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obsidian-cli-rest

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Control your Obsidian vault programmatically. This plugin turns all Obsidian CLI commands into a local HTTP API and MCP server, letting you automate your workflow from scripts, tools, and AI assistants.

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# REST and MCP server

Control your Obsidian vault programmatically. This plugin turns **all Obsidian CLI commands** into a local HTTP API and MCP server, letting you automate your workflow from scripts, tools, and AI assistants.

## Why use this plugin?

- **Automate note-taking**: Create, read, search, and modify notes from any script or tool
- **Connect AI assistants**: Let Claude, ChatGPT, or other AI tools interact with your vault via MCP
- **Build integrations**: Hook Obsidian into your existing workflow with standard HTTP requests
- **Stay secure**: Localhost-only by default, API key authentication, granular command controls

## Requirements

- **Obsidian desktop app** (v1.4.0 or later)
- **[Obsidian CLI](https://help.obsidian.md/cli)** enabled in Obsidian: **Settings > General > Advanced > Command line interface**

## Installation

### Community plugins (recommended)

1. In Obsidian, go to **Settings → Community plugins**.
2. Disable **Restricted mode** if it's enabled.
3. Select **Browse**, search for **REST and MCP server**, install it, then enable it.

You can also browse the catalog on the [Obsidian Community](https://community.obsidian.md/) website.

### Manual installation

If the plugin isn't listed in the community catalog yet (or you want a specific version):

1. Download `main.js`, `manifest.json`, and `styles.css` from the [latest release](https://github.com/dsebastien/obsidian-cli-rest/releases).
2. Copy them into `<Vault>/.obsidian/plugins/cli-rest-mcp/`.
3. Reload Obsidian and enable **REST and MCP server** in **Settings → Community plugins**.

### BRAT (bleeding edge)

[BRAT](https://github.com/TfTHacker/obsidian42-brat) (Beta Reviewers Auto-update Tool) installs plugins straight from a GitHub repo and keeps them updated automatically. Use this if you want the latest commits — **things might break**.

1. Install **Obsidian42 - BRAT** from **Settings → Community plugins → Browse** and enable it.
2. Run **BRAT: Add a beta plugin for testing** from the command palette.
3. Paste `https://github.com/dsebastien/obsidian-cli-rest`.
4. Select the latest version and confirm.
5. Enable **REST and MCP server** in **Settings → Community plugins**.

Once enabled, the server starts automatically on `http://127.0.0.1:27124`.

## Quick start

Copy your API key from **Settings > REST and MCP server > Security**, then start making requests:

```bash
# List all files in your vault
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  http://127.0.0.1:27124/api/v1/cli/files

# Search your vault
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  "http://127.0.0.1:27124/api/v1/cli/search?query=meeting+notes"

# Create a new note
curl -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"params": {"name": "My Note", "content": "Hello world"}}' \
  http://127.0.0.1:27124/api/v1/cli/create

# Read today's daily note
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  http://127.0.0.1:27124/api/v1/cli/daily/read

# Append to your daily note
curl -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"params": {"content": "- Task from my script"}}' \
  http://127.0.0.1:27124/api/v1/cli/daily/append
```

## What you can do

The plugin exposes all CLI commands organized into categories:

| Category        | Examples                                                  |
| --------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Files**       | List, create, read, append, prepend, move, rename, delete |
| **Search**      | Full-text search, search with context                     |
| **Properties**  | Read, set, and remove frontmatter properties              |
| **Daily notes** | Open, read, append, prepend to daily notes                |
| **Tags**        | List tags, get tag info                                   |
| **Tasks**       | List and manage tasks                                     |
| **Links**       | Outgoing links, backlinks, orphans, dead ends             |
| **Templates**   | List, read, and insert templates                          |
| **Bookmarks**   | List and add bookmarks                                    |
| **Plugins**     | List, install, enable, disable, uninstall                 |
| **Themes**      | List, set, install, uninstall                             |
| **Sync**        | Status, history, restore                                  |
| **Publish**     | Status, publish, unpublish                                |
| **Workspaces**  | List, save, load, delete layouts                          |
| **And more**    | Bases, CSS snippets, file history, word count...          |

