Configuration Reference

Complete configuration options for Another bloated Obsidian MCP Server.

Quick Reference

Method	Scope	Example
CLI argument	Session	--tools=vault,notes
Environment variable	Process	OBSIDIAN_MCP_TOOLS=vault,notes
Config file	Persistent	~/.obsidian-mcp/config.json

Command Line Arguments

Basic Usage

npx tsx src/index.ts [vault-path] [vault-name] [options]

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description
vault-path	No	Absolute path to your Obsidian vault
vault-name	No	Name for the vault (default: "default")

Options

Option	Description
--tools=GROUPS	Comma-separated list of tool groups to enable
--help, -h	Show help message

Examples

# Enable all tools (default)
npx tsx src/index.ts /path/to/vault

# With custom vault name
npx tsx src/index.ts /path/to/vault personal

# Enable specific tool groups
npx tsx src/index.ts /path/to/vault --tools=vault,notes,search

# Minimal read-only setup
npx tsx src/index.ts /path/to/vault --tools=vault,notes,search

# Disable all tools (testing)
npx tsx src/index.ts /path/to/vault --tools=none

Environment Variables

OBSIDIAN_MCP_TOOLS

Controls which tool groups are enabled.

export OBSIDIAN_MCP_TOOLS=vault,notes,search

Values:

• Comma-separated list of group names
• all - Enable all groups
• none - Disable all groups

Priority: CLI --tools takes precedence over environment variable.

LOG_LEVEL

Controls logging verbosity.

export LOG_LEVEL=debug

Values:

• debug - All messages including debug
• info - Info, warnings, and errors (default)
• warn - Warnings and errors only
• error - Errors only

Tool Groups

Available Groups

Group	Tools	Description
vault	3	Vault management
notes	7	Note CRUD operations
search	1	Full-text search
frontmatter	5	YAML metadata
tags	4	Tag management
links	5	Link analysis
daily	4	Daily notes
templates	4	Template system
bases	3	Obsidian Bases
batch	6	Batch operations
attachments	4	Attachment tracking
backup	4	Backup/restore

Special Values

Value	Description
all	Enable all tool groups (default)
none	Disable all tool groups

Configuration Examples

Read-Only Access:

vault,notes,search

Daily Productivity:

vault,notes,search,daily,tags

Knowledge Analysis:

vault,notes,search,links,tags

Content Creation:

vault,notes,search,templates,frontmatter

Full Access:

all

Configuration File

Location

~/.obsidian-mcp/config.json

Schema

{
  "vaults": {
    "<vault-name>": "<absolute-path>"
  },
  "defaultVault": "<vault-name>"
}

Example

{
  "vaults": {
    "personal": "/Users/you/Obsidian/Personal",
    "work": "/Users/you/Obsidian/Work",
    "research": "/Users/you/Obsidian/Research"
  },
  "defaultVault": "personal"
}

Fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
vaults	object	Yes	Map of vault names to paths
defaultVault	string	No	Default vault when none specified

MCP Client Configuration

Claude Code CLI

claude mcp add obsidian \
  --transport stdio \
  --scope user \
  -- npx tsx /path/to/obsidian-mcp-server/src/index.ts \
     /path/to/vault \
     --tools=vault,notes,search

Scopes:

• user - Available in all projects (~/.claude.json)
• local - Current project only
• project - Shared with team (.mcp.json)

Manual Configuration (~/.claude.json)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "tsx",
        "/path/to/obsidian-mcp-server/src/index.ts",
        "/path/to/vault",
        "--tools=vault,notes,search"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop

Config file: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "tsx",
        "/path/to/obsidian-mcp-server/src/index.ts",
        "/path/to/vault",
        "--tools=vault,notes,search"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Daily Notes Configuration

Daily notes use Obsidian's daily notes plugin configuration from:

<vault>/.obsidian/daily-notes.json

Settings

Setting	Default	Description
folder	"" (root)	Folder for daily notes
format	YYYY-MM-DD	Date format for filenames
template	""	Template file for new notes

Example

{
  "folder": "Daily",
  "format": "YYYY-MM-DD",
  "template": "Templates/Daily Note"
}

Templates Configuration

Templates are read from the vault's templates folder.

Default Locations (checked in order)

1. Templates/
2. templates/

Supported Variables

Variable	Description
{{title}}	Note title parameter
{{date}}	Current date (YYYY-MM-DD)
{{date:FORMAT}}	Date with custom format
{{time}}	Current time (HH:mm)
{{variable}}	Custom variable

Date Format Tokens

Token	Description	Example
YYYY	4-digit year	2024
MM	2-digit month	01-12
DD	2-digit day	01-31
HH	2-digit hour (24h)	00-23
mm	2-digit minute	00-59
ss	2-digit second	00-59

Logging Configuration

Log Location

<project-root>/logs/mcp-server-YYYY-MM-DD.log

Settings

Setting	Value
Max log files	7
Max age	7 days
Output	File + stderr

Log Format

[2024-01-15T10:30:00.000Z] [INFO] Message here {"data": "value"}

Backup Configuration

Default Settings

Setting	Default	Description
backupFolder	.backups	Folder for backups
keepLast	5	Backups to keep per note

Backup Filename Format

[folder_]notename_YYYY-MM-DDTHH-MM-SS-sssZ.md

Example: Projects_MyProject_2024-01-15T10-30-00-000Z.md

Security Configuration

Path Validation

All paths are validated to prevent:

• Path traversal (../)
• Symlink escapes
• Absolute paths outside vault

Ignored Paths

The following paths are automatically ignored:

• .obsidian/
• .git/
• .trash/
• .DS_Store
• node_modules/
• Hidden files (starting with .)