Obsidian MCP Setup Tutorial for Claude Desktop
Description
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Notes
00:00 Introduction to Obsidian MCP Server
- Video demonstrates setting up Obsidian MCP server to interact with notes using Claude Desktop
- PDF guide available through weekly email newsletter
- Selected MCP Obsidian server has 1,000 stars on GitHub
- Available on PyPI as
mcp-obsidian - Uses Obsidian local REST API for simple interaction
00:22 Initial Setup: MCP Configuration
00:57 Accessing Claude Desktop Settings
- Open Claude Desktop application
- Navigate to Settings → Developer → Edit Config
- Modify
cloud_desktop_config.jsonfile - Must be valid JSON format
01:06 Installing MCP Configuration
- Paste MCP Obsidian server configuration into config file
- Requires Obsidian API key (initially missing)
01:31 Installing Obsidian REST API Plugin
- Search for "REST API" in Obsidian community plugins
- Install plugin by Adam Codington
- Enable the plugin after installation
- 02:03 Copy API key from plugin settings
02:09 Completing MCP Configuration
- Paste API key from Obsidian plugin into Claude config
- API key allows MCP server to authenticate with Obsidian vault
- Save configuration and restart Claude Desktop
02:38 Troubleshooting UVX Command Issues
02:44 Problem: UVX Not Recognized
- Error: "MCP Obsidian spawn UVX" when restarting Claude
- Command
uvxdoesn't work on some systems - UVX should automatically fetch MCP Obsidian from PyPI
03:20 Solution: Use Full Path to UVX
- Install UV tool (UVX comes with it)
- Available for macOS, Linux, and Windows
- If still not working, use full path to
uvxin config - Edit settings and paste complete path to UVX executable
- 04:00 Restart Claude Desktop to apply changes
- MCP Obsidian tools should now appear in search and tools button
04:13 Using MCP Obsidian Integration
04:13 Listing Vault Contents
- Request: "Have a quick look inside my vault"
- Claude requests permission to use "list files in vault" tool
- Can approve once or always
- Claude explores directory structure (hubs, notes, templates folders)
05:01 Vault Overview
- Displays structured overview of vault contents
- Second brain notes repository with programming notes
- 05:27 Creating Index File
- Can request Claude to create new files in vault
- Uses "Obsidian append content" function
- "Approve always" grants tool permanent write access
- Index file successfully created with vault summary
05:52 Searching Notes
- Request: "Show me notes about sending an email with Python"
- Uses "Obsidian simple search" function with query "email Python send"
- Returns matching files with relevant chunks
- Found note: "SMTP send email"
07:03 Retrieving Full File Contents
- Claude can request complete file contents from search results
- MCP client sends request to server to retrieve file data
- File contents dumped into LLM context for analysis
- Can display full Python code from notes
08:29 Context Window Limitations
- Request: "Optimize BigQuery table using clustering and partitions"
- Large search results exceeded Claude's maximum context length
- Error: "Maximum length for conversation reached"
- Issue: Too much data returned from vault simultaneously
- 10:21 Attempted workarounds (setting context length to 200) did not resolve issue
10:42 Alternative Solutions
10:44 Option 1: Cursor
- Supports MCP integration
- Works with various models via APIs
- Not ideal as MCP was not original use case
10:56 Option 2: OpenAI Desktop Application
- Does not currently support MCP
- Expected to support MCP in near future
11:08 Option 3: MCPhost with Local Ollama Models
- Totally free and works immediately
- Allows using local Ollama models to talk with Obsidian MCP
- Also supports OpenAI (e.g., GPT-4o Mini)
- Best for limited hardware constraints or accessing best models
- Separate video demonstrates setup with command-line tools
Obsidian MCP Setup Tutorial for Claude Desktop
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On this page
Description
Notes
00:00 Introduction to Obsidian MCP Server
00:22 Initial Setup: MCP Configuration
00:57 Accessing Claude Desktop Settings
01:06 Installing MCP Configuration
01:31 Installing Obsidian REST API Plugin
02:09 Completing MCP Configuration
02:38 Troubleshooting UVX Command Issues
02:44 Problem: UVX Not Recognized
03:20 Solution: Use Full Path to UVX
04:13 Using MCP Obsidian Integration
04:13 Listing Vault Contents
05:01 Vault Overview
05:52 Searching Notes
07:03 Retrieving Full File Contents
08:29 Context Window Limitations
10:42 Alternative Solutions
10:44 Option 1: Cursor
10:56 Option 2: OpenAI Desktop Application
11:08 Option 3: MCPhost with Local Ollama Models