Dynalist MCP Server

Instructions

Implementation Reference

• src/tools/index.ts:327-389 (handler)

  The primary MCP tool handler for 'send_to_inbox'. Parses input content as a hierarchical tree using parseMarkdownBullets, sends the first node to Dynalist inbox via client.sendToInbox, inserts its children, then adds remaining top-level siblings after the first node and their children.
  async ({ content, note, checkbox }) => { // Parse content as markdown to detect hierarchy const tree = parseMarkdownBullets(content); if (tree.length === 0) { return { content: [{ type: "text", text: "No content to add (empty input)" }], isError: true, }; } // Step 1: Add first top-level item via inbox API (to get inbox file_id) const firstResponse = await client.sendToInbox({ content: tree[0].content, note, checkbox, }); const inboxFileId = firstResponse.file_id; const firstNodeId = firstResponse.node_id; let totalCreated = 1; // Step 2: Insert children of first node (if any) if (tree[0].children.length > 0) { const result = await insertTreeUnderParent(client, inboxFileId, firstNodeId, tree[0].children, { checkbox }); totalCreated += result.totalCreated; } // Step 3: Insert remaining top-level items with their children if (tree.length > 1) { const inboxDoc = await client.readDocument(inboxFileId); const inboxRootId = findRootNodeId(inboxDoc.nodes); const rootNode = inboxDoc.nodes.find(n => n.id === inboxRootId); const firstNodeIndex = rootNode?.children?.indexOf(firstNodeId) ?? -1; // Remaining top-level items (without their children first) const remainingTopLevel: ParsedNode[] = tree.slice(1).map(n => ({ content: n.content, children: [] })); const topResult = await insertTreeUnderParent(client, inboxFileId, inboxRootId, remainingTopLevel, { startIndex: firstNodeIndex + 1, checkbox, }); totalCreated += topResult.totalCreated; // Now insert children of each remaining top-level node for (let i = 0; i < topResult.rootNodeIds.length; i++) { const parentId = topResult.rootNodeIds[i]; const children = tree[i + 1].children; if (children.length > 0) { const childResult = await insertTreeUnderParent(client, inboxFileId, parentId, children, { checkbox }); totalCreated += childResult.totalCreated; } } } return { content: [ { type: "text", text: `Successfully added ${totalCreated} items to inbox!\nDocument: ${inboxFileId}\nFirst node: ${buildDynalistUrl(inboxFileId, firstNodeId)}`, }, ], }; }
• src/tools/index.ts:322-326 (schema)

  Zod input schema defining parameters for the send_to_inbox tool: content (required string), note (optional string), checkbox (optional boolean, default false).
  { content: z.string().describe("The text content - can be single line or indented markdown with '- bullets'"), note: z.string().optional().describe("Optional note for the first/root item"), checkbox: z.boolean().optional().default(false).describe("Whether to add checkboxes to items"), },
• src/tools/index.ts:319-321 (registration)

  MCP server tool registration call for 'send_to_inbox', specifying name, description, schema, and handler function.
  server.tool( "send_to_inbox", "Send items to your Dynalist inbox. Supports indented markdown/bullets for hierarchical content.",
• src/tools/index.ts:95-148 (helper)

  Helper function used by the handler to insert a full tree of parsed nodes (multiple levels) under a given parent ID in a Dynalist document, preserving hierarchy level-by-level.
  async function insertTreeUnderParent( client: DynalistClient, fileId: string, parentId: string, tree: ParsedNode[], options: { startIndex?: number; checkbox?: boolean } = {} ): Promise<{ totalCreated: number; rootNodeIds: string[] }> { if (tree.length === 0) { return { totalCreated: 0, rootNodeIds: [] }; } const levels = groupByLevel(tree); let totalCreated = 0; let rootNodeIds: string[] = []; let previousLevelIds: string[] = []; for (let levelIdx = 0; levelIdx < levels.length; levelIdx++) { const level = levels[levelIdx]; const changes: { action: string; parent_id: string; index: number; content: string; checkbox?: boolean }[] = []; const childCountPerParent = new Map<string, number>(); for (const node of level) { const nodeParentId = node.parentLevelIndex === -1 ? parentId : previousLevelIds[node.parentLevelIndex]; const baseIndex = (levelIdx === 0 && options.startIndex !== undefined) ? options.startIndex : 0; const count = childCountPerParent.get(nodeParentId) || 0; changes.push({ action: "insert", parent_id: nodeParentId, index: baseIndex + count, content: node.content, checkbox: options.checkbox || undefined, }); childCountPerParent.set(nodeParentId, count + 1); } const response = await client.editDocument(fileId, changes as any); const newIds = response.new_node_ids || []; if (levelIdx === 0) { rootNodeIds = newIds; } totalCreated += newIds.length; previousLevelIds = newIds; } return { totalCreated, rootNodeIds }; }
• src/dynalist-client.ts:125-136 (helper)

  DynalistClient helper method that performs the actual API request to Dynalist's /inbox/add endpoint to create the first inbox node, called directly by the tool handler.
  async sendToInbox(options: { content: string; note?: string; index?: number; checked?: boolean; checkbox?: boolean; heading?: number; color?: number; }): Promise<InboxAddResponse> { return this.request<InboxAddResponse>("/inbox/add", options); } }