Quick Start: Using Claude Code with Obsidian for AI-Powered Notes

Introduction

If you’ve been following along with Part 1 of my Obsidian series, you’ve built a solid foundation: a clean folder structure, consistent frontmatter, useful templates, and a system that actually works. Your vault is organized, searchable, and ready to scale.

But here’s the thing—as your vault grows to hundreds or thousands of notes, finding connections and synthesizing insights becomes manual work. Sure, Obsidian’s search is powerful, but answering questions like “what were the key themes in my project notes last quarter?” or “find all action items across my meeting notes” requires multiple searches, careful reading, and mental effort.

This is where AI enters the picture.

Claude Code is an AI-powered assistant that can interact directly with your Obsidian vault through the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Instead of complex plugins or scripting, you can query your notes with natural language, synthesize information across dozens of files, and automate workflows that previously took hours.

In this quick-start guide, I’ll show you how to set up Claude Code with Obsidian in about 15 minutes and walk through four practical “quick wins” you can use immediately. Consider this your bridge between the structured foundation we built in Part 1 and the deeper AI workflows we’ll explore in Part 2.

What is Claude Code?

Claude Code is an AI coding assistant built by Anthropic—but don’t let the “coding” part fool you. While it excels at writing and reviewing code, it’s equally powerful for knowledge management, documentation, and working with structured information.

Think of it as having a highly capable assistant who can:

• Read and understand your entire Obsidian vault
• Answer questions about your notes in natural language
• Find patterns and connections you might have missed
• Generate summaries, reports, and synthesized insights
• Automate repetitive tasks across your notes

The magic happens through the Model Context Protocol (MCP), a standard way for AI tools to connect to external systems. The Obsidian MCP server gives Claude Code direct access to your vault—reading files, searching content, and even writing or updating notes when you need it.

Here’s what makes this powerful for knowledge management:

Context awareness: Unlike a simple search tool, Claude Code understands the relationships between your notes. It can read frontmatter, follow links, and understand the structure you’ve built.

Natural language queries: Instead of learning complex search syntax, you ask questions the way you’d ask a colleague: “What were the main topics in last week’s daily notes?” or “Find all my AWS Lambda references across technical notes.”

Synthesis, not just search: Claude Code doesn’t just find matching text—it reads multiple notes, identifies themes, and gives you synthesized answers. It’s the difference between getting a list of search results and getting an answer.

No coding required: While Claude Code can write code, using it with Obsidian requires zero programming knowledge. You’re working in plain English (or whatever language you prefer).

The Obsidian MCP server is open source and actively maintained. It provides read and write access to your vault, supports complex queries, and integrates seamlessly with Claude Code’s conversational interface.

Setting Up in 15 Minutes

Let’s get Claude Code connected to your Obsidian vault. This process is straightforward and doesn’t require deep technical knowledge.

Step 1: Install the Obsidian REST API Plugin

The MCP server connects to Obsidian through its REST API, so you’ll need to install a community plugin first:

1. Open Obsidian and go to Settings → Community Plugins
2. Disable Restricted Mode if it’s enabled
3. Click Browse and search for “Local REST API”
4. Install the Local REST API plugin by Adam Coddington
5. Enable the plugin
6. Go to the plugin’s settings and copy the API Key (you’ll need this in Step 3)

The plugin runs a local web server (default port 27124) that allows external tools to interact with your vault securely.

Step 2: Install Python and uv (if needed)

The Obsidian MCP server uses Python and the uv package manager. If you don’t already have uv installed:

On macOS/Linux:

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

On Windows:

powershell -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"

You can verify installation with:

uvx --version

Step 3: Add the MCP Server to Claude Code

Claude Code CLI makes it easy to add MCP servers. Open your terminal and run:

claude mcp add --transport stdio \
  --env OBSIDIAN_API_KEY=your_api_key_here \
  --env OBSIDIAN_HOST=127.0.0.1 \
  --env OBSIDIAN_PORT=27124 \
  obsidian -- uvx mcp-obsidian

Replace your_api_key_here with the API key you copied from the REST API plugin settings in Step 1.

Windows users: Use the Windows-style command format:

claude mcp add --transport stdio --env OBSIDIAN_API_KEY=your_api_key_here --env OBSIDIAN_HOST=127.0.0.1 --env OBSIDIAN_PORT=27124 obsidian -- cmd /c uvx mcp-obsidian

This command:

• Adds a server named “obsidian” to your Claude Code configuration
• Configures it to connect to your local Obsidian REST API
• Stores the configuration in ~/.claude.json (available across all projects)

Alternative: Manual Configuration

If you prefer to manually edit your configuration file, you can add this to ~/.claude.json (create it if it doesn’t exist):

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

Step 4: Verify the Connection

1. Make sure Obsidian is running with the REST API plugin enabled
2. Open Claude Code (or restart it if it was already running)
3. Test the connection with a simple query:

List the files in my vault

If everything is configured correctly, Claude Code will connect to your Obsidian vault through the MCP server and return a list of your markdown files.

