sytone/personal-mcp

Personal MCP Server

A C# implementation of an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for interacting with Obsidian vaults. Built with the official ModelContextProtocol C# SDK, this server provides comprehensive tools for managing notes, links, tags, and more through AI assistants.

Original Inspiration: https://github.com/that0n3guy/ObsidianPilot

Quick Start

If you have dotnet 10.x or later installed, you can run the MCP server directly using dnx:

dnx Sytone.Personal.Mcp@0.4.0 --yes

If you want to run from source clone this repository.

• Set OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH to your vault directory
• Run: dotnet run --project src/Personal.Mcp
• Add to your MCP client as a stdio server command

$env:OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH = "C:\path\to\your\vault"
dotnet run --project src/Personal.Mcp

Adding to Visual Studio Code

To use this MCP server with GitHub Copilot in VS Code:

1. Build the project (optional, for better performance):

   dotnet build src/Personal.Mcp/Personal.Mcp.csproj
   

2. Add to VS Code settings:

   • Open VS Code settings (File → Preferences → Settings or Ctrl+,)
   • Search for "MCP" or navigate to Extensions → GitHub Copilot → Model Context Protocol Servers
   • Click "Edit in settings.json"

3. Add the server configuration:

   {
     "github.copilot.chat.mcp.servers": {
       "personal-mcp": {
         "command": "dotnet",
         "args": [
           "run",
           "--project",
           "${workspaceFolder}\\src\\Personal.Mcp\\Personal.Mcp.csproj"
         ],
         "env": {
           "OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH": "C:\\path\\to\\your\\vault"
         }
       }
     }
   }
   

   Or if you built the project, use the compiled executable for faster startup:

   {
     "github.copilot.chat.mcp.servers": {
       "personal-mcp": {
         "command": "dotnet",
         "args": [
           "${workspaceFolder}\\src\\Personal.Mcp\\bin\\Debug\\net9.0\\Personal.Mcp.dll"
         ],
         "env": {
           "OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH": "C:\\path\\to\\your\\vault"
         }
       }
     }
   }
   

4. Restart VS Code to load the MCP server if you have issues.

5. Verify: Open GitHub Copilot Chat and try using Obsidian-related commands. The server tools should now be available.

Note: Replace the paths with your actual repository and vault locations.

Available Tools

• Notes: read_note, create_note (with template support), update_note, edit_note_content, edit_note_section, delete_note
• Journal: read_journal_entries, add_journal_entry (with automatic templating), add_journal_task
• Organization: list_notes, list_folders, create_folder
• Move/Rename: move_note (basic wiki link update), rename_note (basic wiki link update), move_folder
• Tags: list_tags, add_tags, update_tags, remove_tags
• Search: search_notes (FTS5), search_by_regex, search_by_date
• Links: get_outgoing_links, get_backlinks, find_broken_links
• Images: read_image, view_note_images
• Properties: get_note_info, get_frontmatter, set_property, set_property_list, remove_property, search_by_property
• Date Utilities: calculate_relative_date, get_date_info, get_week_dates
• Templates: Full Liquid template support for dynamic note and journal creation

Features

Templating Support

Create standardized notes and journal entries using Liquid template syntax:

• Dynamic Variables: Pass context data for variable substitution
• Conditionals & Loops: Use {% if %} and {% for %} for complex templates
• Default Templates: Pre-configured templates for journals and notes
• Custom Templates: Create your own templates with full Liquid syntax support

Example:

---
title: {{title}}
created: {{created_date}}
tags: [{{tags}}]
---

# {{title}}

{% if description %}
{{description}}
{% endif %}

{% for task in tasks %}
- [ ] {{task}}
{% endfor %}

See for comprehensive documentation and examples.

Implementation Notes

• Link rewrite currently updates [[Title]] links by filename only; it does not rewrite path links or handle aliases comprehensively.
• YAML writing uses a simple serializer; quoting/multi-line/ordering/comments are not preserved.
• Backlink and broken link detection are heuristic and filename-based.
• Index updates happen when search is invoked; not yet reactive to file edits/moves.