Obsidian Tasks MCP Server

![npm version](https://badge.fury.io/js/%40jfim%2Fobsidian-tasks-mcp)

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for extracting and querying Obsidian Tasks from markdown files. Designed to work with Claude via the MCP protocol to enable AI-assisted task management.

Features

Extract tasks from Obsidian markdown files with a format compatible with the Obsidian Tasks plugin
Identify completed and pending tasks
Access task metadata including:
Status (complete/incomplete)
Due dates
Scheduled dates
Start dates
Created dates
Tags
Priority
Recurrence rules

Tools

This MCP server provides the following tools:

list_all_tasks

Extracts all tasks from markdown files in a directory, recursively scanning through subfolders.

Input Parameters:

path (string, optional): The directory to scan for markdown files. If not specified, defaults to the first allowed directory.

Returns: A JSON array of task objects, each containing: ``json { "id": "string", // Unique identifier (filepath:linenumber) "description": "string", // Full text description of the task "status": "complete" | "incomplete", // Task completion status "filePath": "string", // Path to the file containing the task "lineNumber": "number", // Line number in the file "tags": ["string"], // Array of tags found in the task "dueDate": "string", // Optional - YYYY-MM-DD format "scheduledDate": "string", // Optional - YYYY-MM-DD format "startDate": "string", // Optional - YYYY-MM-DD format "createdDate": "string", // Optional - YYYY-MM-DD format "priority": "string", // Optional - "high", "medium", or "low" "recurrence": "string" // Optional - recurrence rule } ``

query_tasks

Searches for tasks based on Obsidian Tasks query syntax. Applies multiple filters to find matching tasks.

Input Parameters:

path (string, optional): The directory to scan for markdown files. If not specified, defaults to the first allowed directory.
query (string, required): The query string using Obsidian Tasks query syntax. Each line is treated as a filter.

Returns: A JSON array of task objects that match the query, with the same structure as list_all_tasks.

Supported Query Syntax:

Status filters:
done - Show completed tasks
not done - Show incomplete tasks

Date filters (due):
Note on semantics: due today is an exact match (only tasks due exactly today). Use range operators to include earlier/later dates.
due today - Tasks due today
due before today - Tasks due before today (exclusive)
due after today - Tasks due after today (exclusive)
due on or before today - Tasks due today or earlier (inclusive)
due on or after today - Tasks due today or later (inclusive)
due on YYYY-MM-DD or due YYYY-MM-DD - Tasks due on a specific date
due before YYYY-MM-DD - Tasks due before a date (exclusive)
due after YYYY-MM-DD - Tasks due after a date (exclusive)
due on or before YYYY-MM-DD - Tasks due on/before a date (inclusive)
due on or after YYYY-MM-DD - Tasks due on/after a date (inclusive)
no due date - Tasks with no due date
has due date - Tasks with a due date

Start date filters:
Note on semantics: starts today is an exact match (only tasks that start today). Use range operators to include earlier/later dates.
starts today - Tasks starting today
starts on YYYY-MM-DD or starts YYYY-MM-DD - Start on a specific date
starts before YYYY-MM-DD - Start before a date (exclusive)
starts after YYYY-MM-DD - Start after a date (exclusive)
starts on or before YYYY-MM-DD - Start on/before a date (inclusive)
starts on or after YYYY-MM-DD - Start on/after a date (inclusive)
no start date - Tasks with no start date
has start date - Tasks with a start date

Tag filters:
no tags - Tasks with no tags
has tags - Tasks with at least one tag
tag includes #tag - Tasks with tags containing "tag"
tag does not include #tag - Tasks without tags containing "tag"

Path filters:
path includes string - Tasks in files with paths containing "string"
path does not include string - Tasks in files with paths not containing "string"

Description filters:
description includes string - Tasks with descriptions containing "string"
description does not include string - Tasks with descriptions not containing "string"

Priority filters:
priority is highest - Tasks with highest priority
priority is high - Tasks with high priority
priority is medium - Tasks with medium priority
priority is low - Tasks with low priority
priority is lowest - Tasks with lowest priority
priority is none - Tasks with no priority

Example Query: `` not done due before 2025-05-01 tag include #work `` This would return all incomplete tasks due before May 1, 2025, that have the #work tag.

Inclusive OR example (single line): `` due on or before today OR starts on or before today ``

Usage

Installation

From npm (recommended):

# Install globally
npm install -g @jfim/obsidian-tasks-mcp

# Or use directly with npx without installing
npx @jfim/obsidian-tasks-mcp /path/to/obsidian/vault

From source:

git clone https://github.com/jfim/obsidian-tasks-mcp.git
cd obsidian-tasks-mcp
npm install
npm run build

Running the Server

Using npm package (recommended):

# If installed globally
obsidian-tasks-mcp /path/to/obsidian/vault

# Or with npx (no installation required)
npx @jfim/obsidian-tasks-mcp /path/to/obsidian/vault

From source:

node dist/index.js /path/to/obsidian/vault

Testing

To run the test suite:

npm test

See TESTING.md for detailed information about the test suite.

Using with Claude

Add this configuration to your Claude client that supports MCP:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian-tasks": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "@jfim/obsidian-tasks-mcp",
        "/path/to/obsidian/vault"
      ]
    }
  }
}

If you installed from source:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian-tasks": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/path/to/obsidian-tasks-mcp/dist/src/index.js",
        "/path/to/obsidian/vault"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Docker

Build the Docker image:

docker build -t @jfim/obsidian-tasks-mcp .

Run with Docker:

docker run -i --rm --mount type=bind,src=/path/to/obsidian/vault,dst=/projects/vault @jfim/obsidian-tasks-mcp /projects

Claude Desktop configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "obsidian-tasks": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "-i",
        "--rm",
        "--mount", "type=bind,src=/path/to/obsidian/vault,dst=/projects/vault",
        "@jfim/obsidian-tasks-mcp",
        "/projects"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Task Format

The server supports both Obsidian Tasks emoji format and Dataview format for task metadata.

Task syntax: - [ ] Task description
Completed task: - [x] Task description
Due date:
🗓️ YYYY-MM-DD
📅 YYYY-MM-DD
Scheduled date: ⏳ YYYY-MM-DD
Start date: 🛫 YYYY-MM-DD
Created date: ➕ YYYY-MM-DD
Priority: ⏫ (high), 🔼 (medium), 🔽 (low)
Recurrence: 🔁 every day/week/month/etc.
Tags: #tag1 #tag2

Example task: - [ ] Complete project report 🗓️ 2025-05-01 ⏳ 2025-04-25 #work #report ⏫

License

MIT License

obsidian-tasks-mcp