pwelty/mcp_trilium

Trilium MCP Server

🌳 A powerful Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that brings your Trilium Notes knowledge base directly into Claude Desktop.

Connect your personal knowledge management system to AI conversations with full-text search, note management, and intelligent content interaction.

This is a Python implementation. If you prefer JavaScript/TypeScript, check out triliumnext-mcp.

⚠️ Important: Claude Desktop vs Claude Web

This MCP server is designed for Claude Desktop and runs locally on your machine.

Current Project Scope:

• This MCP server runs locally on your machine via stdio
• Designed for Claude Desktop with local Trilium instances
• You must download and use Claude Desktop for this implementation

Network Requirements:

• Claude Desktop and your Trilium instance must be on the same network or mutually accessible
• If Trilium is behind Docker/VPN/Tailscale, ensure Claude Desktop can reach it

🚀 Future Possibilities: Both Claude Web and ChatGPT now offer "Custom Connectors" (BETA) that can connect to remote MCP servers via HTTPS. We're exploring creating a hosted version of this MCP server for web-based AI assistants. Follow development updates →

Project Goals

This project aims to:

🐍 Bring MCP to Python developers - Provide a robust, Pythonic implementation for the growing MCP ecosystem

🌍 Bring MCP to FOSS tools - Connect open source applications to AI workflows through Model Context Protocol

🔗 Bridge knowledge systems - Connect personal knowledge bases like Trilium to AI workflows seamlessly

📦 Production-ready tools - Deliver polished, well-documented software that works out of the box

Part of a broader effort to create FOSS MCP servers for popular tools (NocoDB, and more coming soon!)

About Trilium Notes

Trilium Notes is an exceptional free and open-source personal knowledge management application for building large personal knowledge bases with hierarchical notes. Originally created by zadam, the project is now actively developed by the community as TriliumNext.

Why Trilium?

• 🏗️ Hierarchical structure - Build complex knowledge trees with linking and tagging
• 🔍 Full-text search - Find anything in your knowledge base instantly
• 🎨 Rich content - Support for text, code, images, files, diagrams, and more
• 🔌 Extensible - Custom scripts, themes, and powerful API access
• 🌐 Self-hosted & free - Your data stays under your control, completely open source
• 🔄 Active development - Continuously improved by the TriliumNext community

This MCP server works with both the original Trilium (maintenance mode) and TriliumNext installations. Thanks to zadam for creating this incredible foundation and to the TriliumNext community for continuing its development - and for providing the ETAPI that makes this integration possible!

➡️ Get Trilium: TriliumNext | Original Trilium

What You Can Do

Talk to Claude naturally about your notes:

• "Search for my notes about Python programming"
• "Create a new meeting note under my Work folder"
• "Show me what I've been working on recently"
• "Add a 'priority' label to note abc123"
• "Export my research note as HTML"
• "What's the structure under my Projects folder?"

💡 New to MCP Trilium? Star ⭐ the repo and try it out! Found it useful? We'd love to hear about your use case in the discussions.

Features

🔍 Search & Discovery

• search_trilium_notes - Full-text search across all notes with fast search and archived notes options
• get_recent_trilium_notes - Get recently modified notes with timestamps

📝 Note Management

• get_trilium_note - Read any note by ID with full content
• create_trilium_note - Create new notes with custom titles, content, and parent placement
• update_trilium_note - Edit existing note content and metadata
• delete_trilium_note - Remove notes from your knowledge base

🌳 Navigation & Structure

• get_trilium_note_tree - Browse hierarchical note structures and relationships
• Navigate parent-child relationships and folder organization

🏷️ Attributes & Metadata

• get_trilium_note_attributes - View all labels and relations on notes
• add_trilium_note_attribute - Add custom labels and relations for organization

📤 Export & Backup

• export_trilium_note - Export notes in various formats (HTML, Markdown, etc.)
• backup_trilium_note - Create backups of specific notes

📊 System Information

• get_trilium_app_info - Get application statistics, version info, and system status

Quick Demo

Once configured, you can interact with your Trilium notes naturally in Claude Desktop:

💬 "Search for notes about machine learning"
🔍 Returns relevant notes with content snippets and note IDs

💬 "Show me the tree structure starting from my 'Projects' folder"  
🌳 Displays hierarchical note organization

💬 "Create a new note called 'Meeting Notes' under my Work folder"
✏️ Creates and links the note in the specified location

💬 "What are my most recently modified notes?"
📝 Shows your latest activity with timestamps

💬 "Add a label 'important' to note abc123"
🏷️ Applies the label to organize your content

Installation

1. Clone this repository:

git clone <repository-url>
cd mcp_trilium

2. Create a virtual environment:

python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate

3. Install dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Configure the server:

cp config.json.template config.json
# Edit config.json with your Trilium details

Configuration

You can configure the server using either environment variables or a config file.

