obsidian-in-a-vat-mcp 0.3.6

Personal knowledge vault MCP server for Claude Desktop

vault-mcp

English | 中文

---

English

Personal knowledge vault MCP server for Claude Desktop. Capture thoughts, search notes, and read files from a local markdown-based knowledge vault.

---

Quick Start (uvx — Recommended)

The lightest way to run vault-mcp. No Docker, no manual venv — just uv and one config change.

Step 1. Install uv (if you don't have it):

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

Step 2. Add to your Claude Desktop config (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vault": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["obsidian-in-a-vat-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "VAULT_LOCAL_PATH": "/Users/yourname/my-vault"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace /Users/yourname/my-vault with the absolute path to your local vault directory.

Step 3. Fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop. The vault tools will appear automatically.

Don't have a vault yet? Copy the included template:

cp -r example_vault /Users/yourname/my-vault

---

Alternative Setup (Docker)

If you prefer Docker:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vault": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run", "-i", "--rm",
        "-v", "/Users/yourname/my-vault:/vault",
        "ghcr.io/oliverxuzy-ai/obsidian-in-a-vat:latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Requires Docker Desktop running in the background.

Update to latest: docker pull ghcr.io/oliverxuzy-ai/obsidian-in-a-vat:latest

---

Alternative Setup (Python / uv manual)

For development or if you want to pin a local checkout:

uv venv && source .venv/bin/activate
uv pip install -e .

Claude Desktop config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vault": {
      "command": "/absolute/path/to/.venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["-m", "vault_mcp"],
      "env": {
        "VAULT_LOCAL_PATH": "/Users/yourname/my-vault"
      }
    }
  }
}

Use the absolute path to the venv's python — Claude Desktop does not inherit your shell PATH.

---

Tools

Tool	Actions	Description
vault_read	search, get, list_captures	Search vault, read files, list captures by status
vault_capture	save, delete	Capture refined insights with auto-tagging, or delete captures
vault_promote	promote	Promote captures into structured notes with auto-wikilinks
vault_analyze	rebuild_graph, clusters, connections, orphans	Knowledge graph: build graph, Louvain clustering, N-degree connections, orphan detection
vault_topic	prepare, create, update	Topic lifecycle: gather materials (progressive disclosure), create/update MOC-style topics

---

Auto-Tag Extraction

Tags are extracted from capture text using three sources (in priority order):

1. tags.yaml — Custom tags and synonym mappings at the vault root
2. Existing notes — Tags collected from existing vault files' frontmatter
3. Default domains — Fallback: ai, llm, productivity, writing, coding, design, business, learning, health, finance, philosophy, psychology

Example tags.yaml in your vault root:

tags:
  ai: [artificial intelligence, machine learning, ML, deep learning]
  coding: [programming, software, development, code]
  design: [UX, UI, user experience]

---

Development

# Build image locally
docker build -t vault-mcp .

# Test the container starts (Ctrl+C to stop)
echo '{}' | docker run -i --rm -v $(pwd)/example_vault:/vault vault-mcp

# Syntax check
python -m py_compile src/vault_mcp/server.py

# Interactive MCP Inspector
mcp dev src/vault_mcp/server.py

---

中文

个人知识库 MCP 服务器，适配 Claude Desktop。捕获想法、搜索笔记、读取本地 markdown 知识库中的文件。

---

快速开始（uvx — 推荐）

最轻量的运行方式。不需要 Docker，不需要手动创建虚拟环境 — 只需安装 uv 即可。

第一步. 安装 uv（如果还没有）：

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

第二步. 添加到 Claude Desktop 配置文件（~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json）：

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vault": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["obsidian-in-a-vat-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "VAULT_LOCAL_PATH": "/Users/yourname/my-vault"
      }
    }
  }
}

将 /Users/yourname/my-vault 替换为你本地 vault 目录的绝对路径。

第三步. 完全退出并重新打开 Claude Desktop，vault 工具会自动出现。

还没有 vault？ 复制内置模板：

cp -r example_vault /Users/yourname/my-vault

---

备选安装方式（Docker）

如果你更喜欢用 Docker：

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vault": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run", "-i", "--rm",
        "-v", "/Users/yourname/my-vault:/vault",
        "ghcr.io/oliverxuzy-ai/obsidian-in-a-vat:latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}

需要 Docker Desktop 在后台运行。

更新到最新版：docker pull ghcr.io/oliverxuzy-ai/obsidian-in-a-vat:latest

---

备选安装方式（Python / uv 手动）

适用于开发或本地调试：

uv venv && source .venv/bin/activate
uv pip install -e .

Claude Desktop 配置：

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vault": {
      "command": "/绝对路径/.venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["-m", "vault_mcp"],
      "env": {
        "VAULT_LOCAL_PATH": "/Users/yourname/my-vault"
      }
    }
  }
}

必须使用 venv 内 python 的绝对路径 — Claude Desktop 不继承你的 shell PATH。

---

工具

工具	Actions	说明
vault_read	search, get, list_captures	搜索 vault、读取文件、按状态列出 captures
vault_capture	save, delete	捕获精炼洞察并自动打标签，或删除 capture
vault_promote	promote	将 captures 提升为结构化笔记，自动插入 wikilinks
vault_analyze	rebuild_graph, clusters, connections, orphans	知识图谱：构建图谱、Louvain 聚类、N 度关联查询、孤岛检测
vault_topic	prepare, create, update	Topic 生命周期：收集原材料（渐进式披露）、创建/更新 MOC 结构笔记

---

自动标签提取

标签从 capture 文本中提取，使用三个来源（按优先级排序）：

1. tags.yaml — vault 根目录的自定义标签和同义词映射
2. 已有笔记 — 收集已有 vault 文件 frontmatter 中的标签进行匹配
3. 默认领域 — 兜底列表：ai, llm, productivity, writing, coding, design, business, learning, health, finance, philosophy, psychology

tags.yaml 示例（放在 vault 根目录）：

tags:
  ai: [artificial intelligence, machine learning, ML, deep learning]
  coding: [programming, software, development, code]
  design: [UX, UI, user experience]

---

开发

# 本地构建镜像
docker build -t vault-mcp .

# 测试容器启动（Ctrl+C 停止）
echo '{}' | docker run -i --rm -v $(pwd)/example_vault:/vault vault-mcp

# 语法检查
python -m py_compile src/vault_mcp/server.py

# 使用 MCP Inspector 交互测试
mcp dev src/vault_mcp/server.py