| FMRS | 53 / 100 · D | 84 / 100 · B | 79 / 100 · B |
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| Reliability | 10 / 20 | 17 / 20 | 12 / 20 |
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| Security and permissions | 9 / 20 | 16 / 20 | 18 / 20 |
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| Maintenance | 10 / 20 | 16 / 20 | 15 / 20 |
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| Documentation | 13 / 20 | 17 / 20 | 19 / 20 |
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| Setup experience | 11 / 20 | 18 / 20 | 15 / 20 |
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| Best for | - Linux users with SANE-compatible scanners
- Those needing local, privacy-first scanning automation (stdio)
- Developers or advanced users who want programmable batch and multipage scanning
| - Local assistants that need to work inside explicitly approved directories
- Individuals and development teams that want path-based data boundaries
| - Serious Obsidian users who want AI agents reading and writing their vault
- Users wanting self-hosted, plugin-free operation with no external APIs
- Mobile/multi-device workflows accessing the vault remotely
- Security-conscious users (OAuth 2.1, atomic writes, container hardening)
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| Not for | - Windows or macOS users (Linux-only)
- Those relying on networked authentication or secure transport (HTTP lacks authentication)
- Users needing camera or non-SANE backends (although it attempts to avoid such devices)
| - Highly sensitive environments that cannot allow model access to local file contents
- Shared remote file-service use cases
| - Users unwilling to run Docker or self-host a server
- Non-Obsidian note tools (Notion, Logseq, etc.)
- Scenarios requiring only a stdio local process without an HTTP server
- Remote multi-device sync without an Obsidian Sync subscription (the remote image requires one)
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| Required permissions | - System permissions to execute scanimage/scanadf commands
- Write access to INBOX_DIR (default: scanned_documents/inbox)
- Filesystem permissions to access temp and output directories
- Optional: network permissions and TCP port access if using HTTP transport
| - Read access to every local directory listed in the configuration
- Filesystem write access when write or move tools are enabled
| - Read/write access to the Obsidian vault folder (bind mount /vault, rw)
- Persistent /data volume (search index, OAuth token DB, logs)
- MCP_AUTH_TOKEN as Bearer token (also the JWT signing key)
- Obsidian Sync token for headless sync in remote mode
- Local download of embedding/reranker models (~45MB total), no external API calls
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| Risks and side effects | - HTTP transport has no built-in authentication; only suitable for trusted internal networks
- Scanning failures could lead to data loss or incomplete outputs; use job cancellation and status monitoring
- Incorrect device options or high resolutions may consume significant disk space
- External command dependencies: missing tools or misconfigured SANE can make the server non-functional
| - Sensitive files inside an allowed directory may enter model context
- Write and move tools change real files; keep scopes narrow and maintain backups
| - The server can read and write personal notes — guard MCP_AUTH_TOKEN carefully; leaking it exposes the whole vault
- Writes to real note files; despite atomic writes and protected paths, misconfiguration can alter data
- OAuth token DB lives on the /data volume; container compromise could expose valid sessions
- Remote deployments expose a public port — set PUBLIC_URL and reverse proxy correctly
- The remote image bundles proprietary obsidian-headless (not MIT-licensed); requires an active Obsidian Sync subscription
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| Supported clients | Claude Desktop | Claude Desktop, Cursor, Cline, Windsurf | Claude Code, Claude Desktop, claude.ai, Cursor, OpenCode, MCP Inspector |
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| Tools | 8 | 6 | 30 |
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