## Two ways to connect

### REST API

Standard HTTP endpoints at `/api/v1/cli/*`. Use from any language or tool that can make HTTP requests.

```
GET  /api/v1/cli/files           # Read-only commands use GET
POST /api/v1/cli/create          # Write commands use POST
DELETE /api/v1/cli/delete        # Delete commands use DELETE
```

CLI colons become slashes in URLs: `property:set` becomes `/api/v1/cli/property/set`.

### MCP server

An MCP endpoint at `/mcp` for AI assistant integration. Uses the **Code Mode pattern** — just 2 tools (`search` and `execute`) enable progressive discovery of all commands, keeping the tool count fixed regardless of how many CLI commands exist.

- `search` — Discover commands by name, description, or category
- `execute` — Run any CLI command by name

Configure your MCP client with:

- **URL**: `http://127.0.0.1:27124/mcp`
- **Transport**: StreamableHTTP
- **Auth**: Bearer token (your API key)

Claude Desktop's config file only accepts stdio servers, so it needs the `mcp-remote` bridge instead of the URL directly. See [MCP integration](docs/mcp-integration.md) for client-specific setup.

## Security

The plugin is designed with security in mind:

- **Localhost only** by default — only your machine can reach the server
- **API key authentication** — auto-generated 64-character key, required for all CLI commands
- **Dangerous commands disabled** — commands like `eval`, `restart`, and `devtools` are blocked unless you explicitly opt in
- **Per-command blocklist** — block specific commands you don't want accessible
- **No shell injection** — CLI commands use `execFile`, not `exec`

To expose the server on your network, change the bind address to `0.0.0.0` in settings. An API key is enforced in this mode.

## Configuration

All settings are accessible from **Settings > REST and MCP server**.

| Setting            | Default     | Description                                           |
| ------------------ | ----------- | ----------------------------------------------------- |
| Port               | `27124`     | HTTP server port                                      |
| Bind address       | `127.0.0.1` | `127.0.0.1` (local) or `0.0.0.0` (network)            |
| Auto-start         | On          | Start server when plugin loads                        |
| REST API           | On          | Enable REST endpoints                                 |
| MCP server         | On          | Enable MCP endpoint                                   |
| Dangerous commands | Off         | Allow eval, restart, devtools, etc.                   |
| Blocked commands   | (none)      | Comma-separated list of commands to block             |
| CORS               | Off         | Allow cross-origin requests                           |
| Request timeout    | 30s         | Max CLI command execution time                        |
| Default vault      | (none)      | Fallback vault for requests without a vault parameter |

## Documentation

- **[User guide](docs/README.md)** — Setup, usage, configuration, and troubleshooting
- **[API reference](docs/api-reference.md)** — Endpoints, request/response formats, status codes
- **[MCP integration](docs/mcp-integration.md)** — Setting up AI assistant connections
- **[Command reference](docs/command-reference.md)** — All supported commands

**What's new after updates.** After a plugin update, a one-time dialog shows the release notes you just received (including skipped versions) with ways to support development. Never shown on fresh installs or regular restarts.

## License

MIT License — see [LICENSE](./LICENSE) for details.

