Claude Can Now Edit Your Obsidian Notes Directly: Three Steps, But Don't Enable Vault-Wide Write Access Yet

Claude Opus 5.5 in the desktop app can read and write your entire Obsidian vault. Mr. Buzzoni shared the configuration on X: three steps and one JSON file to connect desktop Claude to Obsidian's local REST API. Original post: https://x.com/Mr_Buzzoni/status/2113945345965117669

First, some context. Obsidian notes are local Markdown files, and the vault is your note library. The Local REST API plugin opens a local interface on that library, and Claude calls it through MCP. MCP can be thought of as the configuration layer that lets desktop Claude call local tools. Once connected, Claude can search notes, open files, create new files, and write content under a heading you specify.

The command demonstrated in the video is very direct:

find every note about pricing and save one summary

The three steps are as follows.

1. Install and enable the Local REST API plugin in Obsidian, then copy the API key.
2. Open the Claude Desktop config file:
   • Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
   • Windows: %APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
3. Add the config block:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-obsidian": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mcp-obsidian"],
      "env": {
        "OBSIDIAN_API_KEY": "your_key_here",
        "OBSIDIAN_HOST": "127.0.0.1",
        "OBSIDIAN_PORT": "27124"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude. Then enter a command like "find every note about pricing and save one summary."

Where's the value? In the referenced article, Mr. Buzzoni calls Obsidian the ground truth and puts the agent inside the note graph so it can read the full context and write back. This recommended setup is lighter: you don't need to build a whole stack like Hermes or MiniMax M3 first; with just Claude Desktop and the Obsidian plugin you can complete the loop of "read the vault, write the vault." For people who already have a note library, it saves copy-pasting and manual organizing.

But write permissions need to be constrained. Aleksandar Janca's suggestion in the replies is very practical: give write access to only one folder and make the rest read-only. Letting an agent search the whole vault and letting it modify the whole vault are two different things. Being able to connect to the entire vault in the config does not mean you should hand over the entire vault on day one.

There are also a few practical details. If uvx is not in PATH, Claude will fail to start MCP. The API key and plugin port need to match; the original post gives the port as 27124. On the first run, have it read one folder and generate a summary, confirm where and in what format it writes back, and then expand the scope.

What's really useful about this setup is write-back and repeated maintenance. Searching notes, summarizing, creating files, and writing under headings can become everyday workflows; only then does your second brain gain a layer that can actually take action. Don't enable vault-wide write permission yet—get one folder running smoothly first.