Obsidian and Claude: five ways to connect them, and what each can change

You do not need a plugin to use Claude with Obsidian. An Obsidian vault is a folder of Markdown files, so Claude can work on it wherever Claude can work on a folder. Here is our own proposal, the folder-first rule: decide which Claude gets the folder, and what it is allowed to change there, before you look at a single plugin. On November 10, 2026 we counted 171 community plugins that name Claude. None of them is required.

The five ways, side by side

Rows one to three let Claude write. Row five cannot write. Row four is whichever you pick. That split matters more than the brand of the tool, because a vault is usually years of notes with no undo outside the app.

Why folder first

Most guides start from the plugin list. The trouble is that the plugin is the last decision, not the first. Every route in the table ends at the same place: files in a folder on your disk. What differs is which program holds the folder and what it may do there. Settle that, and the plugin question often answers itself.

1. Which Claude gets the folder? The terminal one, the desktop app, or any assistant through a server.
2. May it change notes? If yes, decide how you would get a note back after a bad edit.
3. Does it need to work with Obsidian closed? Folder routes do. Plugin routes do not.

What we counted on November 10, 2026

Obsidian publishes its community plugin list as one file, community-plugins.json, in its releases repository on GitHub. We downloaded it on November 10, 2026 and matched each plugin's name and description against a few words.

Two things stand out. More than half of the Claude plugins, 89 of 171, are ways to run Claude Code beside your notes, which is row one of the table with a window around it. And 161 of the 171 carry the list's own note that the plugin "has not been manually reviewed by Obsidian staff". That is not a mark against any one of them. It does mean the review is yours to do before you give a plugin a shell in your vault.

The limits: this is a word match, so it counts plugins that only list Claude among several models, and names built on the word such as Claudian. It does not count plugins that support Claude without saying so in their description. The list changes daily.

Way 1: Claude Code in the vault folder

Anthropic describes Claude Code as a tool that "reads your codebase, edits files, runs commands". Nothing in that is specific to code. Open a terminal, change into the vault folder and start it:

cd ~/Documents/MyVault
claude

A file named CLAUDE.md in the vault root is read at the start of every session, according to the same page. That is the place for your conventions: where daily notes live, how you name files, which folders are off limits.

This is the most capable route and the least guarded. Claude Code can rewrite many notes in one request. Keep the vault in Git or under a backup you have tested before you ask for bulk edits.

Way 2: the Claude desktop app with the vault as its folder

In the Claude desktop app, Anthropic's setup lesson says to click "Work in a project or folder" in the prompt bar and pick a folder on your computer. Picking a folder authorizes Claude to read and write in it. The lesson adds that Claude "always asks before permanently deleting a file" and that the prompt cannot be skipped. A paid Claude plan is needed, and a task started from the web or a phone can reach your connectors but not your local folders.

This suits people who do not want a terminal. The trade is the same as way one: it writes.

Way 3: a plugin that runs Claude Code inside Obsidian

Claudian is one example of the 89. Its README calls it "an Obsidian plugin that embeds AI coding agents" in your vault, says the vault becomes the agent's working directory, and lists file read and write, search and bash as working out of the box. It is desktop only and needs at least one agent, such as the Claude Code command line tool, already installed.

What you gain over way one is a chat panel next to the note you are reading. What you add is a second piece of software with the same reach as the first. If you already run Claude Code in a terminal, the plugin is a convenience, not a new ability.

Way 4: an MCP server for the vault

An MCP server exposes the vault as a set of tools that Claude Desktop, Claude Code or Cursor can call. Servers differ in how many of those tools can change or delete a note, and in whether Obsidian has to be running. We compared six by exactly that in Obsidian MCP servers compared by what they can change, and the one-minute check for the open-app question is in Can Claude read your Obsidian vault with Obsidian closed?

Way 5: ModelBrain's folder connector

This one is ours, so read it with that in mind. ModelBrain is a memory app that runs beside Obsidian. You add the vault folder once, it indexes the notes on your computer, and any connected assistant can answer from them and name the note it used. It does not write to the vault, it needs no plugin, and Obsidian does not need to be running. Since this page was first published we have released an optional plugin that adds a search panel inside Obsidian; it does not write to the vault either, and it is not counted in the figures above. Setup is in the Obsidian guide.

It is the wrong tool if you want Claude to tidy, rename or rewrite notes. It cannot. It fits when you want Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor to answer from the same notes without any of them being able to change one.

Which one to pick

• You want Claude to edit and reorganize notes: way one or two. Add way three only if you want the panel inside Obsidian.
• You want questions answered from your notes and nothing changed: way five, or a read-only server from way four.
• You want other assistants as well as Claude: way four or five.
• You are on a phone: none of the folder routes reach a vault on your computer from a phone. Check the plugin's own page for mobile support.

What this does not cover

We did not install or time the plugins, and the table reports what each project says about itself. Obsidian Sync, Obsidian's own paid service, is a separate question from any of this. For plugins that add AI without Claude, see Does Obsidian have AI?

Sources

• Claude Code overview, Anthropic
• Getting set up, Claude Academy, Anthropic
• Claudian, yishentu, GitHub
• community-plugins.json, Obsidian releases repository, GitHub
• Use ModelBrain with an Obsidian vault, modelbrain.net

Common questions

Can Claude read my Obsidian vault? Yes. A vault is a folder of Markdown files, so Claude Code started in that folder, or the Claude desktop app with that folder picked, can read it. No plugin is needed for either.

Do I need a plugin to use Claude with Obsidian? No. Plugins add a chat panel inside Obsidian or expose the vault to other apps. Claude Code and the Claude desktop app both work on the vault folder directly.

Can Claude edit my Obsidian notes? Yes with Claude Code, the Claude desktop app, plugins that run Claude Code, and MCP servers that have write tools. ModelBrain's folder connector reads only and never changes vault files.

Does Obsidian need to be open? Not for routes that work on the folder: Claude Code, the Claude desktop app, folder-reading MCP servers and ModelBrain. Plugins, and servers built on a plugin, need Obsidian running.

How many Obsidian plugins work with Claude? On November 10, 2026, 171 of the 10,222 plugins in Obsidian's community list named Claude in their name or description, and 89 of those named Claude Code.

Last checked November 10, 2026. Tool lists and settings change often, so confirm a detail on the project's own page before relying on it.