Obsidian MCP Server (Cyanheads): Setup for Claude, Cursor and Other Apps

• Reads a note, its outline or one section

  Opens a note by path, the note you have open, or a daily to yearly note. It returns the text, the full structure, a map of headings, or just one section.

  Try: “Read the 'Project plan' section of my Roadmap note.”

  Network · obsidian_get_note

• Lists notes and folders under a path

  Walks a folder in your vault to a chosen depth, with filters for file type and name. It stops at 1,000 entries per call.

  Try: “List all notes in my Projects folder.”

  Network · obsidian_list_notes

• Lists your tags, most used first

  Shows every tag in the vault with how many notes use it, and counts parent tags such as work for work/tasks.

  Try: “Which tags do I use most?”

  Network · obsidian_list_tags

• Finds notes by text, JSON rules or ranked search

  Searches by text match or by rules on path, content, frontmatter and tags. If the Omnisearch plugin is running, it also offers ranked search.

  Try: “Find notes that mention 'quarterly review' tagged #work.”

  Network · obsidian_search_notes

• Creates a note or replaces a section or whole file

  Creates a note, or replaces one heading, block or frontmatter field. Replacing a whole existing file needs overwrite set to true.

  Try: “Create a note called 'Meeting 2026-11-02' with these bullets.”

  Write · obsidian_write_note

• Adds text to the end of a note or section

  Appends to a note, creating it if missing, or to one heading, block or frontmatter field of an existing note.

  Try: “Add this task to the end of my Inbox note.”

  Write · obsidian_append_to_note

• Appends, prepends or replaces one section

  Changes one heading, block or frontmatter field of an existing note by adding before, adding after or replacing it.

  Try: “Replace the 'Status' section of the Roadmap note.”

  Write · obsidian_patch_note

• Finds and replaces text inside one note

  Runs one or more literal or regex replacements in a single note, body only by default. If a frontmatter change would break the YAML, nothing is written.

  Try: “Rename 'Acme' to 'Acme Inc.' in this note.”

  Write · obsidian_replace_in_note

• Gets, sets or deletes one frontmatter key

  Reads, sets or removes a single property in a note's frontmatter and returns the result.

  Try: “Set the status property of this note to done.”

  Write · obsidian_manage_frontmatter

• Adds, removes or lists a note's tags

  Changes tags in a note's frontmatter, in its body or in both, and reports which were applied or skipped.

  Try: “Add the tag #reviewed to this note.”

  Write · obsidian_manage_tags

• Permanently deletes a note

  Deletes one note by path. By default it deletes on the first call with no confirmation, and the server has no undo beyond Obsidian's local trash.

  Try: “Delete the note 'Scratch 2024'.”

  Delete · obsidian_delete_note

• Opens a note in the Obsidian app

  Brings a note up in Obsidian, optionally in a new pane. If you allow it, a missing file is created.

  Try: “Open today's daily note in Obsidian.”

  Write · obsidian_open_in_ui

Watch out for

• It deletes notes without asking by default

  obsidian_delete_note deletes on the first call, with no undo beyond Obsidian's local trash. Set OBSIDIAN_DELETE_ELICITATION=true to require your confirmation, or OBSIDIAN_READ_ONLY=true to turn writes off. github.com

• It can overwrite and rewrite your notes

  The write, patch, replace, frontmatter and tag tools change note files, and write_note can overwrite a whole file when told to. Limit it to a folder with OBSIDIAN_WRITE_PATHS. github.com

• Two opt-in tools can run any Obsidian command

  Setting OBSIDIAN_ENABLE_COMMANDS=true adds tools that list and run command-palette commands, some of which delete files or close the vault. They are off by default and hidden in read-only mode. github.com

• It needs a third-party plugin with a local key

  The Local REST API plugin serves your vault on a local port. Keep its key private and do not expose that port beyond your machine. github.com

• You can hide private folders

  OBSIDIAN_DENY_PATHS withholds folders from reads and writes, and removes them from listings and search results. github.com

Security advisories