Context: Working on dotfiles (.config) (main) - setting up Obsidian vault integration via MCP
Obsidian MCP Landscape and Considerations
Evaluated three MCP servers for connecting Claude Code to an Obsidian vault:
obsidian-claude-code-mcp (iansinnott) - Lightweight, SSE/WebSocket transport. Requires Obsidian running. 7 tools, keyword search only. Good for simple read/write.
obsidian-mcp-tools (jacksteamdev) - Requires Obsidian + Local REST API plugin. Semantic search via local embeddings. Template integration. stdio transport.
mcp-obsidian (bitbonsai) - Winner. Does NOT require Obsidian running - works directly on vault filesystem. stdio transport, 14 tools (full CRUD + BM25 search + frontmatter/tag management). Zero dependencies beyond Node.js.
Key decision factors:
- Obsidian not needing to be open was a strong plus for mcp-obsidian
- BM25 search is sufficient for a small vault (semantic search overkill)
- stdio transport is simpler to configure than SSE (matches existing MCP server patterns)
- Frontmatter and tag management tools are critical for Zettelkasten workflow
- All three are free, no Obsidian subscription required