Roam Research MCP + CLI

Introduction

I created this project to solve a personal problem: I wanted to manage my Roam Research graph directly from Claude Code (and other LLMs). As I built the Model Context Protocol (MCP) server to give AI agents access to my notes, I realized the underlying tools were powerful enough to stand on their own.

What started as an backend for AI agents evolved into a full-featured Standalone CLI. Now, you can use the same powerful API capabilities directly from your terminal—piping content into Roam, searching your graph, and managing tasks—without needing an LLM at all.

Whether you want to give Claude superpowers over your knowledge base or just want a robust CLI for your own scripts, this project has you covered.

Standalone CLI: roam

The roam CLI lets you interact with your graph directly from the terminal. It supports standard input (stdin) piping for all content creation and retrieval commands, making it perfect for automation workflows.

Quick Examples

# Save a quick thought to your daily page
roam save "Idea: A CLI for Roam would be cool"

# Pipe content from a file to a new page
cat meeting_notes.md | roam save --title "Meeting: Project Alpha"

# Create a TODO item on today's daily page
echo "Buy milk" | roam save --todo

# Prepend to top of page (newest-first ordering)
roam save -p "Changelog" --order first "v2.18.0 release"

# Search your graph and pipe results to another tool
roam search "important" --json | jq .

# Search for pages by namespace prefix
roam search --namespace "Convention"    # Finds all Convention/* pages

# Fetch a page by title
roam get "Roam Research"

# Fetch a block with ancestors (parent chain to page root)
roam get abc123def -a              # Block + children + ancestors
roam get abc123def -a -d 0         # Ancestors only, no children

# Fetch page by UID or Roam URL
roam get page abc123def
roam get page "https://roamresearch.com/#/app/my-graph/page/abc123def"

# Sort and group results
roam get --tag Project --sort created --group-by tag

# Find references (backlinks) to a page
roam refs "Project Alpha"

# Update a block (e.g., toggle TODO status)
roam update ((block-uid)) --todo

# Multi-graph: read from a specific graph
roam get "Page Title" -g work

# Multi-graph: write to a protected graph
roam save "Note" -g work --write-key "$ROAM_SYSTEM_WRITE_KEY"

Available Commands: get, search, save, refs, update, batch, rename, status. Run roam <command> --help for details on any command.

Installation

npm install -g roam-research-mcp
# The 'roam' command is now available globally

MCP Server Tools

The MCP server exposes these tools to AI assistants (like Claude), enabling them to read, write, and organize your Roam graph intelligently.

Multi-Graph Support: All tools accept optional graph and write_key parameters. Use graph to target a specific graph from your ROAM_GRAPHS config, and write_key for write operations on protected graphs.

| Tool Name | Description | | :--- | :--- | | roam_fetch_page_by_title | Fetch page content by title. | | roam_fetch_page_full_view | Fetch a page's content plus all linked references with breadcrumb context and children. | | roam_fetch_block | Fetch a block by UID with optional children (depth) and/or ancestors (up to page root). | | roam_create_page | Create new pages, optionally with mixed text and table content. | | roam_update_page_markdown | Update a page using smart diff (preserves block UIDs). | | roam_get_subpages | List sub-pages under a namespace prefix (e.g. "Project/") with optional tag filter. | | roam_search_by_text | Full-text search across the graph or within specific pages. Supports namespace prefix search for page titles. | | roam_search_block_refs | Find blocks that reference a page, tag, or block UID. | | roam_search_by_status | Find TODO or DONE items. | | roam_search_for_tag | Find blocks containing specific tags (supports exclusion). | | roam_search_by_date | Find blocks/pages by creation or modification date. | | roam_find_pages_modified_today | List pages modified since midnight. | | roam_add_todo | Add TODO items to today's daily page. | | roam_create_table | Create properly formatted Roam tables. | | roam_create_outline | Create hierarchical outlines. | | roam_process_batch_actions | Execute multiple low-level actions (create, move, update, delete) in one batch. | | roam_move_block | Move a block to a new parent or position. | | roam_remember / roam_recall | specialized tools for AI memory management within Roam. | | roam_datomic_query | Execute raw Datalog queries for advanced filtering. | | roam_markdown_cheatsheet | Retrieve the Roam-flavored markdown reference. |

Configuration

Environment Variables

Single Graph Mode

For a single Roam graph, set these in your environment or a .env file:

