multiple servers More servers

Install

Pin version registry version 0.2.1

npm
npx -y @dalecb/obsidian-semantic-mcp

npm
npx -y @dalecb/obsidian-semantic-mcp@0.2.1

Setup by client

Pick your client — the config below is generated for this server (local stdio). Copy respects the “Pin version” switch above.

claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian-semantic-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@dalecb/obsidian-semantic-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "OBSIDIAN_VAULT_ROOT": "<YOUR_OBSIDIAN_VAULT_ROOT>"
      }
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian-semantic-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@dalecb/obsidian-semantic-mcp@0.2.1"
      ],
      "env": {
        "OBSIDIAN_VAULT_ROOT": "<YOUR_OBSIDIAN_VAULT_ROOT>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Format verified against the official Claude Desktop docs ↗.

terminal

claude mcp add --env OBSIDIAN_VAULT_ROOT=<YOUR_OBSIDIAN_VAULT_ROOT> obsidian-semantic-mcp -- npx -y @dalecb/obsidian-semantic-mcp

claude mcp add --env OBSIDIAN_VAULT_ROOT=<YOUR_OBSIDIAN_VAULT_ROOT> obsidian-semantic-mcp -- npx -y @dalecb/obsidian-semantic-mcp@0.2.1

Format verified against the official Claude Code docs ↗.

.cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian-semantic-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@dalecb/obsidian-semantic-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "OBSIDIAN_VAULT_ROOT": "<YOUR_OBSIDIAN_VAULT_ROOT>"
      }
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian-semantic-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@dalecb/obsidian-semantic-mcp@0.2.1"
      ],
      "env": {
        "OBSIDIAN_VAULT_ROOT": "<YOUR_OBSIDIAN_VAULT_ROOT>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Format verified against the official Cursor docs ↗.

.vscode/mcp.json

{
  "servers": {
    "obsidian-semantic-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@dalecb/obsidian-semantic-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "OBSIDIAN_VAULT_ROOT": "<YOUR_OBSIDIAN_VAULT_ROOT>"
      }
    }
  }
}

{
  "servers": {
    "obsidian-semantic-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@dalecb/obsidian-semantic-mcp@0.2.1"
      ],
      "env": {
        "OBSIDIAN_VAULT_ROOT": "<YOUR_OBSIDIAN_VAULT_ROOT>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Format verified against the official VS Code docs ↗.

mcp_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian-semantic-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@dalecb/obsidian-semantic-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "OBSIDIAN_VAULT_ROOT": "<YOUR_OBSIDIAN_VAULT_ROOT>"
      }
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian-semantic-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@dalecb/obsidian-semantic-mcp@0.2.1"
      ],
      "env": {
        "OBSIDIAN_VAULT_ROOT": "<YOUR_OBSIDIAN_VAULT_ROOT>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Format verified against the official Windsurf docs ↗.

Environment variables

Defined in the server's official registry manifest. Required secrets are shown as <YOUR_…> placeholders in the configs above.

OBSIDIAN_VAULT_ROOT required — Absolute path to the local Obsidian vault.
OBSIDIAN_SEMANTIC_MCP_HOME — Directory for the external SQLite index, logs, and cache.
OBSIDIAN_EMBED_MODEL — Ollama embedding model name. Defaults to bge-m3.
OLLAMA_BASE_URL — Ollama API base URL. Defaults to http://localhost:11434.
OBSIDIAN_SEMANTIC_STARTUP_INDEX — Set to true to run incremental indexing when the server starts.
OBSIDIAN_SEMANTIC_ALLOW_SENSITIVE — Set to true to allow include_sensitive tool calls.
OBSIDIAN_SEMANTIC_EXCLUDE — Comma- or newline-separated folders to always exclude from indexing, search, and read.
OBSIDIAN_SEMANTIC_SENSITIVE_PATHS — Comma- or newline-separated folders treated as sensitive (blocked unless unlocked). Defaults to 08_PersonalInfo/.

GitHub

⭐ 1 stars · 最近更新于 98 天前 · MIT license

About this server

Obsidian Semantic Search MCP Read only semantic retrieval for agents that need to find the right Obsidian note without write access.…

Summary from the project README — github.com/DalecB/obsidian-semantic-mcp

Distributed as npm, listed under Productivity. Review our MCP security guide before granting access to real data.

Frequently asked questions

What does the Obsidian Semantic Search MCP server do?

Obsidian Semantic Search MCP Read only semantic retrieval for agents that need to find the right Obsidian note without write access.

How do I install Obsidian Semantic Search?

Run the install command shown above, then paste the config for your client (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code or Windsurf) into its MCP settings and restart the client.

Is Obsidian Semantic Search free to use?

The MCP server itself is free to install. The source is public on https://github.com/DalecB/obsidian-semantic-mcp. Any third-party service it calls may require its own API key and account.

Which clients support Obsidian Semantic Search?

Any MCP-compatible client can use it, including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf and custom agents.

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