Troubleshooting:

If you get an error:

• “Cannot find uvx”: Run which uvx (or where uvx on Windows) and use the full path in your configuration
• “Connection refused”: Ensure Obsidian is running and the REST API plugin is enabled
• “Invalid API key”: Double-check the API key in the plugin settings matches your configuration
• Wrong port: Verify the port number in the REST API plugin settings (default is 27124)

You can check your configured MCP servers with:

claude mcp list

That’s it! You’re now ready to start querying your vault with AI.

Your First 4 Quick Wins

Now that Claude Code is connected to your vault, let’s look at four practical ways to use it immediately. These examples assume you’re using a structure similar to what we built in Part 1, but they’ll work with any Obsidian vault.

Quick Win #1: Natural Language Vault Search

Obsidian’s built-in search is powerful, but it requires you to know the exact syntax and often returns more results than you need. With Claude Code, you can search using natural, conversational language.

Example queries:

“Find all my meeting notes from January 2026”

Claude Code searches your vault for files with frontmatter dates in January 2026
and the meeting note template structure. Results are organized chronologically.

“Show me notes tagged with ‘project-planning’ created in the last 30 days”

Claude Code parses frontmatter tags and creation dates, returning only recent
project planning notes with relevant excerpts.

“Which notes mention both ‘Docker’ and ‘Kubernetes’?”

Claude Code searches content across all notes, finding references to both
technologies and showing you the context where they appear together.

Why this matters: You’re not fighting with search syntax or wading through dozens of partial matches. You ask a question, and Claude Code interprets your intent and returns focused results.

Real use case: During sprint planning, you want to review all feature requests captured in your Inbox notes over the past month. Instead of manually searching and filtering, you ask: “Show me all feature request notes from the Inbox folder in December.” Claude Code finds them instantly.

Quick Win #2: Content Synthesis Across Multiple Notes

This is where AI really shines. Instead of just searching, Claude Code can read multiple notes and synthesize the information into a coherent summary.

Example queries:

“Summarize my daily notes from last week”

Claude Code reads all daily notes from the past 7 days, identifies key themes,
and provides a structured summary: projects worked on, problems encountered,
wins, and open questions.

“What are the recurring themes in my project notes for ‘Website Redesign’?”

Claude Code analyzes all notes tagged or linked to the Website Redesign project,
identifies patterns (e.g., performance concerns, mobile responsiveness, user
feedback), and summarizes the key themes.

“Give me a summary of everything I learned about AWS Lambda this month”

Claude Code finds all notes mentioning AWS Lambda, extracts key learnings,
and creates a synthesized summary of concepts, tips, and gotchas you've captured.

Why this matters: Weekly reviews, project retrospectives, and learning summaries that used to take an hour now take 30 seconds. You’re not reading through dozens of notes manually—Claude Code does that for you.

Real use case: You’re writing a blog post about your experience with a specific technology. You ask Claude Code to “summarize everything in my notes about deploying Docker containers to AWS.” It reads through your daily notes, project logs, and technical documentation, then gives you a structured summary you can use as a blog post outline.

Quick Win #3: Note Analysis and Action Item Extraction

If you capture tasks, questions, and action items in your notes (like I do), Claude Code can help you surface them without manually reviewing every file.

Example queries:

“What open questions did I capture in my Inbox this month?”

Claude Code searches Inbox notes for question patterns (lines starting with "Q:"
or "Question:") and compiles a list of unanswered questions you've captured.

“List all action items from my meeting notes in the last two weeks”

Claude Code identifies task patterns (checkboxes, "TODO:", "Action:") across
meeting notes and creates a consolidated action list with source note references.

“Find all notes where I mentioned needing to follow up with someone”

Claude Code searches for follow-up phrases ("follow up with", "need to email",
"schedule a call with") and compiles a list of pending follow-ups.

Why this matters: You’re not letting important tasks or questions slip through the cracks. Claude Code acts as a safety net, surfacing items you captured but might not have processed yet.

Real use case: During your weekly review (following a GTD-style workflow), you ask Claude Code: “Show me all action items from this week’s meeting notes that aren’t marked as complete.” It scans every meeting note, identifies open tasks, and gives you a clean list to process.

Quick Win #4: Cross-Note Connections and Knowledge Discovery

One of the biggest challenges with large vaults is discovering connections between notes you wrote months apart. Claude Code excels at this.

