Vault Cortex
local MCP serverVault Cortex is a local MCP server: Standalone MCP server for Obsidian vaults — hybrid search, notes & files, memory, tasks, OAuth 2.1. Install it from oci as ghcr.io/aliasunder/vault-cortex:0.54.3.
Installation
Terminal
claude mcp add vault-cortex -e MCP_AUTH_TOKEN=... -e PUBLIC_URL=... -e EMBEDDING_ENABLED=... -e RERANK_MODE=... -e WINDOWS_MODE=... -e MEMORY_ENABLED=... -e FILE_TOOLS_ENABLED=... -e READONLY_MODE=... -e DISABLED_TOOLS=... -e MEMORY_DIR=... -e DAILY_NOTES_FOLDER=... -e DAILY_NOTES_FORMAT=... -e TRUST_PROXY_HOPS=... -e TRUST_FORWARDED_HOPS=... -e TZ=... -e LOG_LEVEL=... -e LOG_DIR=... -e LOG_RETENTION_DAYS=... -e PROTECTED_PATHS=... -e ORPHAN_EXCLUDE_FOLDERS=... -e SERVICE_DOCUMENTATION_URL=... -e MAX_FILE_BYTES=... -e MAX_IMAGE_OUTPUT_BYTES=... -e MAX_PDF_RENDER_PAGES=... -- docker run -i --rm ghcr.io/aliasunder/vault-cortex:0.54.3
Run in your project folder. Add --scope user to use it everywhere.
Claude Desktop, Cursor & other clients
Add to claude_desktop_config.json or .cursor/mcp.json.
{
"mcpServers": {
"vault-cortex": {
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"run",
"-i",
"--rm",
"ghcr.io/aliasunder/vault-cortex:0.54.3"
],
"env": {
"MCP_AUTH_TOKEN": "...",
"PUBLIC_URL": "...",
"EMBEDDING_ENABLED": "...",
"RERANK_MODE": "...",
"WINDOWS_MODE": "...",
"MEMORY_ENABLED": "...",
"FILE_TOOLS_ENABLED": "...",
"READONLY_MODE": "...",
"DISABLED_TOOLS": "...",
"MEMORY_DIR": "...",
"DAILY_NOTES_FOLDER": "...",
"DAILY_NOTES_FORMAT": "...",
"TRUST_PROXY_HOPS": "...",
"TRUST_FORWARDED_HOPS": "...",
"TZ": "...",
"LOG_LEVEL": "...",
"LOG_DIR": "...",
"LOG_RETENTION_DAYS": "...",
"PROTECTED_PATHS": "...",
"ORPHAN_EXCLUDE_FOLDERS": "...",
"SERVICE_DOCUMENTATION_URL": "...",
"MAX_FILE_BYTES": "...",
"MAX_IMAGE_OUTPUT_BYTES": "...",
"MAX_PDF_RENDER_PAGES": "..."
}
}
}
}Fill in the environment variables with your own credentials.
What you need
- Runtime: Docker.
- MCP client: Claude Code, Codex, Antigravity, Claude Desktop, Cursor or any other client that speaks MCP over stdio.