Method 1: Environment Variables (Recommended)

Create a .env file in the project root:

TRILIUM_BASE_URL=https://your-trilium-instance.com
TRILIUM_API_TOKEN=your-trilium-api-token-here

Method 2: Config File

Edit config.json with your Trilium instance details:

{
  "trilium": {
    "base_url": "https://your-trilium-instance.com",
    "api_token": "your-trilium-api-token-here"
  }
}

Getting Your API Token

1. Open Trilium in your browser
2. Go to Options → ETAPI
3. Create a new API token
4. Copy the token to your .env file or config.json

Note: The API token should be used directly without "Bearer " prefix.

Usage with Claude Desktop

Option 1: Automatic Configuration (Recommended)

1. Generate the Claude Desktop configuration:

   python generate_config.py
   

2. Open Claude Desktop and access the configuration:

   • Open Claude Desktop
   • Go to Settings/Preferences
   • Click Developer tab
   • Click Edit Config (or similar button to open config file)
   • This opens your claude_desktop_config.json file in a text editor

3. Add the configuration to your Claude Desktop config file:

   If the file is empty or only has {}:

   • Copy the entire contents from the generated claude_desktop_config.json file

   If you already have MCP servers configured:

   • Find the "mcpServers" section in your existing config
   • Add the trilium server inside it with a comma:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "existing-server": { ... },
       "trilium": {
         "command": "...",
         "args": ["..."],
         "env": { ... }
       }
     }
   }
   

   If you have other config but no mcpServers section:

   • Add the entire "mcpServers" section from the generated file

4. Save the file and restart Claude Desktop

Advanced users only:

# Automatically merge and install (backup your Claude config first!)
python generate_config.py --merge --install

Option 2: Manual Configuration

Add this to your Claude Desktop configuration file:

macOS

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "trilium": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["/path/to/mcp_trilium/main.py"],
      "env": {
        "PYTHONPATH": "/path/to/mcp_trilium"
      }
    }
  }
}

Windows

Edit %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "trilium": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["C:\\path\\to\\mcp_trilium\\main.py"],
      "env": {
        "PYTHONPATH": "C:\\path\\to\\mcp_trilium"
      }
    }
  }
}

Available Tools

Search and Navigation

• search_trilium_notes - Search for notes using full-text search
• get_trilium_note - Get a specific note by ID
• get_trilium_note_tree - Get the tree structure from a note
• get_recent_trilium_notes - Get recently modified notes

Note Management

• create_trilium_note - Create a new note
• update_trilium_note - Update an existing note
• delete_trilium_note - Delete a note

Attributes and Metadata

• get_trilium_note_attributes - Get note attributes (labels/relations)
• add_trilium_note_attribute - Add an attribute to a note

Utilities

• get_trilium_app_info - Get application info and statistics
• export_trilium_note - Export a note in specified format
• backup_trilium_note - Create a backup of a note

Example Usage

Once configured, you can use these tools in Claude Desktop:

• "Search for notes about 'machine learning'"
• "Show me the tree structure starting from the root"
• "Create a new note called 'Meeting Notes' under the 'Work' folder"
• "Get the recent notes I've been working on"
• "Add a label 'important' to note ID abc123"

Development

Running Tests

# Activate virtual environment
source venv/bin/activate

# Run the server directly for testing
python main.py

Adding New Features

1. Add new methods to TriliumService class in services/trilium.py
2. Add corresponding tools in main.py
3. Update this README with new tool documentation

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. Connection refused: Check that your Trilium server is running and accessible
2. Authentication failed: Verify your API token is correct and has proper permissions
3. Note not found: Ensure the note ID exists and is accessible

Debug Mode

Set environment variable for debug logging:

export PYTHONPATH=/path/to/mcp_trilium
python main.py

FAQ

General Questions

Q: Can I use this with Claude Web (claude.ai in my browser)?
A: Currently, this version only works with Claude Desktop. However, both Claude Web and ChatGPT now support "Custom Connectors" (BETA) that can connect to remote MCP servers. This would require hosting the MCP server publicly and ensuring your Trilium instance is accessible via HTTPS. We're exploring this possibility for future versions.