Example queries:

“Find connections between my Docker notes and my Kubernetes notes”

Claude Code reads both sets of notes, identifies overlapping concepts (container
orchestration, networking, storage), and highlights where your Docker learnings
relate to your Kubernetes work.

“What have I learned about AI tools in the past 6 months?”

Claude Code searches all notes mentioning AI tools, tracks your evolving thoughts
over time, and summarizes your learning journey: tools tried, insights gained,
workflow changes.

“Which projects have I worked on that involved both Python and AWS?”

Claude Code analyzes project notes, identifies those mentioning both technologies,
and gives you a list with context about what you built.

Why this matters: Your notes become a true knowledge base, not just an archive. Claude Code helps you see patterns and connections that aren’t obvious from individual notes.

Real use case: You’re starting a new project that involves technologies you’ve used before in different contexts. You ask Claude Code: “What do my notes say about integrating React with REST APIs?” It pulls together insights from multiple past projects, giving you a head start based on your own documented experience.

Real Workflow Example: Weekly Review

Let’s put it all together with a concrete workflow—the weekly review I do every Sunday using Claude Code and Obsidian.

The goal: Review the past week, capture key accomplishments, identify patterns, and surface any dropped tasks or follow-ups.

The old way (manual, ~45 minutes):

1. Open each daily note from the week
2. Skim for important events, decisions, and learnings
3. Check meeting notes for action items
4. Review project notes for progress updates
5. Manually compile a summary in my weekly note

The new way (with Claude Code, ~10 minutes):

Step 1: “Summarize my daily notes from the past week, highlighting key projects, wins, and problems encountered.”

Claude Code reads all 7 daily notes and returns a structured summary:

• Projects I worked on (with time estimates)
• Key wins (shipped features, solved problems)
• Challenges encountered (technical issues, blockers)
• Recurring themes (what I spent the most time on)

Step 2: “List all action items from this week’s meeting notes that aren’t marked complete.”

Claude Code scans meeting notes, identifies open tasks, and gives me a clean checklist with source note references.

Step 3: “What questions did I capture in my Inbox this week that I haven’t answered yet?”

Claude Code finds all notes in my Inbox with question patterns and compiles a list of things I need to research or follow up on.

Step 4: “Based on this week’s notes, what should I prioritize next week?”

Claude Code analyzes the week’s themes, identifies unfinished work, and suggests priorities based on what came up repeatedly.

Total time saved: 35 minutes per week, or about 30 hours per year. More importantly, I don’t miss action items or lose track of important questions because Claude Code catches what I might skim past.

What’s Next

This quick-start guide has given you the foundation: Claude Code is connected to your vault, and you’ve seen how to use natural language queries for search, synthesis, analysis, and knowledge discovery.

But we’re just scratching the surface.

In Part 2 of the Obsidian series (coming soon), we’ll go deeper into advanced Claude Code workflows:

• Custom automation: Setting up recurring queries and automated note generation (like auto-generating weekly summaries)
• Complex searches with JsonLogic: Unlocking the full power of the Obsidian MCP server for advanced queries
• AI-assisted note creation: Using Claude Code to draft project plans, meeting agendas, and documentation based on your existing notes
• Integration with other tools: Connecting your vault to Confluence, GitHub, and other systems for seamless knowledge sharing

In the upcoming Claude Code Deep Dive series, we’ll expand beyond Obsidian to explore:

• Development workflows: Using Claude Code for code reviews, documentation, and SRE tasks
• Multi-tool orchestration: Combining MCP servers (Obsidian, GitHub, file system) for powerful cross-platform workflows
• Personal life management: Tracking car maintenance, house projects, and personal goals with AI-assisted queries

Inspiration: If you’re interested in going even deeper with automated workflows, check out Brian L. Scott’s excellent article on automated weekly reflections with Obsidian and Claude. His approach to AI-generated summaries and prompts is a great next step.

For now, try these four quick wins over the next week. Ask Claude Code questions about your vault, experiment with different queries, and see where AI can save you time. You might be surprised at what your notes can tell you when you have an AI assistant to help you ask the right questions.

Resources

• Claude Code: claude.ai - Sign up for Claude Code
• Claude Code MCP Documentation: Installing MCP Servers - Official guide for adding MCP servers
• Obsidian MCP Server: mcp-obsidian - The MCP server for Obsidian integration
• Obsidian REST API Plugin: Local REST API - Required plugin for vault access
• uv Package Manager: astral.sh/uv - Python package manager for running the MCP server
• Obsidian Part 1: My Obsidian Setup: Foundation & Structure - The foundation for this workflow
• Brian L. Scott’s Article: Automated Weekly Reflections with Obsidian and Claude - Inspiration for deeper AI workflows

Ready to supercharge your Obsidian workflow? Start with Quick Win #1 today—ask Claude Code to list your most recent notes and see the magic happen.