# smart-connections-mcp

Searches your Obsidian vault by meaning instead of exact words. Useful when the agent has to recall what you already wrote about a topic.

- MCP server · `type=mcp` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf (Devin Desktop), Cline, Zed, Gemini CLI · ★ 59
- Author: msdanyg
- License: MIT · policy=link-only · description only; the file stays with the author
- Source: https://github.com/msdanyg/smart-connections-mcp
- Updated: 2026-08-22
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/mcp/smart-connections-mcp

## What it 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.

## Requirements
- Needs: Node.js (commands run via npx)
- Environment variables: `SMART_VAULT_PATH` — keys and tokens: ask the human for the values, never commit them or put them in shared files.
- Works with: Obsidian

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

**Platform CLI**
```bash
claude mcp add smart-connections-mcp -e SMART_VAULT_PATH=<SMART_VAULT_PATH> -- npx -y smart-connections-mcp
```
Replace <…> with your own values

### Codex

**Platform CLI**
```bash
codex mcp add smart-connections-mcp --env SMART_VAULT_PATH=<SMART_VAULT_PATH> -- npx -y smart-connections-mcp
```
Replace <…> with your own values

### Cursor

**Config file**
File `.cursor/mcp.json`:
```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "smart-connections-mcp": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "smart-connections-mcp"
            ],
            "env": {
                "SMART_VAULT_PATH": "<SMART_VAULT_PATH>"
            }
        }
    }
}
```
Replace <…> with your own values

### GitHub Copilot

**Config file**
File `.vscode/mcp.json`:
```json
{
    "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

### Gemini CLI

**Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini mcp add -e SMART_VAULT_PATH=<SMART_VAULT_PATH> smart-connections-mcp npx -y smart-connections-mcp
```
Replace <…> with your own values

## When to use it
- 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
- Find notes in my vault about release planning
- Show notes similar to `weekly-review.md`
- Read the budget block from my quarterly note

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