ROAM_API_TOKEN=your-api-token
ROAM_GRAPH_NAME=your-graph-name

Multi-Graph Mode (v2.0+)

Connect to multiple Roam graphs from a single server instance:

ROAM_GRAPHS='{
  "personal": {"token": "token-1", "graph": "personal-db", "memoriesTag": "#[[Personal Memories]]"},
  "work": {"token": "token-2", "graph": "work-db", "protected": true, "memoriesTag": "#[[Work Memories]]"},
  "research": {"token": "token-3", "graph": "research-db"}
}'
ROAM_DEFAULT_GRAPH=personal
ROAM_SYSTEM_WRITE_KEY=your-secret-key

Graph Configuration Options:

| Property | Required | Description | |----------|----------|-------------| | token | Yes | Roam API token for this graph | | graph | Yes | Graph name/database identifier | | protected | No | If true, writes require ROAM_SYSTEM_WRITE_KEY confirmation | | memoriesTag | No | Tag for roam_remember/roam_recall (overrides global default) |

Write Protection: Protected graphs require the write_key parameter matching ROAM_SYSTEM_WRITE_KEY for any write operation. This prevents accidental writes to sensitive graphs.

Optional:

• ROAM_MEMORIES_TAG: Default tag for roam_remember/roam_recall (fallback when per-graph memoriesTag not set).
• HTTP_STREAM_PORT: To enable HTTP Stream (defaults to 8088).

Running the Server

1. Stdio Mode (Default) Best for local integration (e.g., Claude Desktop, IDE extensions).

npx roam-research-mcp

Note: Stdio mode does not use any network ports.

2. HTTP Stream Mode Best for remote access or web clients.

HTTP_STREAM_PORT=8088 npx roam-research-mcp

3. Docker

docker run -p 8088:8088 --env-file .env roam-research-mcp

Configuring in LLMs

Claude Desktop / Cline:

Add to your MCP settings file (e.g., ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

Single Graph:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "roam-research": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "roam-research-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "ROAM_API_TOKEN": "your-token",
        "ROAM_GRAPH_NAME": "your-graph"
      }
    }
  }
}

Multi-Graph:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "roam-research": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "roam-research-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "ROAM_GRAPHS": "{\"personal\":{\"token\":\"token-1\",\"graph\":\"personal-db\",\"memoriesTag\":\"#[[Memories]]\"},\"work\":{\"token\":\"token-2\",\"graph\":\"work-db\",\"protected\":true}}",
        "ROAM_DEFAULT_GRAPH": "personal",
        "ROAM_SYSTEM_WRITE_KEY": "your-secret-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Query Block Parser (v2.11.0+)

A utility for parsing and executing Roam query blocks programmatically. Converts {{[[query]]: ...}} syntax into Datalog queries.

Supported Clauses

| Clause | Syntax | Description | |--------|--------|-------------| | Page ref | [[page]] | Blocks referencing a page | | Block ref | ((uid)) | Blocks referencing a block | | and | {and: [[a]] [[b]]} | All conditions must match | | or | {or: [[a]] [[b]]} | Any condition matches | | not | {not: [[tag]]} | Exclude matches | | between | {between: [[date1]] [[date2]]} | Date range filter | | search | {search: text} | Full-text search | | daily notes | {daily notes: } | Daily notes pages only | | by | {by: [[User]]} | Created or edited by user | | created by | {created by: [[User]]} | Created by user | | edited by | {edited by: User} | Edited by user |

Relative Dates

The between clause supports relative dates: today, yesterday, last week, last month, this year, 7 days ago, 2 months ago, etc.

Usage

import { QueryExecutor } from 'roam-research-mcp/query';

const executor = new QueryExecutor(graph);

// Execute a query
const results = await executor.execute(
  '{{[[query]]: "My Query" {and: [[Project]] {between: [[last month]] [[today]]}}}}'
);

// Parse without executing (for debugging)
const { name, query } = QueryParser.parseWithName(queryBlock);

Utility Functions

import { isQueryBlock, extractQueryBlocks } from 'roam-research-mcp/query';

// Detect if text is a query block
isQueryBlock('{{[[query]]: [[tag]]}}'); // true

// Extract all query blocks from a string
extractQueryBlocks(pageContent); // ['{{[[query]]: ...}}', ...]

Support

If this project helps you manage your knowledge base or build cool agents, consider buying me a coffee! It helps keep the updates coming.

https://paypal.me/2b3/5

License

MIT License - Created by Ian Shen.