Q: What is MCP and why should I use this?
A: Model Context Protocol (MCP) allows Claude Desktop to directly interact with external tools and data sources. This server lets you search, read, and manage your Trilium notes directly from Claude conversations, making your knowledge base an active part of your AI workflows.

Q: Do I need TriliumNext or will regular Trilium work?
A: Both work! This server uses the ETAPI (External API) which is available in both Trilium and TriliumNext. Just make sure ETAPI is enabled in your instance.

Q: Is my data sent to Anthropic?
A: No. The MCP server runs locally on your machine and connects directly to your Trilium instance. Your notes stay private and are only accessed when you explicitly interact with them in Claude Desktop.

Setup Issues

Q: Claude Desktop doesn't show my Trilium tools
A: Common fixes:

• Ensure you restarted Claude Desktop after adding the config
• Check that the paths in your config file are correct (use absolute paths)
• Verify your virtual environment is activated if using one
• Run python generate_config.py to regenerate a clean config

Q: I get "Connection refused" errors
A: Check:

• Your Trilium server is running and accessible at the configured URL
• ETAPI is enabled in Trilium (Options → ETAPI)
• Your API token is valid and hasn't expired
• No firewall blocking the connection

Q: Authentication keeps failing
A: Verify:

• Your API token is correctly copied (no extra spaces)
• Don't include "Bearer " prefix in the token
• The token has sufficient permissions in Trilium
• Try creating a new API token

Usage Questions

Q: Can I use this with a remote Trilium server?
A: Yes! Just set your TRILIUM_BASE_URL to your remote server's URL. Make sure the server is accessible from your machine and ETAPI is enabled.

Q: How do I search for notes with special characters?
A: The search uses Trilium's built-in full-text search, so you can use the same syntax you'd use in Trilium itself.

Q: Can I create nested notes or just top-level ones?
A: You can create notes anywhere in your tree structure. Just specify the parent note ID when creating new notes.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

Contributing

We'd love your help making MCP Trilium even better! Here are ways you can contribute:

🐛 Report Bugs

Found an issue? Create a bug report with:

• Steps to reproduce the problem
• Expected vs actual behavior
• Your system info (OS, Python version, Trilium version)

💡 Request Features

Have an idea? Open a feature request and tell us:

• What you'd like to see added
• How it would help your workflow
• Any implementation ideas

🔧 Code Contributions

Ready to dive in? Check out our for:

• Development setup instructions
• Code style guidelines
• How to submit pull requests

📖 Improve Documentation

Help others by:

• Fixing typos or unclear instructions
• Adding examples and use cases
• Translating documentation
• Writing tutorials

⭐ Show Support

• Star the repository if you find it useful
• Share it with others who use Trilium
• Join discussions in issues and PRs

🗣️ Community

• Share your use cases and workflows
• Help answer questions from other users
• Suggest improvements based on your experience

About the Author

This project is developed by Dr. Paul Welty, Vice Provost for Academic Innovation at Emory University and founder of Synaxis, LLC. With a Ph.D. in Philosophy and 25+ years of technology solution experience, Paul specializes in strategic AI implementation and team capability transformation.

At Emory, Paul's major achievements include launching three transformative initiatives: the Center for AI Learning (CAIL), The Hatchery (Emory's Center for Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship), and Facet (Emory's Faculty Information and Action System). Through Synaxis, he helps teams dramatically increase their capacity through practical AI integration - from customer support to market research.

This MCP server reflects Paul's commitment to making AI tools accessible and practical for real-world workflows, bridging the gap between cutting-edge technology and everyday productivity.

🌐 Learn more: paulwelty.com | synaxis.ai

Interested in team AI implementation or custom MCP server development? Let's talk about transforming your workflow.

API Reference

This server uses the TriliumNext ETAPI. For more information about the underlying API, see the TriliumNext documentation.