coddingtonbear/obsidian-local-rest-api

Obsidian Local REST API is a plugin that exposes your Obsidian vault through a secure, authenticated REST API and Model Context Protocol server.

The tool solves the problem of integrating Obsidian with external scripts, browser extensions, and AI agents by providing a unified interface to vault operations. It works by running a local server within Obsidian that accepts authenticated requests and translates them into vault operations. The API supports full CRUD operations on notes, surgical patching of specific sections within files (targeting headings, block references, or frontmatter keys), full-text and structured metadata search via JsonLogic, Server-Sent Events streams for vault changes, access to the currently active file, execution of Obsidian commands, tag queries with usage counts, and file opening in the Obsidian UI. Other plugins can extend the API by registering custom routes through a typed extension interface.

Adoption suits developers who need programmatic access to their vault from external tools or who want to integrate Obsidian with AI agents like Claude or Cursor. The tool is particularly valuable for automation workflows, browser extensions that need vault access, and AI-assisted note management. The project includes interactive API documentation and supports multiple MCP client implementations, making it accessible whether you prefer REST calls or the Model Context Protocol.

Development activity shows consistent engagement with the codebase. The project maintains an active extension ecosystem with known extensions registered through its API. Documentation is comprehensive, including a wiki for extension developers and detailed API reference material. The maintainer responds to integration requests from other tools and keeps the MCP protocol implementation current with specification revisions.