obsidian-vault

n8n community node for self-hosted Obsidian Vault REST API (list, read, write, append, delete, search)

Package Information

Released: 4 mo ago
Downloads: 18 weekly / 365 monthly
Latest Version: 0.1.1
Author: EchtJetztKI

Available Nodes

Obsidian Vault icon
Obsidian Vault
Read and write notes in a self-hosted Obsidian Vault via REST API

Documentation

n8n-nodes-obsidian-vault

npm version
License: MIT

n8n community node for a self-hosted Obsidian Vault REST API. Lets your workflows list, read, write, append, delete, and search Markdown notes in an Obsidian vault that lives on a server (no running Obsidian app required).

This node talks to the obsidian-vault-api backend — a lightweight Node.js service that exposes a vault directory over HTTPS with API-key auth, IP-whitelist, and WebDAV.

What it can do

Resource Operation Description
Note List List files/folders under a path
Note Get Read a markdown file
Note Create or Update Write a file (creates folders)
Note Append Append to a file
Note Delete Delete a file or folder (recursive)
Search Full Text Substring search across .md/.txt/.json/.canvas
Health Check Liveness ping (no auth)

Install

In n8n: Settings → Community Nodes → Install → n8n-nodes-obsidian-vault.

Or manually:

cd ~/.n8n/nodes
npm install n8n-nodes-obsidian-vault

Credentials

Create Obsidian Vault API credentials:

Field Value
Base URL https://your-vault.example.com (no trailing slash)
API Key The secret your backend expects in X-API-Key

The credential test hits /healthz, so it works even before you grant any IP access.

Backend

You need a vault-api server. The reference implementation is at github.com/echtjetztki/obsidian-vault-api. Quickstart:

git clone https://github.com/echtjetztki/obsidian-vault-api
cd obsidian-vault-api
npm install
VAULT_ROOT=/path/to/your/vault \
PORT=3025 BIND=127.0.0.1 \
API_KEY=<long-random> \
WEBDAV_USER=you WEBDAV_PASS=<random> \
node server.js

Put it behind nginx with TLS + an IP allowlist. See the repo for a production setup with CloudPanel, Let's Encrypt, and rclone bisync to keep a local vault in sync.

Why not the existing nodes?

  • n8n-nodes-obsidian (technovangelist) — needs direct filesystem access from the n8n host
  • n8n-nodes-obsidian-rest (DuanPeng1314) — needs coddingtonbear/obsidian-local-rest-api, which only runs inside a live Obsidian app
  • This node — talks to a headless backend that just needs a vault directory. Server-side, 24/7, no Obsidian process required.

Example workflows

Daily Note from a Cron trigger:

Cron (08:00) → Obsidian Vault (Note → Append)
   path: 05 Daily Notes/{{ $now.toFormat('yyyy-LL-dd') }}.md
   content: |
     - {{ $now.toFormat('HH:mm') }} Morgendliche Routine

Inbox from a webhook:

Webhook → Obsidian Vault (Note → Create or Update)
   path: 01 Inbox/webhook-{{ $execution.id }}.md
   content: |
     # {{ $json.subject }}
     {{ $json.body }}

Knowledge-base lookup before LLM call:

Trigger → Obsidian Vault (Search → Full Text, query={{$json.question}}, max=10)
        → Code (concat hits[].excerpt)
        → OpenAI / Anthropic / Gemini

Development

git clone https://github.com/echtjetztki/n8n-nodes-obsidian-vault
cd n8n-nodes-obsidian-vault
npm install
npm run build
npm link
# in your n8n install:
cd ~/.n8n/custom && npm link n8n-nodes-obsidian-vault

Then restart n8n. The node shows up under "Obsidian Vault".

Lint with npm run lint (uses eslint-plugin-n8n-nodes-base community ruleset, required for the n8n community verifier).

Roadmap

  • Trigger node: poll vault for new/changed files (webhook fallback)
  • Streaming response for large notes
  • Optional frontmatter parser (return YAML as JSON)
  • Binary attachment support via WebDAV passthrough

License

MIT © EchtJetztKI

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