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CommunityProductivity

Obsidian MCP Tools

by jacksteamdev

Obsidian MCP with semantic search via embeddings and custom Templater prompts. Distinct from the existing cyanheads/obsidian-mcp-server entry: this one focuses on search-and-retrieval workflows; the existing one focuses on vault read/write/edit. 797 stars and 8 commits on main in the last 30 days.

797·6 tools·Released MAR 2025·MIT
Install via Obsidian Community Plugins
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Obsidian MCP with semantic search via embeddings and custom Templater prompts. Distinct from the existing cyanheads/obsidian-mcp-server entry: this one focuses on search-and-retrieval workflows; the existing one focuses on vault read/write/edit. 797 GitHub stars and 8 commits on main in the last 30 days.

Reviewed by M. Nouriel · MAY 2026

INSTALL THIS SERVER

Requires authenticationObsidian plugin installation plus an embedding-service API key (OpenAI, local Ollama, etc.) for semantic_search.
{ "mcpServers": { "obsidian-tools": { "command": "obsidian-mcp-tools", "args": [], "env": { "OPENAI_API_KEY": "<your-openai-key>" } } } }
PrereqInstall via Obsidian Community Plugins. Requires Templater plugin for templater tools, plus an embedding-service API key (OPENAI_API_KEY, OLLAMA_HOST, etc.) for semantic_search. Path: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS).
{ "mcpServers": { "obsidian-tools": { "command": "obsidian-mcp-tools", "args": [], "env": { "OPENAI_API_KEY": "<your-openai-key>" } } } }
{ "mcpServers": { "obsidian-tools": { "command": "obsidian-mcp-tools", "args": [], "env": { "OPENAI_API_KEY": "<your-openai-key>" } } } }
{ "mcpServers": { "obsidian-tools": { "command": "obsidian-mcp-tools", "args": [], "env": { "OPENAI_API_KEY": "<your-openai-key>" } } } }
{ "mcpServers": { "obsidian-tools": { "command": "obsidian-mcp-tools", "args": [], "env": { "OPENAI_API_KEY": "<your-openai-key>" } } } }

6 TOOLS AVAILABLE

semantic_search
Search the vault using embedding similarity
Read
templater_prompt
Invoke a Templater script with prompt input
Write
list_notes
List vault notes with filters
Read
get_note
Get note content
Read
list_tags
List tags across the vault
Read
search_full_text
Full-text search across the vault
Read

OUR ASSESSMENT

Strengths
  • 797 GitHub stars and MIT licence.
  • 8 commits on main in the last 30 days.
  • Semantic search via embeddings sits alongside full-text search.
  • Templater integration lets agents invoke custom scripts as tools.
  • Differentiated from the existing cyanheads Obsidian MCP: this one prioritises retrieval and Templater prompts; the other prioritises read/write/edit.
Weaknesses
  • Semantic search requires an embedding service (OpenAI, local Ollama, or similar).
  • Single-maintainer governance.
  • Templater plugin must be installed in the vault for the templater tools to work.
Security Notes

The MCP holds Obsidian vault file access plus the embedding-service API key. Scope the agent filesystem to the vault root. Embedding service usage carries cost; budget the agent token usage accordingly. Templater scripts can execute arbitrary code; review scripts before exposing them as agent tools.

Best For

Knowledge workers using Obsidian who want agents to retrieve notes by semantic similarity over keyword search; users with custom Templater scripts who want them callable as agent tools; teams that already use the cyanheads Obsidian MCP for write paths and want a separate retrieval-focused MCP for reads.

TECHNICAL DETAILS

Language
typescript
Transport
stdio
Clients
Claude DesktopClaude CodeCursorVS CodeWindsurf
License
MIT
npm
obsidian-mcp-tools
Last Release
obsidian-mcp-tools (Obsidian Community Plugin)MAY 3, 2026
First Released
MAR 1, 2025

ADOPTION METRICS

// GitHub Stars
797

// Reading this797 stars on the jacksteamdev/obsidian-mcp-tools repo. 8 commits on main in the last 30 days.

// Popularity Rank
#5
Globally · #11 in Productivity

// Reading thisPairs with the existing cyanheads/obsidian-mcp-server entry: read-and-search vs read-write-and-edit.

SOURCES & VERIFICATION

We don't take any single directory's word for it. Before scoring, we cross-reference 4 public MCP sources, install the server ourselves against the clients we cover, and record when we last re-verified.

01
Discovered
Manual submission
First indexed MAY 3, 2026
02
Cross-referenced
4 directories
PulseMCP, MCP.so, Glama, Smithery
03
Verified against
Claude Desktop, Cursor
Installed and tested across clients
04
Last re-checked
MAY 3, 2026
Weekly re-verification
// How other directories see it

The same server, 4 different lenses. We reconcile these signals into our editorial score, which is why our number sometimes diverges from a directory-aggregate star count.

SourceTheir ratingTheir star countTheir downloadsLast synced
AutomationSwitch This page4.4editorial797MAY 3, 2026
PulseMCP— unratedunavailableunavailableMAY 3, 2026
MCP.so— unratedunavailableunavailableMAY 3, 2026
Glama— unratedunavailableunavailableMAY 3, 2026
Smithery— unratedunavailableunavailableMAY 3, 2026

// Counts are directory-reported; we don't adjust them. Discrepancies usually come from different snapshot times or star-caching.

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