What’s the best way to use an Obsidian vault with Claude?

by Benjamin a. Mowinckel · checked 2 November 2026

There are five good ways, and none needs your notes moved: run Claude Code in the vault, give the Claude desktop app the vault folder, connect Claude to it through an MCP server, use a Claude plugin inside Obsidian, or make the vault part of a record every model reads, such as alexandria.

Claude Code in the vault suits most people who are happy in a terminal or the Claude desktop app’s Code tab. Open the vault folder, put a CLAUDE.md at its top saying how your notes are laid out, and Claude Code reads, searches, and writes your notes as the plain Markdown files they are.

The Claude desktop app’s Cowork suits someone who would rather not use a coding tool. Add the vault as a folder Cowork may use, and Claude can read, edit, and create notes in it while the app is open.

An MCP server suits someone who wants the Claude app to search and edit the vault through Obsidian itself. The Local REST API plugin, which is open source, runs a server inside Obsidian that Claude Code, Claude Desktop, and Cursor can connect to, so it works while Obsidian is open.

A plugin inside Obsidian suits someone who wants Claude in the sidebar as they write. Obsidian’s community plugins include several that do this, each written by its own maker.

A record every model reads suits someone who uses more than Claude, or wants the vault to do more than answer questions. That’s what I built alexandria. to be: a blueprint your own model reads and then builds on your computer, around the vault you already have.

Compared on each project’s own pages, 2 November 2026.

How does alexandria. use a vault?

When your model finds a vault, it points the system at it rather than copying it in, and writes where it lives into the one guide that Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor each read at the start of every session. Obsidian stays where you read and write, and nothing in the vault is moved, converted, or replaced. Then it adds what one vault lacks: a session where your model brings up what’s most worth thinking about in your notes, pushes back, and writes what you settle in your own words, a one-tap save from your phone, and, if you join, what the people in your life choose to share with you. Your record is plain Markdown too, so Obsidian can open it like any other folder.

Questions

Will Claude change my notes?

Only if the setup lets it write there. Keep your vault under version control or backed up first, and let Claude write to one folder of its own until you trust what it does.

Do I need Obsidian Sync?

No. Each setup above reads the vault where it sits on your computer. Sync only matters for getting the same vault onto your other devices.

Can the Claude app on the web read my vault?

Not directly, because the vault is on your computer. It can read a copy you put somewhere it can open, such as your Google Drive.

Does this work on Windows?

Yes. Obsidian, Claude Code, and the Claude desktop app all run on Windows.

What about a vault on my phone?

With alexandria., what you save from your phone in one tap lands in your files on your computer, beside your vault, where every model you use reads it.

Can I use it on a work laptop?

That depends on what your employer allows you to install. Your model leaves out anything you name, work notes included.

What if I already use a CLAUDE.md in my vault?

Then you already run the core of this. What’s left is what one vault can’t do alone, which is reaching your other tools, saving from your phone, and the people in your life.

Show the blueprint to your model, and it’ll tell you what your vault is missing, if anything.