A Docker container setup for running Obsidian with MCP (Model Context Protocol) support.

This project provides a containerized Obsidian instance that can be used as an MCP server, allowing MCP clients to interact with Obsidian notes and functionality through the Model Context Protocol.

• Dockerfile: Based on lscr.io/linuxserver/obsidian:latest with uv package manager installed
• build.sh: Script to build the Docker image
• run.sh: Script to run the Docker container with proper configuration
• mcp-entry-sample.json: Sample MCP client configuration for connecting to the running container
• vault/: Directory containing Obsidian vault data (includes Local REST API plugin configuration)

• Docker installed and running on your system
• Basic familiarity with Docker commands
• An MCP client that supports the Model Context Protocol

Note: This project relies on two key components:

1. Local REST API - An Obsidian plugin that provides a REST API for interacting with notes. This is pre-configured in the vault with API key authentication.
2. mcp-obsidian - A Model Context Protocol server that connects to the Local REST API, allowing MCP clients to interact with Obsidian notes.

Run the build script to create the Docker image:

./build.sh

This script will:

• Build a Docker image tagged as mcp-obsidian:latest
• Install the uv package manager for Python dependencies

Start the Obsidian container using the run script:

./run.sh

This script will:

• Remove any existing container named mcp-obsidian
• Start a new container with the following configuration:
  • Name: mcp-obsidian
  • Port: 3000 (mapped to host port 3000)
  • Vault: ./vault directory mounted to /vault in container
  • Environment Variables:
    • PUID=1000 and PGID=1000 (user/group IDs)
    • TZ=America/Los_Angeles (timezone)
    • OBSIDIAN_API_KEY: Pre-configured API key for MCP access
    • OBSIDIAN_HOST=127.0.0.1 and OBSIDIAN_PORT=27123
  • Restart Policy: unless-stopped

Once the container is running, you can access Obsidian through your web browser at:

http://localhost:3000

The mcp-entry-sample.json file provides a sample configuration entry for MCP clients to connect to the running Obsidian container. This should be added to your MCP client's configuration file:

"mcp-obsidian": {
  "command": "docker",
  "args": [
    "exec",
    "-i",
    "mcp-obsidian",
    "uvx",
    "mcp-obsidian"
  ]
}

Note: The file contains dots (....) at the beginning and end, indicating this is a fragment to be inserted into a larger MCP configuration file.

1. Ensure the container is running by executing ./run.sh
2. Copy the sample configuration from mcp-entry-sample.json
3. Add the configuration to your MCP client's configuration file
4. Connect using your MCP client

The configuration tells the MCP client to:

• Use Docker to execute commands in the mcp-obsidian container
• Run the mcp-obsidian package using uvx (uv's execution command)

How it works: The MCP server (mcp-obsidian) communicates with Obsidian through the Local REST API plugin, which must be enabled in your Obsidian vault. The vault included in this project comes pre-configured with the plugin and API key authentication.

You are a note taker. When I chat with you, you are to make notes out of our conversation. If I ask you a question, check if there exists a note about the topic already in obsidian, answer the question based on your own knowledge and the content from obsidian, and then create or update the note in Obsidian if there is information you used not present in the Obsidian note. Create links between notes whenever possible and keep notes small and atomic.

• ./vault:/vault - Maps the local vault directory to the container's /vault directory for persistent storage

• 3000:3000 - Maps container port 3000 to host port 3000 for web access

• Check if container is running: docker ps | grep mcp-obsidian
• View container logs: docker logs mcp-obsidian
• Stop container: docker stop mcp-obsidian
• Remove container: docker rm mcp-obsidian

If you encounter permission issues with the vault directory:

# Ensure proper ownership
sudo chown -R 1000:1000 vault/

To modify the container configuration:

1. Edit the Dockerfile for image changes
2. Edit run.sh for runtime configuration changes
3. Rebuild with ./build.sh after Dockerfile changes
4. Restart with ./run.sh after runtime configuration changes