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Does Obsidian MCP (StevenStavrakis) work with Claude Desktop?

Not in our test. Obsidian MCP (StevenStavrakis) installed in Claude Desktop but never connected on Oct 19, 2026 (exited after 2.2s, never connected), so no agent task could use it. Details of what went wrong are below.

Result

ResultFailed
Date testedOct 19, 2026
Plan tested onNot recorded for this run
App versionClaude Desktop 2.37337.1 (Linux beta, Electron 44.7.0)
Server packageobsidian-mcp 2.0.1
Connect timeexited after 2.2s, never connected

Steps

  1. install OK
  2. connect Failed
  3. tools visible Failed
  4. agent task: read page Failedfind and read a note in a local Obsidian-format vault (harness/sandbox/vault)Why it failed: no successful call to this server's tools; no tool result containing ['TP-VAULT-5150']; obsidian-mcp exited (code 1) on every start: error [VAULT_NOT_INITIALIZED] (see MIGRATING.md#vault-configuration-errors); the model answered with another configured server (Turbovault)

Test note: server wrapped in harness/scripts/mcp_tee.py to record JSON-RPC; prompts typed via xdotool; tool Allow pop-ups approved by the operator for test servers only; model = app default

From our own harness run, not the maker’s claims. How we test.

Versions tested

Claude Desktop 2.37337.1 (Linux beta, Electron 44.7.0) · obsidian-mcp 2.0.1 · exited after 2.2s, never connected · tested Oct 19, 2026

Server package tested: obsidian-mcp 2.0.1 (npm, Node v22.23.3; resolved 2026-10-19)

Direct and key dependencies as resolved: @modelcontextprotocol/server 2.3.1 · yaml 2.9.1 · zod 4.6.7

All 4 resolved dependencies
@modelcontextprotocol/core==2.3.1
@modelcontextprotocol/server==2.3.1
yaml==2.9.1
zod==4.6.7

Captured with: npm ls --all --json in the npx env.

What happened in this run

Install config we used

{
 "command": "npx",
 "args": [
  "-y",
  "obsidian-mcp",
  "{SANDBOX}/vault"
 ]
}

Connection check

server exited with code 1 on every launch (VAULT_NOT_INITIALIZED), never connected

Tools check

tools/list answered (tee log)

Agent task: read page

  • 0 calls reached the server
  • Agent’s answer (excerpt): The first line of the note toolpassed fixture is: Fixture line: the toolpassed vault check is TP-VAULT-5150. (answered via Turbovault tools, not obsidian-mcp: o…

Raw details from our harness log for this run. Secrets redacted.

Set it up in Claude Desktop

Copy-paste config for every app is on the Obsidian MCP (StevenStavrakis) page. Not connecting? Claude Desktop MCP troubleshooting.

Other apps we tested it in: Claude Code (passed) · Cursor (passed) · ChatGPT (Codex) (passed).

All MCP servers tested in Claude Desktop

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