- Environment variables:
MCP_AUTH_TOKEN,PUBLIC_URL,EMBEDDING_ENABLED,RERANK_MODE,WINDOWS_MODE,MEMORY_ENABLED,FILE_TOOLS_ENABLED,READONLY_MODE,DISABLED_TOOLS,MEMORY_DIR,DAILY_NOTES_FOLDER,DAILY_NOTES_FORMAT,TRUST_PROXY_HOPS,TRUST_FORWARDED_HOPS,TZ,LOG_LEVEL,LOG_DIR,LOG_RETENTION_DAYS,PROTECTED_PATHS,ORPHAN_EXCLUDE_FOLDERS,SERVICE_DOCUMENTATION_URL,MAX_FILE_BYTES,MAX_IMAGE_OUTPUT_BYTES,MAX_PDF_RENDER_PAGES
Summary
Standalone MCP server for Obsidian vaults — hybrid search, notes & files, memory, tasks, OAuth 2.1
Vault Cortex vs similar servers
| Server | Stars | Type | API key | Runtime |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vault Cortex | 21 | Local | Yes | oci |
| SoloMD | 1,130 | Local | No | mcpb |
| akb | 161 | Local | Yes | npm |
| Obsidian Hybrid Search | 106 | Local | Yes | npm |
| adam-framework | 45 | Local | Yes | pypi |
Questions
It reads 24 environment variables: MCP_AUTH_TOKEN, PUBLIC_URL, EMBEDDING_ENABLED, RERANK_MODE, WINDOWS_MODE, MEMORY_ENABLED, FILE_TOOLS_ENABLED, READONLY_MODE, DISABLED_TOOLS, MEMORY_DIR, DAILY_NOTES_FOLDER, DAILY_NOTES_FORMAT, TRUST_PROXY_HOPS, TRUST_FORWARDED_HOPS, TZ, LOG_LEVEL, LOG_DIR, LOG_RETENTION_DAYS, PROTECTED_PATHS, ORPHAN_EXCLUDE_FOLDERS, SERVICE_DOCUMENTATION_URL, MAX_FILE_BYTES, MAX_IMAGE_OUTPUT_BYTES, MAX_PDF_RENDER_PAGES. Set them in your MCP config before starting the server.
Docker, plus an MCP client such as Claude Code, Codex, Claude Desktop or Cursor.
Vault Cortex is a local MCP server distributed as the oci package ghcr.io/aliasunder/vault-cortex:0.54.3.
Run: claude mcp add vault-cortex -e MCP_AUTH_TOKEN=... -e PUBLIC_URL=... -e EMBEDDING_ENABLED=... -e RERANK_MODE=... -e WINDOWS_MODE=... -e MEMORY_ENABLED=... -e FILE_TOOLS_ENABLED=... -e READONLY_MODE=... -e DISABLED_TOOLS=... -e MEMORY_DIR=... -e DAILY_NOTES_FOLDER=... -e DAILY_NOTES_FORMAT=... -e TRUST_PROXY_HOPS=... -e TRUST_FORWARDED_HOPS=... -e TZ=... -e LOG_LEVEL=... -e LOG_DIR=... -e LOG_RETENTION_DAYS=... -e PROTECTED_PATHS=... -e ORPHAN_EXCLUDE_FOLDERS=... -e SERVICE_DOCUMENTATION_URL=... -e MAX_FILE_BYTES=... -e MAX_IMAGE_OUTPUT_BYTES=... -e MAX_PDF_RENDER_PAGES=... -- docker run -i --rm ghcr.io/aliasunder/vault-cortex:0.54.3
Run: codex mcp add vault-cortex --env MCP_AUTH_TOKEN=... --env PUBLIC_URL=... --env EMBEDDING_ENABLED=... --env RERANK_MODE=... --env WINDOWS_MODE=... --env MEMORY_ENABLED=... --env FILE_TOOLS_ENABLED=... --env READONLY_MODE=... --env DISABLED_TOOLS=... --env MEMORY_DIR=... --env DAILY_NOTES_FOLDER=... --env DAILY_NOTES_FORMAT=... --env TRUST_PROXY_HOPS=... --env TRUST_FORWARDED_HOPS=... --env TZ=... --env LOG_LEVEL=... --env LOG_DIR=... --env LOG_RETENTION_DAYS=... --env PROTECTED_PATHS=... --env ORPHAN_EXCLUDE_FOLDERS=... --env SERVICE_DOCUMENTATION_URL=... --env MAX_FILE_BYTES=... --env MAX_IMAGE_OUTPUT_BYTES=... --env MAX_PDF_RENDER_PAGES=... -- docker run -i --rm ghcr.io/aliasunder/vault-cortex:0.54.3
Similar MCP servers
NameStars
- SoloMDio.github.zhitongblog/solomd1,130
- akbio.github.dnotitia/akb161
- Obsidian Hybrid Searchio.github.flowing-abyss/obsidian-hybrid-search106
- adam-frameworkio.github.strangeadvancedmarketing/adam-framework45
- AIquila — Nextcloud MCP Serverio.github.elgorro/aiquila-mcp38
- Firecrawl MCP Serverio.github.firecrawl/firecrawl-mcp-server7,526
- obsidian-mcp-serverio.github.cyanheads/obsidian-mcp-server687
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