Obsidian Gate

An MCP server that opens your Obsidian vault to any AI agent.

npx obsidian-gate init     # point at your vault
npx obsidian-gate          # dashboard on :3100

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Your Obsidian vault is your second brain. Your AI agents should be able to use it.

Claude Code, Codex, Cursor — one line of config and your vault becomes an agent-accessible workspace. Every note, every link, every tag. All local, all yours, no cloud.

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Try It

# One command to set up
npx obsidian-gate init

# Start the dashboard
npx obsidian-gate
# → http://localhost:3100/dashboard

That's it. Your agents can now read, search, and write to your vault.

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Quick Start

1. Point at your vault

npx obsidian-gate init

You'll be asked for your vault path. Paste it in, get an API key back.

2. Connect your agent

Claude Code — drop this into your MCP config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["obsidian-gate", "--mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Any MCP client over HTTP:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://localhost:3100/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer sk-your-key" }
    }
  }
}

3. Ask your agent

Try these:

Prompt	What happens
"What did I work on yesterday?"	Agent reads your daily note
"Search my vault for Kubernetes notes"	Full-text search across every note
"Save this debugging session to my vault"	Creates a new note with frontmatter
"Link my meeting notes to the project notes"	Adds a [[wikilink]]

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Tools — 9 Operations

Tool	What it does
list_notes(path?)	List notes and folders in a vault folder
read_note(path)	Full note content + parsed frontmatter
search_notes(query, limit?)	Full-text search with ranked results and snippets
create_note(path, content, frontmatter?)	New note with vault template frontmatter
update_note(path, content, mode?)	Overwrite or append to a note
get_backlinks(path)	Every note linking here via [[wikilink]]
get_tags()	All tags — frontmatter and inline — with counts
get_daily_note(date?)	Get or create the daily note (today, yesterday, -1, ISO)
create_link(from, to, label?)	Add a [[wikilink]] under ## Related

Notes are also exposed as MCP resources: obsidian://{vault}/{path}.

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CLI

Command	What it does
init	Interactive setup wizard
serve (default)	Dashboard + MCP HTTP on :3100
--mcp	Run as MCP server over stdio
doctor	Verify vault access and all 9 tools
keys list	Show agent connections
keys new <name>	Create a new API key
keys rotate <id>	Rotate a key
keys revoke <id>	Revoke a key
vault list	Configured vaults
vault add <name> <path>	Add a vault
vault remove <name>	Remove a vault
license status	Your plan and usage
license set <key>	Activate a license key
activity	Agent activity log

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Pricing

Tier	Price	What you get
Free	$0	50 queries/month, 1 vault, 1 agent
Personal	$19/mo	Unlimited queries, 3 vaults, unlimited agents
Team	$49/mo	Everything in Personal + shared config, priority support

14-day free trial on paid plans. No risk. Cancel anytime.

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Architecture

┌────────────┐     ┌──────────────────────┐     ┌──────────────┐
│ AI Agent   │────▶│   obsidian-gate      │────▶│  Obsidian    │
│ (Claude,   │◀────│   (MCP Server)       │◀────│  Vault       │
│  Codex,    │     │                      │     │  (files)     │
│  Cursor)   │     │  stdio ─ dashboard   │     └──────────────┘
└────────────┘     └──────────────────────┘

• All local. Every byte lives on your machine. No cloud, no servers, no sync.
• Config in ~/.obsidian-gate/config.json (mode 0600)
• API keys are local secrets. You own the stack.
• Activity log tracks every agent action in JSONL.

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What Gate Is Not

• ❌ Not an Obsidian plugin (but a community plugin is planned)
• ❌ Not a sync engine (reads/writes your vault directory directly)
• ❌ Not a note editor (Obsidian is better at that)
• ❌ Not a cloud service (runs entirely on your machine)

It's one small thing done well: an MCP server for your vault.

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Roadmap

• [x] MCP server with 9 tools
• [x] Local dashboard + activity log
• [x] API key auth + permissions
• [x] Stripe licensing (free + paid tiers)
• [ ] Obsidian community plugin (one-click install)
• [ ] Agent write-back with LLM frontmatter
• [ ] Auto-tagging from vault content
• [ ] Daily digest: what changed in your vault

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Development

git clone https://github.com/rileygramlich/obsidian-gate.git
cd obsidian-gate
npm install
npm run build     # compile TypeScript → dist/
npm run dev       # hot-reload with tsx

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Built by Riley G. — inspired by the Marc Lou playbook: ship fast, free tier, zero ad spend, build in public.

MIT — build on it, ship it, sell it.