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Render API is a desktop-only Obsidian plugin that exposes dataview, Tasks, and general markdown rendering results via a local REST API. It allows AI tools — such as Hermes Agent, Claude Code, or custom scripts — to programmatically access your vault's rendered content.

|> ⚠️ Permissions: This plugin starts a local HTTP server (Node.js http module, bound to 0.0.0.0), may invoke the dataview plugin's JavaScript API when enabled, and accesses the system clipboard for the MCP config "Copy" button in settings. It does not access external networks beyond what you configure. These permissions are required to expose rendering results via an API and cannot be replaced by the Obsidian vault API.

Detailed explanation of permissions flagged by the Obsidian community market review:

• System identity information (os.networkInterfaces): Used for WSL gateway IP auto-detection in the plugin settings. When the "Running environment" is set to WSL, clicking "Detect" scans Windows network interfaces to find the WSL virtual adapter IP, so the MCP URL can use the correct gateway address. No data is sent anywhere — all detection is local.
• Direct filesystem access (Node.js fs module): Used only for self-distributing the MCP stdio bridge script (mcp-server.js). On first load, the plugin writes mcp-server.js to .obsidian/plugins/render-api/ so community marketplace users can use stdio mode without manual installation. This is the only filesystem write outside the vault API.
• Clipboard access (navigator.clipboard): Used only for the "Copy" button in the MCP config section of the settings page. Users can one-click copy the generated Hermes/Claude config snippet. No clipboard monitoring or background access.

Current stable version: 0.2.5

Latest release: https://github.com/caesarloo/render-api/releases

Features

• REST API server — lightweight HTTP server (zero external dependencies)
• Dataview DQL queries — execute TABLE ... FROM ... queries and return JSON/HTML/text results
• DataviewJS execution — run arbitrary dv.* code and capture output
• File rendering — render any vault file by path, including all post-processor output
• Markdown rendering — render arbitrary markdown strings with full Obsidian pipeline support
• Output formats — HTML, plain text, or structured JSON
• Configurable auth — optional API key via X-API-Key header
• CORS support — configure allowed origins for cross-origin requests

Installation

1. Go to the latest release page and download these 3 files:
   • main.js
   • manifest.json
   • styles.css
2. Create the plugin directory inside your vault: <Vault>/.obsidian/plugins/render-api/
3. Copy the 3 downloaded files into that directory.
4. Restart Obsidian, or reload Community Plugins in Settings.

Prerequisites

• Desktop Obsidian only (not available on mobile).
• Dataview plugin (optional, for DQL/DataviewJS support).
• Node.js — Obsidian's built-in runtime provides everything needed.

Usage

Start the Server

• Command Palette: Run Start Render API Server
• The server starts on http://localhost:27123 by default (configurable in settings)

API Endpoints

All endpoints return JSON. Set Content-Type: application/json for POST requests.

GET /health

Check server status and capabilities.

{
  "status": "running",
  "port": 27123,
  "dataviewAvailable": true,
  "version": "0.1.14"
}

POST /render

Render arbitrary markdown content or execute dataview queries.

Request body:

{
  "content": "# Hello\nThis is **markdown** with `code`.",
  "format": "html"
}

{
  "query": "TABLE file.name, file.mtime FROM \"Work\"",
  "format": "json"
}

{
  "code": "dv.pages().filter(p => p.tags?.includes('project')).map(p => p.file.name)",
  "format": "text"
}

{
  "filePath": "Daily/2026-06-27.md",
  "format": "html"
}

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "html": "<h1>Hello</h1>\n<p>This is <strong>markdown</strong> with <code>code</code>.</p>",
  "text": "Hello\nThis is markdown with code.",
  "mimeType": "text/html"
}

POST /render/dataview

Shorthand for dataview-specific requests — same as /render with query or code fields.

GET|POST /render/file

Render a vault file by path.

GET: /render/file?path=Daily/2026-06-27.md&format=html

POST:

{
  "filePath": "Daily/2026-06-27.md",
  "format": "json"
}

Authentication

If you configure an API key in settings, all requests must include the X-API-Key header:

X-API-Key: your-secret-key

Settings

Use Cases

• AI Agent integration — Have Hermes Agent or Claude Code query your vault via API
• Automated reports — Schedule scripts that fetch rendered dataview tables
• Dashboard building — Pull Obsidian content into external dashboards
• MCP bridge — The REST API can be wrapped by an MCP stdio gateway

FAQ

Q: The server won't start. A: Check if port 27123 is already in use. Change the port in settings.

Q: Dataview queries return errors. A: Ensure the Dataview plugin is installed and enabled in Obsidian.

Q: How do I call this from Hermes Agent? A: Use curl from your Hermes session:

curl -s http://localhost:27123/render -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"query": "TABLE file.name FROM \"\"", "format": "json"}'

Q: Is this secure? A: The server binds only to 127.0.0.1 (localhost). Use the API key setting to add auth, and keep the port behind your firewall.

Development

# Build the plugin
npm run build

# Type-check
npm run typecheck

# Dev mode with watch
npm run dev

MCP Server

A stdio MCP server (mcp-server.js) is included with the plugin. It enables direct integration with AI tools that support the Model Context Protocol, such as Hermes Agent and Claude Desktop.

