Local files, CLI, and hosted MCP
A coding agent can read and edit an Obsidian vault's Markdown files directly. Obsidian also ships an official CLI with search, read, create, and append commands. Community plugins and MCP servers provide other paths. Choose a route that fits where your assistant runs and what access it needs.
Hjarni's difference is its official hosted MCP endpoint. Compatible remote assistants can search and edit notes without a local vault bridge. Your client still decides when to call tools and whether an action requires approval.
Collaboration is available in both
Obsidian Sync supports shared vaults. Each collaborator needs a Sync subscription; the documented model gives collaborators the same vault permissions and does not provide live editing of the same file. It is a valid team option with different constraints.
Hjarni offers shared teams, folder roles, and instructions per folder. Those instructions can ask an assistant to cite sources or follow a writing style. Access rules and scoped agent tokens, rather than instruction text, determine what the assistant may read or change.
Local ownership and hosted convenience
Choose Obsidian if keeping editable files on your devices is central to the workflow. Its app is free without a note limit, and Sync and Publish are optional paid services. Hjarni offers a hosted account and a Free plan with 25 personal notes; AI subscriptions are separate.
A hosted endpoint avoids maintaining a local bridge. A local vault gives direct file access and your own backup options. Choose based on how you want to store and maintain your notes.
Before Hjarni, my detailed notes lived in Obsidian. The MCP setups all assume your main computer is running and Claude is talking to it locally. I needed Claude to write from my iPad with no dependency on my Mac being awake. I went through a device bridge, a headless sync client on a VPS, git syncing the vault, and putting the vault on a server. Hjarni is hosted with MCP always connected, so that all went away. Obsidian is still my permanent human curated archive. Hjarni took over the part Obsidian was never shaped for.
Try a sample vault first
Hjarni's Markdown ZIP importer handles folders, supported frontmatter, wiki-links, and supported attachments. Dataview queries, plugin behavior, and custom vault conventions are not portable just because the note files use Markdown. Import a representative sample and review it before moving a vault.