Roam Research MCP + CLI

Roam Research MCP + CLI

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Introduction

I created this project to solve a personal problem: I wanted to manage my Roam Research graph directly from Claude Code (and other LLMs). As I built the Model Context Protocol (MCP) server to give AI agents access to my notes, I realized the underlying tools were powerful enough to stand on their own.

What started as an backend for AI agents evolved into a full-featured Standalone CLI. Now, you can use the same powerful API capabilities directly from your terminal—piping content into Roam, searching your graph, and managing tasks—without needing an LLM at all.

Whether you want to give Claude superpowers over your knowledge base or just want a robust CLI for your own scripts, this project has you covered.

Standalone CLI: roam

The roam CLI lets you interact with your graph directly from the terminal. It supports standard input (stdin) piping for all content creation and retrieval commands, making it perfect for automation workflows.

Quick Examples

# Save a quick thought to your daily page
roam save "Idea: A CLI for Roam would be cool"

# Pipe content from a file to a new page
cat meeting_notes.md | roam save --title "Meeting: Project Alpha"

# Create a TODO item on today's daily page
echo "Buy milk" | roam save --todo

# Prepend to top of page (newest-first ordering)
roam save -p "Changelog" --order first "v2.18.0 release"

# Search your graph and pipe results to another tool
roam search "important" --json | jq .

# Search for pages by namespace prefix
roam search --namespace "Convention"    # Finds all Convention/* pages

# Fetch a page by title
roam get "Roam Research"

# Fetch daily pages using any date format (auto-normalized)
roam get today                          # Today's daily page
roam get 2026-03-21                     # ISO date → "March 21st, 2026"
roam get "03/21/2026"                   # US date → "March 21st, 2026"
roam get "March 21"                     # Named (assumes current year)

# Fetch a block with ancestors (parent chain to page root)
roam get abc123def -a              # Block + children + ancestors
roam get abc123def -a -d 0         # Ancestors only, no children

# Fetch page by UID or Roam URL
roam get page abc123def
roam get page "https://roamresearch.com/#/app/my-graph/page/abc123def"

# Sort and group results
roam get --tag Project --sort created --group-by tag

# Find references (backlinks) to a page
roam refs "Project Alpha"

# Update a block (e.g., toggle TODO status)
roam update ((block-uid)) --todo

# Multi-graph: read from a specific graph
roam get "Page Title" -g work

# Multi-graph: write to a protected graph
roam save "Note" -g work --write-key "$ROAM_SYSTEM_WRITE_KEY"

Available Commands: get, search, save, refs, update, batch, rename, status, server. Run roam <command> --help for details on any command.

Installation

npm install -g roam-research-mcp
# The 'roam' command is now available globally

MCP Server Tools

The MCP server exposes these tools to AI assistants (like Claude), enabling them to read, write, and organize your Roam graph intelligently.

Multi-Graph Support: All tools accept optional graph and write_key parameters. Use graph to target a specific graph from your ROAM_GRAPHS config, and write_key for write operations on protected graphs.

Configuration

Environment Variables

#### Single Graph Mode

For a single Roam graph, set these in your environment or a .env file:

ROAM_API_TOKEN=your-api-token
ROAM_GRAPH_NAME=your-graph-name

#### Multi-Graph Mode (v2.0+)

Connect to multiple Roam graphs from a single server instance:

ROAM_GRAPHS='{
  "personal": {"token": "token-1", "graph": "personal-db", "memoriesTag": "#[[Personal Memories]]"},
  "work": {"token": "token-2", "graph": "work-db", "protected": true, "memoriesTag": "#[[Work Memories]]"},
  "research": {"token": "token-3", "graph": "research-db"}
}'
ROAM_DEFAULT_GRAPH=personal
ROAM_SYSTEM_WRITE_KEY=your-secret-key

Graph Configuration Options:

Write Protection: Protected graphs require the write_key parameter matching ROAM_SYSTEM_WRITE_KEY for any write operation. This prevents accidental writes to sensitive graphs.

Optional:

• ROAM_MEMORIES_TAG: Default tag for roam_remember/roam_recall (fallback when per-graph memoriesTag not set).
• HTTP_STREAM_PORT: Port for the HTTP Stream transport (defaults to 8088).
• HTTP_STREAM_HOST: Host to bind the HTTP transport to in --server mode (defaults to 127.0.0.1, loopback-only). Set to 0.0.0.0 to expose on the LAN.
• HTTP_AUTH_TOKEN: Optional bearer token for the HTTP MCP endpoint (authentication). Unset = open (fine for loopback). When set, every HTTP MCP request must send Authorization: Bearer <token> (GET /health stays open). Use it whenever you bind beyond 127.0.0.1. This is separate from ROAM_SYSTEM_WRITE_KEY (per-graph write authorization).