MCP tools available:

• health — Check server status
• render_markdown — Render markdown content
• render_file — Render a vault file by path
• dataview_query — Execute Dataview DQL query
• dataviewjs — Execute DataviewJS code

Configuration (Hermes Agent):

mcp_servers:
  render-api:
    command: node
    args:
      - <vault>/.obsidian/plugins/render-api/mcp-server.js
    enabled: true

Configuration (Claude Desktop):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "render-api": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["<vault>/.obsidian/plugins/render-api/mcp-server.js"]
    }
  }
}

Chinese / 中文

Render API 插件使用说明

Render API 是一个 Obsidian 桌面端插件，将 dataview、Tasks 等插件的渲染结果通过本地 REST API 暴露出来，让 AI 工具（如 Hermes Agent、Claude Code）或自定义脚本程序化地访问你的笔记库渲染内容。

⚠️ 权限说明：本插件启动一个本地 HTTP 服务（Node.js http 模块，绑定到 0.0.0.0），可能在你开启相关功能时调用 dataview 插件的 JavaScript API，并访问系统剪贴板用于设置页 MCP 配置的「复制」按钮。插件不会主动访问外部网络。这些权限是 API 服务所必需的，无法通过 Obsidian vault API 替代。

社区市场审核标记的权限详细说明：

• 系统身份信息读取（os.networkInterfaces）：用于插件设置中的 WSL 网关 IP 自动检测。当"运行环境"设为 WSL 时，点击"Detect"按钮会扫描 Windows 网络接口，找到 WSL 虚拟网卡 IP，以便 MCP URL 使用正确的网关地址。所有检测仅在本地完成，不会发送任何数据。
• 直接文件系统访问（Node.js fs 模块）：仅用于 MCP stdio 桥接脚本的自分发（mcp-server.js）。插件首次加载时，将 mcp-server.js 写入 .obsidian/plugins/render-api/，使社区市场下载用户无需手动安装即可使用 stdio 模式。这是唯一在 vault API 之外的文件系统写入操作。
• 剪贴板访问（navigator.clipboard）：仅用于设置页 MCP 配置区的 「复制」按钮，用户可一键复制生成的 Hermes/Claude 配置。不会监控或后台访问剪贴板。

当前稳定版本：0.1.16

最新发布页：https://github.com/caesarloo/render-api/releases

功能清单

• REST API 服务（零外部依赖，内置 Node.js http 模块）
• Dataview DQL 查询（TABLE ... FROM ... 等，返回 JSON/HTML/Text）
• DataviewJS 执行（运行 dv.* 代码，捕获输出）
• 文件渲染（按路径渲染库内文件，包含全部后处理器输出）
• Markdown 渲染（渲染任意 markdown 字符串，完整 Obsidian 渲染管线）
• 输出格式：HTML / 纯文本 / 结构化 JSON
• 可选 API 密钥认证（X-API-Key 请求头）
• CORS 跨域支持

安装

1. 打开发布页下载以下 3 个文件：
   • main.js
   • manifest.json
   • styles.css
2. 在你的库目录下创建插件目录：<Vault>/.obsidian/plugins/render-api/
3. 将上述 3 个文件放入该目录。
4. 重启 Obsidian，或在"社区插件"中重新加载插件。

前置条件

• 仅支持桌面端 Obsidian。
• Dataview 插件（可选，用于 DQL/DataviewJS 查询支持）。

使用说明

启动服务

• 命令面板执行 启动 Render API 服务
• 默认监听 http://localhost:27123（可在设置中修改）

API 端点

所有端点返回 JSON。POST 请求需设置 Content-Type: application/json。

GET /health — 健康检查

POST /render — 执行查询或渲染内容

请求体示例 — dataview DQL 查询：

{
  "query": "TABLE file.name, file.mtime FROM \"笔记\"",
  "format": "json"
}

请求体示例 — dataviewjs 代码：

{
  "code": "dv.pages().filter(p => p.tags?.includes('project')).map(p => p.file.name)",
  "format": "text"
}

请求体示例 — 渲染指定文件：

{
  "filePath": "日记/2026-06-27.md",
  "format": "html"
}

GET|POST /render/file — 按路径渲染库内文件

认证

在设置中配置 API 密钥后，所有请求需带 X-API-Key 请求头。

设置项

使用场景

• AI Agent 集成 — 让 Hermes Agent 或 Claude Code 通过 API 读取笔记内容
• 自动化报表 — 定时脚本抓取 dataview 表格结果
• 外部看板 — 将 Obsidian 内容推送到外部仪表盘
• MCP 桥接 — REST API 可通过 MCP stdio 网关包装，让 AI 工具直接调用

常见问题

服务无法启动？ 检查端口是否被占用，在设置中更换端口。

Dataview 查询报错？ 确认 Dataview 插件已安装并启用。

如何在 Hermes Agent 中调用？ 使用 curl：

curl -s http://localhost:27123/render -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"query": "TABLE file.name FROM \"\"", "format": "json"}'

安全吗？ 服务仅绑定 127.0.0.1（本地回环地址）。建议在设置中添加 API 密钥。

开发

npm run build    # 构建
npm run typecheck  # 类型检查
npm run dev      # 开发模式（watch）

MCP 服务

插件内置 stdio MCP Server（mcp-server.js），支持通过 Model Context Protocol 直接集成 AI 工具，无需手动调用 curl。

可用的 MCP 工具：

• health — 检查服务状态
• render_markdown — 渲染 Markdown 内容
• render_file — 按路径渲染库内文件
• dataview_query — 执行 Dataview DQL 查询
• dataviewjs — 执行 DataviewJS 代码

Hermes Agent 配置：

mcp_servers:
  render-api:
    command: node
    args:
      - <库目录>/.obsidian/plugins/render-api/mcp-server.js
    enabled: true

Claude Desktop 配置：

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "render-api": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["<库目录>/.obsidian/plugins/render-api/mcp-server.js"]
    }
  }
}

Repo: https://github.com/caesarloo/render-api