Install

Obelisk is not in the community plugin directory yet, so installing it means building it and symlinking the repo into a vault.

Build it

git clone https://github.com/zachhannum/obelisk
cd obelisk
npm install
npm run build

npm run build typechecks src/, then produces three things: main.js for the plugin, and dist/cli.mjs and dist/mcp.mjs for the two bins.

Load the plugin

Symlink the repo into the vault’s plugin folder:

ln -s "$PWD" /path/to/vault/.obsidian/plugins/obelisk

Then enable Obelisk under Settings → Community plugins. After a rebuild, run Reload app without saving to pick up the new main.js.

Caution

Community plugins have to be turned on for the vault before anything appears in the list. On mobile, the plugin loads but has not been tested there.

Put the CLI on your PATH

npm link

That puts obelisk and obelisk-mcp on your PATH, pointing at the built files in the repo. Rebuild and the linked commands follow.

The package is private and unpublished, so npx obelisk-mcp resolves only inside this repo. Anywhere else npm goes to the registry and 404s.

Check it

obelisk list /path/to/vault/some-note.md

That prints the note’s comments, then its body with line numbers. An empty note prints no comments and its body, which is the answer, not an error.