@jason-gregory/sb-obsidian-mcp

MCP server that exposes Obsidian vaults to AI assistants as a structured set of tools. Single-file Node bundle. No build step.

Requirements

• Node.js >= 20 on PATH
• Obsidian with the Local REST API community plugin installed in each vault
• One Local REST API key per vault

Multi-brain quick start

Create a registry file, for example ~/.config/sb-obsidian-mcp/brains.yaml:

brains:
  personal:
    base_url: http://127.0.0.1:27123
    api_key_env: OBSIDIAN_PERSONAL_API_KEY
    verify_tls: false
  team:
    base_url: http://127.0.0.1:27125
    api_key_env: OBSIDIAN_TEAM_API_KEY
    verify_tls: false

Create an env file, for example ~/.config/sb-obsidian-mcp/brains.env:

OBSIDIAN_PERSONAL_API_KEY=paste-personal-local-rest-api-key
OBSIDIAN_TEAM_API_KEY=paste-team-local-rest-api-key
OBSIDIAN_LOG_LEVEL=info

On macOS/Linux, restrict the env file:

chmod 600 ~/.config/sb-obsidian-mcp/brains.env

Copilot CLI config

Copilot CLI reads ~/.copilot/mcp-config.json on macOS/Linux and %USERPROFILE%\.copilot\mcp-config.json on Windows.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mybrain": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@jason-gregory/sb-obsidian-mcp@latest",
        "--advanced",
        "--multi",
        "/Users/you/.config/sb-obsidian-mcp/brains.yaml",
        "--env-file",
        "/Users/you/.config/sb-obsidian-mcp/brains.env"
      ],
      "env": {
        "OBSIDIAN_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
      },
      "tools": ["*"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Code config

Claude Code stores MCP servers in ~/.claude.json. The quickest way to register the server is the CLI (-s user makes it available in every project):

claude mcp add-json -s user mybrain '{
  "type": "stdio",
  "command": "npx",
  "args": [
    "-y",
    "@jason-gregory/sb-obsidian-mcp@latest",
    "--advanced",
    "--multi",
    "/Users/you/.config/sb-obsidian-mcp/brains.yaml",
    "--env-file",
    "/Users/you/.config/sb-obsidian-mcp/brains.env"
  ],
  "env": { "OBSIDIAN_LOG_LEVEL": "info" }
}'

To scope the server to a single project instead, add a .mcp.json file at the repo root (Claude Code uses the same mcpServers key as Copilot CLI):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mybrain": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@jason-gregory/sb-obsidian-mcp@latest",
        "--advanced",
        "--multi",
        "/Users/you/.config/sb-obsidian-mcp/brains.yaml",
        "--env-file",
        "/Users/you/.config/sb-obsidian-mcp/brains.env"
      ],
      "env": {
        "OBSIDIAN_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Code (or reload the session) after editing config, then run meta_health to confirm each brain.

VS Code config

VS Code user config is ~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/mcp.json on macOS, %APPDATA%\Code\User\mcp.json on Windows, or .vscode/mcp.json in a workspace.

{
  "servers": {
    "mybrain": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@jason-gregory/sb-obsidian-mcp@latest",
        "--advanced",
        "--multi",
        "/Users/you/.config/sb-obsidian-mcp/brains.yaml",
        "--env-file",
        "/Users/you/.config/sb-obsidian-mcp/brains.env"
      ],
      "env": {
        "OBSIDIAN_LOG_LEVEL": "info"
      }
    }
  }
}

Use absolute paths in MCP host JSON. On Windows, forward slashes are valid in JSON paths and avoid backslash escaping issues.

Single-vault compatibility

Without --multi, the server keeps the legacy single-vault environment variables:

• OBSIDIAN_API_KEY
• OBSIDIAN_BASE_URL
• OBSIDIAN_TIMEOUT_MS
• OBSIDIAN_VERIFY_TLS

In multi-brain mode, vault-facing tool calls require a brain argument. meta_health is brainless and reports all configured brains.

See also

Source, full docs, and the optional companion Obsidian plugin: https://github.com/jason-gregory/sb-obsidian-mcp-release