trilium-notes-mcp

MCP server that gives Claude access to Trilium Notes via its REST API (ETAPI).

Requirements

• Node.js ≥ 18
• A running Trilium / TriliumNext instance with ETAPI enabled
• An ETAPI token (Settings → ETAPI in Trilium)

Installation

No install needed — run directly with npx:

claude mcp add --scope user trilium \
  --env TRILIUM_URL=https://your-trilium-domain.example.com \
  --env TRILIUM_TOKEN=your-etapi-token \
  -- npx -y trilium-notes-mcp@latest

Or add to your project's .mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "trilium": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "trilium-notes-mcp@latest"],
      "env": {
        "TRILIUM_URL": "https://your-trilium-domain.example.com",
        "TRILIUM_TOKEN": "your-etapi-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Verify registration:

claude mcp list

Environment variables

| Variable | Required | Description | |---|---|---| | TRILIUM_URL | ✅ | Base URL of your Trilium instance, e.g. https://notes.example.com | | TRILIUM_TOKEN | ✅ | ETAPI token from Trilium Settings → ETAPI |

Available tools

Reading & searching

| Tool | Description | |---|---| | trilium_search_notes | Search by text or Trilium query syntax (#label, note.type = code, …) | | trilium_get_note | Fetch full metadata + content of a note by ID | | trilium_get_note_tree | List direct children of a note, one level deep (max 50) | | trilium_get_note_subtree | Recursively traverse a note and its descendants (configurable depth, max 5) | | trilium_get_note_path | Get the full ancestor path from root down to a note | | trilium_get_app_info | Get Trilium server version and build information |

Writing & editing

| Tool | Description | |---|---| | trilium_create_note | Create a new note under a given parent | | trilium_update_note | Rename a note or change its type / MIME type | | trilium_update_note_content | Replace the full content of a note | | trilium_append_to_note | Append text to the end of a note (great for journals) | | trilium_delete_note | Permanently delete a note and all its children | | trilium_move_note | Move or clone a note to a different parent |

Attributes

| Tool | Description | |---|---| | trilium_get_attributes | List all labels and relations of a note | | trilium_set_attribute | Add or update a label / relation on a note (upsert by type + name) | | trilium_delete_attribute | Remove a label or relation by its attribute ID |

Journal / Calendar

| Tool | Description | |---|---| | trilium_get_day_note | Get or auto-create Trilium's built-in day note for a date | | trilium_get_week_note | Get Trilium's built-in week note for a date's week | | trilium_get_inbox_note | Get Trilium's inbox note for a date |

Development

npm run dev      # watch mode — recompiles on change
npm run lint     # ESLint
npm run format   # Prettier
npm test         # Vitest unit tests

How ETAPI auth works

Every request includes the header Authorization: <token>. No "Bearer" prefix. The token is the ETAPI token generated in Trilium settings.

Known limitations

• trilium_update_note_content and trilium_append_to_note perform a read-then-write; concurrent edits on the same note from multiple clients may overwrite each other.
• trilium_get_note_tree is capped at 50 children; trilium_get_note_subtree at 100 total nodes and 20 children per node.
• trilium_move_note requires a branchId to remove from the old location; omitting it clones the note instead.
• Binary notes (images, files) return a <binary content, N bytes> placeholder instead of raw bytes.
• Protected notes are not supported (Trilium requires a session password for those).