Running the Server

1. Default Mode (stdio + HTTP) Best for local integration (e.g., Claude Desktop, IDE extensions). The MCP client launches the process per session over stdio; an HTTP Stream transport is also opened on an auto-discovered port near HTTP_STREAM_PORT.

npx roam-research-mcp

2. Shared Server Mode (`--server`) Best for a single long-lived, HTTP-only daemon that multiple MCP clients share — instead of each session spawning its own subprocess. This saves memory and gives clients a stable URL.

HTTP_STREAM_PORT=8088 npx roam-research-mcp --server

Or manage it through the roam CLI, which adds start/stop/status/logs:

roam server start            # start the shared daemon in the background
roam server start -H 0.0.0.0 # expose on the LAN (no transport auth!)
roam server status           # is it up? version, graphs, active sessions
roam server logs -f          # follow the log
roam server stop             # stop a CLI-started daemon

roam server status works no matter how the daemon was launched (it probes /health), so it also reports a daemon started by a LaunchAgent/systemd unit. State (pidfile + log) lives in ~/.roam/ (override with ROAM_HOME).

In --server mode the server:

• runs HTTP-only (no stdio transport),
• binds the exact HTTP_STREAM_PORT on HTTP_STREAM_HOST and exits non-zero if the port is taken (no silent drift — a shared daemon must keep a stable URL),
• exposes GET /health → {"status":"ok", ...} for liveness checks.

Point MCP clients at it with an HTTP transport config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "roam-research-mcp": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://127.0.0.1:8088/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Env vars (tokens, graphs) live with the server process, not the client config.

Securing an exposed server (two layers): If you bind beyond loopback (-H 0.0.0.0), add the perimeter lock:

HTTP_AUTH_TOKEN=$(openssl rand -hex 32) roam server start -H 0.0.0.0

Clients then send the token as a header:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "roam-research-mcp": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://<host>:8088/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer <token>" }
    }
  }
}

These are two distinct layers — keep both:

• `HTTP_AUTH_TOKEN` = authentication (who may connect). Gates all requests — reads and writes, every graph.
• `ROAM_SYSTEM_WRITE_KEY` = authorization (what a connected caller may do). Gates only writes to protected graphs; it does not protect reads.

⚠️ write_key is not transport auth. On an exposed server without HTTP_AUTH_TOKEN, anyone on the network can still read every graph and write non-protected graphs. For anything beyond loopback, set HTTP_AUTH_TOKEN.

Keeping it running (macOS LaunchAgent): Create ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.example.roam-mcp.plist with RunAtLoad + KeepAlive, your env vars under EnvironmentVariables, and --server as the last ProgramArguments entry. Keep StandardOutPath/StandardErrorPath on a local path (e.g. ~/Library/Logs/), then:

launchctl bootstrap gui/$(id -u) ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.example.roam-mcp.plist
curl -s http://127.0.0.1:8088/health   # verify

3. Docker

docker run -p 8088:8088 --env-file .env roam-research-mcp --server

Configuring in LLMs

Claude Desktop / Cline:

Add to your MCP settings file (e.g., ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

Single Graph:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "roam-research": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "roam-research-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "ROAM_API_TOKEN": "your-token",
        "ROAM_GRAPH_NAME": "your-graph"
      }
    }
  }
}

Multi-Graph:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "roam-research": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "roam-research-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "ROAM_GRAPHS": "{\"personal\":{\"token\":\"token-1\",\"graph\":\"personal-db\",\"memoriesTag\":\"#[[Memories]]\"},\"work\":{\"token\":\"token-2\",\"graph\":\"work-db\",\"protected\":true}}",
        "ROAM_DEFAULT_GRAPH": "personal",
        "ROAM_SYSTEM_WRITE_KEY": "your-secret-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Query Block Parser (v2.11.0+)

A utility for parsing and executing Roam query blocks programmatically. Converts {{[[query]]: ...}} syntax into Datalog queries.

Supported Clauses

Relative Dates

The between clause supports relative dates: today, yesterday, last week, last month, this year, 7 days ago, 2 months ago, etc.

Usage

import { QueryExecutor } from 'roam-research-mcp/query';

const executor = new QueryExecutor(graph);

// Execute a query
const results = await executor.execute(
  '{{[[query]]: "My Query" {and: [[Project]] {between: [[last month]] [[today]]}}}}'
);

// Parse without executing (for debugging)
const { name, query } = QueryParser.parseWithName(queryBlock);

Utility Functions

import { isQueryBlock, extractQueryBlocks } from 'roam-research-mcp/query';

// Detect if text is a query block
isQueryBlock('{{[[query]]: [[tag]]}}'); // true

// Extract all query blocks from a string
extractQueryBlocks(pageContent); // ['{{[[query]]: ...}}', ...]

Support

If this project helps you manage your knowledge base or build cool agents, consider buying me a coffee! It helps keep the updates coming.

<a href="https://paypal.me/2b3/5"> <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Donate-PayPal-blue.svg" alt="Donate with PayPal" /> </a>

[https://paypal.me/2b3/5](https://paypal.me/2b3/5)

License

MIT License - Created by Ian Shen.