Idea Cross-Pollinator: Find the Links You'd Never Spot

The Stack

Tested Against

Prerequisites

• Claude Desktop, https://claude.ai/download
• The Local REST API community plugin, enabled, with its API key copied
• uv / uvx installed (mcp-obsidian runs via uvx)
• Node 20+ (used here to validate the config)

Steps

1. 1

   Check your toolchain

   Config validation needs Node. uvx + the Local REST API plugin + Claude Desktop power the actual search step.

   command -v node >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "MISSING required: node"; exit 1; }
   command -v uvx >/dev/null 2>&1 || echo "optional (runs the server): uvx"
   command -v claude >/dev/null 2>&1 || echo "optional: Claude Desktop (for the search step)"
   echo "preflight OK"

2. 2

   Validate the Claude Desktop config (Option B)

   Write the exact Option B block from the guide and prove it parses, runs uvx mcp-obsidian, and points at the Local REST API on port 27124.

   cat > claude_desktop_config.json <<'EOF'
   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "mcp-obsidian": {
         "command": "uvx",
         "args": ["mcp-obsidian"],
         "env": {
           "OBSIDIAN_API_KEY": "your_key_here",
           "OBSIDIAN_HOST": "127.0.0.1",
           "OBSIDIAN_PORT": "27124"
         }
       }
     }
   }
   EOF
   node -e 'const c=JSON.parse(require("fs").readFileSync("claude_desktop_config.json","utf8"));const o=c.mcpServers["mcp-obsidian"];if(o.command==="uvx"&&o.args.includes("mcp-obsidian")&&o.env.OBSIDIAN_PORT==="27124"){console.log("config OK: uvx -> mcp-obsidian, port "+o.env.OBSIDIAN_PORT)}else{console.log("BAD");process.exit(1)}'

3. 3

   Scaffold an idea note

   Create Ideas/ with a sample note for Claude to cross-pollinate.

   mkdir -p vault/Ideas
   printf '%s\n' 'Idea: a verified library of AI workflows.' > vault/Ideas/this-idea.md
   echo "ideas ready: vault/Ideas/this-idea.md"

4. 4

   Cross-pollinate (the Claude step, not checked by CI)

   Ask Claude: read Ideas/this-idea.md, search the whole vault and surface 5 notes that connect to it in a non-obvious way, each with a one-sentence explanation of the hidden link. Needs the running Local REST API + Claude Desktop and is non-deterministic, so CI doesn't run it.