Obsidian Claude Setup: Use Claude Code in Your Vault

The simplest Obsidian Claude setup is to open Claude Code inside your vault folder. An Obsidian vault is just a folder of plain Markdown files, so Claude Code can read, search and edit your notes the same way it works on code, with no plugin needed. Add a CLAUDE.md file that explains how your vault is organized, back the vault up with Git first, and you can ask Claude to summarize notes, add links, tidy tags and write daily notes.

Obsidian facts below come from the Obsidian help site and Claude Code facts from Anthropic's Claude Code docs, both checked November 7, 2026.

Obsidian Claude setup at a glance

Why Claude Code works well with Obsidian

Obsidian stores your notes as Markdown text files in a vault, which is a normal folder on your computer. Its settings, themes and plugins live in a hidden .obsidian folder at the root of the vault. Obsidian also watches the folder and refreshes when files change outside the app, so edits Claude makes show up in Obsidian straight away.

That means Claude Code doesn't need any special connection to work with your notes. It already reads files, searches across folders and makes edits. Your vault is just a project with .md files in it.

You need a paid Claude plan or a Console account to use Claude Code. If you haven't set it up yet, follow how to install Claude Code first. If the terminal is new to you, Claude Code for non-developers covers the basics.

Step 1: Back up your vault before Claude edits anything

Do this before anything else. An agent that can rewrite one note can rewrite five hundred, and a bad instruction across a whole vault is hard to undo by hand.

Use Git, because it records every change and lets you roll any file back. Open a terminal in your vault folder and run:

git init
git add -A
git commit -m "Vault before Claude"

After each task you're happy with, commit again:

git add -A
git commit -m "Claude added links to project notes"

If Claude gets something wrong, git diff shows exactly what changed. Our guide to using Claude Code with GitHub covers pushing that history to a private repo as an off-site copy.

Claude Code also has its own safety net. It saves a checkpoint before each prompt you send, and /rewind (or pressing Esc twice with an empty prompt) lets you restore files to an earlier point. But Anthropic is clear that checkpoints don't replace version control. They don't track files changed only by shell commands, edits made by most subagents, or changes you make in Obsidian yourself.

Obsidian's File recovery core plugin helps too. It saves snapshots of your notes every 5 minutes or so and keeps them for 7 days by default. Obsidian says it isn't a complete backup, so use it as a backup layer behind Git.

Step 2: Open Claude Code in your vault folder

Find your vault's folder on disk, then start Claude Code from inside it:

cd ~/Documents/MyVault
claude

Use your own vault path. On Windows in PowerShell it looks like cd C:\Users\you\Documents\MyVault.

Prefer not to use a terminal? The Claude desktop app has Claude Code built in as the Code tab. Choose Local as the environment, pick your vault folder with the folder control, and type your request. It's the same Claude Code with the same files.

Start in the default permission mode. In that mode Claude asks before it edits any file or runs any command, and only reads run without asking. Once you trust a type of task, press Shift+Tab to switch to acceptEdits, which lets file edits run without asking. For big jobs, plan mode has Claude read the vault and write a plan before it touches a single note.

Step 3: Write a CLAUDE.md for your vault

Claude Code starts every session with a fresh memory. A CLAUDE.md file in the vault's root folder fixes that. Claude Code loads it at the start of every session, so it's where you explain how your vault works.

Run this inside Claude Code to get a first draft:

/init

/init looks at what's in the folder and writes a starting CLAUDE.md. If one already exists, it suggests improvements instead of overwriting it. Then edit it by hand. Anthropic suggests keeping each CLAUDE.md under 200 lines, because longer files take up more context and Claude follows them less closely.

Here's a starting point for a vault:

# My Obsidian vault

## Folders
- Inbox/ : new, unsorted notes
- Projects/ : one note per active project
- Areas/ : ongoing topics (health, money, clients)
- Daily/ : daily notes named YYYY-MM-DD
- Templates/ : never edit these

## Rules
- Use wikilinks like [[Note name]], not Markdown links
- Tags go in the `tags` property as a list, lowercase, kebab-case
- Never rename or move files. Suggest the change and I'll do it in Obsidian
- Never delete a note. Move content into Inbox/ instead
- Don't touch the .obsidian folder
- Ask before editing more than 10 notes in one go

The rename rule matters. Obsidian updates links automatically when you rename a note in Obsidian. When a file is renamed some other way, keep in mind that links pointing at the old name can break. Letting Obsidian do renames keeps your links intact.

For more examples, see our CLAUDE.md file examples. The same file also works when Claude Code runs from the desktop app.

Everyday Claude Code Obsidian tasks

Once the vault is backed up and CLAUDE.md is in place, ask in plain English. Start small, check the result in Obsidian, then go bigger.

Summarize notes. Claude can read a whole folder and write one summary note.

Read every note in Projects/Website Redesign and write a summary note called
"Website Redesign Summary" with decisions made, open questions and next steps.
Link each point back to the note it came from.

Link related notes. Obsidian links use double brackets, like [[Three laws of motion]]. Obsidian makes wikilinks by default, so ask for the same style.