## My other Obsidian plugins

| Plugin                                                                                                        | What it does                                                                                                                                  |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [Agentic Resource Discovery Server](https://github.com/dsebastien/obsidian-agentic-resource-discovery-server) | Local-first Agentic Resource Discovery publisher and registry that serves your AI skills and tools to agents over a local HTTP and MCP server |
| [Book Exporter](https://github.com/dsebastien/obsidian-book-exporter)                                         | Export books (one manifest note + linked chapter notes) to EPUB and PDF via Pandoc                                                            |
| [Bookshelf Base](https://github.com/dsebastien/obsidian-bookshelf)                                            | Display your notes as a visual bookshelf via a custom Bases view                                                                              |
| [Dataview Serializer](https://github.com/dsebastien/obsidian-dataview-serializer)                             | Serialize Dataview queries to Markdown, and keep the Markdown representation up to date                                                       |
| [Expander](https://github.com/dsebastien/obsidian-expander)                                                   | Replace variables across your vault using HTML comment markers. Supports static values and dynamic functions                                  |
| [Ghost Publish](https://github.com/dsebastien/obsidian-ghost-publish)                                         | Publish your vault notes to a Ghost blog with configurable presets for tags, newsletters, and frontmatter conventions                         |
| [Graph Explorer Base View](https://github.com/dsebastien/obsidian-graph-explorer-base-view)                   | A custom Bases view that renders notes as an interactive force-directed graph with explored/unexplored tracking                               |
| [Hidden Folders Access](https://github.com/dsebastien/obsidian-hidden-folders-access)                         | Index hidden root-level folders (e.g. .claude) so they appear in the file tree, metadata cache, and Bases                                     |
| [Journal Bases](https://github.com/dsebastien/obsidian-journal-base)                                          | Custom Base views for journaling and periodic reviews                                                                                         |
| [Kanban Action Planner](https://github.com/dsebastien/obsidian-kanban-action-planner)                         | Render your notes as configurable Kanban boards and calendars inside Bases, with statuses, ordering, relationships, and scheduling            |
| [Life Tracker](https://github.com/dsebastien/obsidian-life-tracker-base-view)                                 | Capture and visualize the data that matters in your life                                                                                      |
| [Note Village](https://github.com/dsebastien/obsidian-note-village)                                           | A 2D pixel art village where your notes become villagers you can explore and chat with using AI                                               |
| [Obsidian Starter Kit](https://github.com/DeveloPassion/obsidian-starter-kit-plugin)                          | Adds strong typing support and powerful automation support for notes                                                                          |
| [Remarkable Synchronizer](https://github.com/dsebastien/obsidian-remarkable-sync)                             | Connect to the reMarkable cloud, list, download, and sync notebook pages as images                                                            |
| [Replicate](https://github.com/dsebastien/obsidian-replicate)                                                 | Use AI models with ease via the Replicate.com integration                                                                                     |
| [Time Machine](https://github.com/dsebastien/obsidian-time-machine)                                           | Browse, compare, and restore previous versions of your notes using built-in file-recovery snapshots                                           |
| [Transcriber](https://github.com/dsebastien/obsidian-transcriber)                                             | Transcribe images to markdown using Ollama vision models                                                                                      |
| [Typefully](https://github.com/dsebastien/obsidian-typefully)                                                 | Publish social media posts with ease using the Typefully integration                                                                          |
| [Update Time](https://github.com/dsebastien/obsidian-update-time)                                             | Automatically update front matter to include creation and last update times                                                                   |

Everything I build is documented in [my newsletter](https://dsebastien.net/newsletter) and on [my YouTube channel](https://youtube.com/@dsebastien).

## News & support

To stay up to date about this plugin, Obsidian in general, Personal Knowledge Management and note-taking:

- Subscribe to [my newsletter](https://dsebastien.net/newsletter)
- Subscribe to [my YouTube channel](https://youtube.com/@dsebastien)
- Join the [Knowii community](https://www.store.dsebastien.net/product/knowii-community/) and learn to organize your notes and put your knowledge to work, together with fellow knowledge workers

If this plugin is useful to you, here are the best ways to support my work ❤️:

- [Join the Knowii community](https://www.store.dsebastien.net/product/knowii-community/)
- [Become a GitHub Sponsor](https://github.com/sponsors/dsebastien)
- [Buy me a coffee](https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dsebastien)
- [Subscribe to my YouTube channel](https://youtube.com/@dsebastien)
- [Check out my products](https://store.dsebastien.net)

Found a bug or have an idea? [Open an issue](https://github.com/dsebastien/obsidian-cli-rest/issues).

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