Roam MCP

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server and CLI for Roam Research.

Alpha Software: This project is in early development and subject to breaking changes.

[!CAUTION] Full Write Access: This MCP server gives Claude full read and write access to your Roam graph. Claude can create, modify, and delete pages and blocks. Changes may be difficult or impossible to undo. Roam does not have a traditional undo history that can reverse bulk operations or deletions made through the API.

Recommendations:

• Back up your graph before use
• Start with a test graph to understand Claude's behavior
• Review what Claude plans to do before confirming write operations
• Be specific in your instructions to avoid unintended changes

Prerequisites

• Node.js v18 or later
• Roam Research desktop app (the local API is not available in the web version)

How It Works

This MCP server connects to Roam's local HTTP API, which runs on your machine when the desktop app is open. If Roam isn't running when a tool is called, the server will automatically launch it via deep link and retry the connection.

Getting Started

1. Roam Desktop App

The local API requires the Roam desktop app (not the web version). Make sure it's installed and you can open your graph in it.

2. Connect a Graph

Interactive (recommended for first-time setup):

npx @roam-research/roam-mcp connect

This will walk you through selecting a graph, choosing permissions, and approving the token in Roam. You can also use the CLI: install globally with npm install -g @roam-research/roam-cli, then use roam connect.

Non-interactive (for scripts and LLM agents):

# example to connect to your graph called "my-graph-name" which you generally refer to as "My Team Graph"
npx @roam-research/roam-mcp connect --graph my-graph-name --nickname "My Team Graph" --access-level full

# example to connect to a public graph - our "help" graph
npx @roam-research/roam-mcp connect --graph help --public --nickname "Roam official help graph"

Flag	Default	Description
--graph <name>	—	Graph name (enables non-interactive mode)
--nickname <name>	Required with --graph	Short name you'll use to refer to this graph
--access-level <level>	full	full, read-append, or read-only
--public	—	Public graph (read-only, hosted)
--type <type>	hosted	hosted or offline

Note: Both modes require a human to approve the token dialog in the Roam desktop app.

To remove a connection:

npx @roam-research/roam-mcp connect --remove --graph my-graph-name
npx @roam-research/roam-mcp connect --remove --nickname "My Team Graph"

Run connect again to add more graphs or update permissions.

3. Connect to an MCP Client

Claude Desktop

Add to your Claude Desktop config file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "roam": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@roam-research/roam-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Config file location:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Restart Claude Desktop after saving.

Claude Code

claude mcp add -s user roam-mcp -- npx -y @roam-research/roam-mcp

This makes Roam available in all your Claude Code sessions. To add it to a single project only, use -s local instead.

Multiple Graphs

Run connect multiple times to add additional graphs. Each graph gets a nickname (a short name like "work" or "team acme") for easy selection.

Graph Selection:

• Single graph configured: Auto-selected, no action needed
• Multiple graphs configured: Pass the graph parameter on each tool call with the nickname

Manual Configuration (Advanced)

Instead of using connect, you can manually create ~/.roam-tools.json:

{
  "version": 1,
  "graphs": [
    {
      "name": "your-graph-name",
      "type": "hosted",
      "token": "roam-graph-local-token-...",
      "nickname": "my-graph"
    }
  ]
}

To create a token manually: Roam Desktop → Settings → Graph → Local API Tokens → New Token.

Field	Required	Description
name	Yes	The actual graph name in Roam (as shown in the URL)
type	No	"hosted" (default) for cloud graphs, "offline" for local-only
token	Yes	Local API token from Roam settings
nickname	Yes	Slug identifier for this graph (lowercase, hyphens, no spaces)
accessLevel	No	"full" (default), "read-only", or "read-append"

Available Tools

Graph Management:

• list_graphs - List all configured graphs with their nicknames
• setup_new_graph - Set up a new graph connection, or list available graphs

Graph Guidelines:

• get_graph_guidelines - Returns user-defined instructions and preferences for AI agents

Graph guidelines let you store preferences and context directly in your Roam graph that AI agents will follow. Create a page called [[roam/agent guidelines]] with your instructions. These might include naming conventions, preferred page structures, topics to focus on, or any other context that should guide how the AI interacts with your graph.

Content:

• create_page - Create page with markdown content
• update_page - Update page title or children view type
• delete_page - Delete a page
• create_block - Create blocks (by parent UID, page title, or daily note date; with optional nest-under)
• update_block - Update block content/properties
• move_block - Move a block to a new location
• delete_block - Delete a block
• add_comment - Add a comment to a block (comment thread, not child block)
• get_comments - Get comments on a block with author/date context

Read:

• search - Search pages/blocks (empty query returns recently edited/viewed content)
• search_templates - Search Roam templates by name
• roam_query - Execute a Roam query ({{query:}} blocks, not Datalog)
• datalog_query - Execute a raw Datalog query against the graph's Datomic database
• get_page - Get page content as markdown
• get_block - Get block content as markdown
• get_backlinks - Get references to a page/block

Navigation:

• get_open_windows - Main window view and all sidebar windows
• get_selection - Currently focused block and multi-selected blocks
• open_main_window - Navigate to page/block
• open_sidebar - Open in right sidebar

Files:

• file_get - Fetch a file hosted on Roam (handles decryption for encrypted graphs)
• file_upload - Upload a file to Roam (from local path, URL, or base64)
• file_delete - Delete a file hosted on Roam

CLI

Install globally for quick access:

npm install -g @roam-research/roam-cli

roam list-graphs
roam connect                                                    # Interactive setup
roam connect --graph <name> --nickname <name>                   # Non-interactive
roam search --query "my notes" --graph <name-or-nickname>
roam get-page --title "My Page" --graph <name-or-nickname>

If you only have one graph configured, the --graph flag is optional.

Run roam --help to see all available commands. You can also use npx @roam-research/roam-cli without installing globally.

Packages

This repository is a monorepo with three packages:

Package	Description
@roam-research/roam-tools-core	Shared core library (client, tools, operations, config, types)
@roam-research/roam-mcp	MCP server — connect Claude/Cursor/etc. to Roam
@roam-research/roam-cli	CLI — setup and direct tool access

Development

To work on this project from source:

git clone https://github.com/Roam-Research/roam-tools.git
cd roam-tools
npm install
npm run build

Development commands:

npm run mcp              # Run MCP server in dev mode (tsx)
npm run cli -- connect   # Run CLI in dev mode
npm run typecheck        # Type-check (force rebuild, checks all packages)
npm run lint             # Lint with ESLint
npm run format:check     # Check formatting with Prettier
npm run version:check    # Verify all package versions are consistent
npm run version:bump 0.5.0  # Bump all packages to a new version

See npm packaging design for why the packages are structured this way.

Contributing

This project is changing rapidly. At this time, we prefer suggestions and feedback over pull requests. Please open an issue or join the #ai-in-roam channel on slack to discuss ideas before submitting code.