smart-connections-mcp — Claude Code MCP server: semantic Obsidian
Searches your Obsidian vault by meaning instead of exact words. Useful when the agent has to recall what you already wrote about a topic.
claude mcp add smart-connections-mcp -e SMART_VAULT_PATH=<SMART_VAULT_PATH> -- npx -y smart-connections-mcpWhat smart-connections-mcp does
The server hooks into an Obsidian vault and reuses the vectors the Smart Connections plugin has already produced. Queries are embedded with the same model your vault uses, so matching happens on meaning. Everything runs on your machine and nothing is sent out.
Tools it exposes: search_notes for whole notes and individual blocks, get_similar_notes for notes close to a given one via stored vectors, get_connection_graph to follow similarity links outward, get_note_content to read a note or pull specific blocks, plus list_vaults and get_stats for what is loaded and which models are in play. Several vaults are fine — comma-separate the paths in SMART_VAULT_PATH.
You need Node.js 20 or newer and a vault where Smart Connections is installed with embeddings already generated. When the model cannot load or a vault has no vectors yet, search drops to literal keyword matching and states that in the response. Edits made in Obsidian show up on their own.
What it helps with
- find notes by meaning rather than an exact phrase
- read one block of a note without opening the whole file
- connect related ideas across several vaults
- check which vaults and models are currently loaded
- pull notes similar to one you already have
Example prompts for the agent
- Find notes in my vault about release planning
- Show notes similar to
weekly-review.md - Read the budget block from my quarterly note
How to install smart-connections-mcp
Platform CLI
claude mcp add smart-connections-mcp -e SMART_VAULT_PATH=<SMART_VAULT_PATH> -- npx -y smart-connections-mcpReplace <…> with your own values
Platform CLI
codex mcp add smart-connections-mcp --env SMART_VAULT_PATH=<SMART_VAULT_PATH> -- npx -y smart-connections-mcpReplace <…> with your own values
Config file
{
"mcpServers": {
"smart-connections-mcp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"smart-connections-mcp"
],
"env": {
"SMART_VAULT_PATH": "<SMART_VAULT_PATH>"
}
}
}
}Replace <…> with your own values
Config file
{
"servers": {
"smart-connections-mcp": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"smart-connections-mcp"
],
"env": {
"SMART_VAULT_PATH": "<SMART_VAULT_PATH>"
}
}
}
}Replace <…> with your own values
Platform CLI
gemini mcp add -e SMART_VAULT_PATH=<SMART_VAULT_PATH> smart-connections-mcp npx -y smart-connections-mcpReplace <…> with your own values
Step by step, with commands for each platform: How to add an MCP server to Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Gemini CLI and more
Questions about smart-connections-mcp
How do I install smart-connections-mcp in Claude Code?
Run claude mcp add smart-connections-mcp -e SMART_VAULT_PATH=<SMART_VAULT_PATH> -- npx -y smart-connections-mcp. Replace <SMART_VAULT_PATH> with the path to your vault.
What does smart-connections-mcp do?
It gives the agent semantic search over an Obsidian vault: notes and blocks matched by meaning, plus similar notes and links between ideas. Vectors come from the Smart Connections plugin and processing stays local.
What does the server need to run?
Node.js 20 or newer, and an Obsidian vault with Smart Connections installed and embeddings generated. Without those vectors search falls back to keywords.