Look through Areas/Clients and find notes that mention each other's topics
but don't link. Show me the list first. Don't edit anything yet.

Asking for a list before edits is a good habit for any task that touches many notes.

Tidy tags. Obsidian tags can go inline as #meeting or in the tags property at the top of a note. Tags are case-insensitive, can't contain spaces and can be nested with a slash, like #inbox/to-read.

List every tag in the vault with how many notes use it. Flag tags that look
like duplicates, such as #meeting and #meetings. Suggest one name for each group.

Write daily notes. Obsidian's Daily notes core plugin names notes after the date in YYYY-MM-DD format by default, and you can point it at a template.

Read my daily notes from the last 7 days and write a weekly review in
Daily/Weekly. Pull out unfinished tasks, wins and anything I said I'd follow up on.

Build a second brain. Claude can help you shape a messy vault into a system. Ask it to read the Inbox, suggest which folder each note belongs in, and draft a short index note for each area. Keep the moves to yourself in Obsidian, per your CLAUDE.md, so links stay intact.

Use Obsidian's own CLI from Claude Code

Obsidian has an official command line interface. It needs Obsidian installer version 1.12.7 or later, and you turn it on under Settings → General → Command line interface, then follow the prompt to register it. The Obsidian app has to be running, and running a command launches it if it isn't.

Because Claude Code can run terminal commands, it can use the CLI for you. These examples come from Obsidian's CLI help page:

obsidian daily
obsidian daily:append content="- [ ] Buy groceries"
obsidian search query="meeting notes"
obsidian tags counts

This is handy when you want Obsidian to do the work its own way, such as creating today's note from your daily template. Add a line to your CLAUDE.md like "Use the obsidian CLI to create daily notes" so Claude knows it's there.

How to connect Claude to Obsidian with MCP

MCP is how Claude connects to outside tools. You don't need it for Claude Code, since Claude Code can already open the files. It's useful in two cases: you want Claude to use Obsidian's own features, or you want to reach your vault from a Claude desktop chat.

One option is Local REST API with MCP by Adam Coddington. It's a third-party community plugin, not made by Obsidian or Anthropic, with about 843K downloads as of November 7, 2026, on its Obsidian community listing. According to its GitHub README, it runs a local API on your computer at https://127.0.0.1:27124/, protected by an API key, and ships a built-in MCP server at /mcp/. Its tools include reading, writing, patching, moving and deleting notes, searching, listing tags and running Obsidian commands.

To add it to Claude Code:

1. In Obsidian, install and enable the plugin from Community plugins.
2. Copy your API key from Settings → Local REST API.
3. With Obsidian open, run this in your terminal (the command from the README):

claude mcp add --transport http obsidian https://127.0.0.1:27124/mcp/ \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer <your-api-key>"

4. Start Claude Code and run /mcp to check the server is connected.

The plugin uses a certificate it generates itself. The README says you may need to trust that certificate on your system, or turn on its plain HTTP endpoint at http://127.0.0.1:27123/mcp/ in the plugin settings. Our guide on how to add an MCP server to Claude Code covers scopes and troubleshooting.

For a Claude desktop chat, the README says Claude Desktop doesn't connect to remote HTTP MCP servers on its own, and shows a bridge config using mcp-remote through npx. Follow the README's exact steps there and restart Claude Desktop after saving the file.

The same rule applies here as with Claude Code: this plugin can delete and move notes. Back up the vault before you connect it, and treat any third-party plugin with the same care you'd give any app that can edit your files.

Where to go from here

Start with a backup, a short CLAUDE.md and one small task, like a summary of a single folder. Once that works, try linking and tag cleanup. Add the CLI or an MCP server only when you hit something the plain folder setup can't do.

To learn Claude Code properly and turn it into client work, the Claude Code for agencies course walks through it step by step, and members share setups like this in the Claude Code community.

FAQ

Can Claude read my Obsidian vault?

Yes. Obsidian notes are plain Markdown files in a normal folder, so Claude Code can read them as soon as you open it in the vault folder. The Code tab in the Claude desktop app works the same way.

Do I need a plugin to use Claude with Obsidian?

No. Claude Code works on the vault's files directly. A plugin such as Local REST API with MCP is only needed if you want Claude to run Obsidian's own commands or reach the vault from a Claude desktop chat.

Is it safe to let Claude Code edit my Obsidian notes?

It's safe if you set it up carefully. Put the vault under Git first, start in the default permission mode so Claude asks before each edit, and write rules in CLAUDE.md such as "never delete notes." Commit after each task so you can roll back.

Does Claude Code break Obsidian links?

Editing a note's text won't break links. Renaming files outside Obsidian can, because Obsidian updates links when you rename a note inside the app. Tell Claude in CLAUDE.md not to rename files and do renames in Obsidian.

Is there an official Obsidian MCP server?

The MCP option in this guide, Local REST API with MCP, is a third-party community plugin, not made by Obsidian. Obsidian's own official tool for automation is its CLI, which Claude Code can call from the terminal.

Should I put CLAUDE.md in my vault?

Yes. Put it in the vault's root folder. Claude Code loads it at the start of each session, so it's where you describe your folders, tag style, link style and the things Claude must never do.