outline-mcp
Allows interaction with Outline, a collaborative knowledge base and documentation platform, providing tools to manage collections, documents, comments, memberships, revision history, and more.
Click on "Deploy Server".
Wait a few minutes for the server to deploy. Once ready, it will show a "Started" state.
In the chat, type
@followed by the MCP server name and your instructions, e.g., "@outline-mcpsearch for server setup documents"
That's it! The server will respond to your query, and you can continue using it as needed.
Here is a step-by-step guide with screenshots.
outline-mcp
A production-focused MCP (stdio) server for Outline.
Use it from MCP clients (Codex, Claude Desktop, Cursor, etc.) via npm without cloning this repo.
What Is Outline?
Outline is a collaborative knowledge base and documentation platform for teams. It is commonly used for internal docs, runbooks, product specs, onboarding guides, and shared process playbooks.
outline-mcp connects MCP clients to Outline workspaces so agents can safely read, update, and manage this knowledge through structured tools.
Related MCP server: Outline Wiki MCP Server
Install From npm
Package:
npm i -g @sigee-min/outline-mcpRun:
outline-mcpOr run without global install:
npx -y @sigee-min/outline-mcpMCP Client Config (Copy/Paste)
{
"mcpServers": {
"outline": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@sigee-min/outline-mcp"],
"env": {
"OUTLINE_API_KEY": "your_api_key",
"OUTLINE_BASE_URL": "https://app.getoutline.com",
"OUTLINE_ALLOWED_ACTIONS": "read,write,delete"
}
}
}
}Environment Guides
Use this for app.getoutline.com workspaces.
OUTLINE_API_KEY=your_api_key
OUTLINE_BASE_URL=https://app.getoutline.com
OUTLINE_ALLOWED_ACTIONS=read,write,deleteUse your self-hosted endpoint.
OUTLINE_API_KEY=your_api_key
OUTLINE_BASE_URL=https://outline.your-company.internal
OUTLINE_ALLOWED_ACTIONS=read,write,deleteUse this when agents must never mutate content.
OUTLINE_API_KEY=your_api_key
OUTLINE_BASE_URL=https://app.getoutline.com
OUTLINE_ALLOWED_ACTIONS=readUse this when agents can draft/edit but must not remove resources.
OUTLINE_API_KEY=your_api_key
OUTLINE_BASE_URL=https://app.getoutline.com
OUTLINE_ALLOWED_ACTIONS=read,writeUse this for cross-process lease coordination.
OUTLINE_API_KEY=your_api_key
OUTLINE_BASE_URL=https://app.getoutline.com
OUTLINE_ALLOWED_ACTIONS=read,write,delete
OUTLINE_LEASE_STRATEGY=data_attribute
OUTLINE_LEASE_ATTRIBUTE_ID=your_data_attribute_id
OUTLINE_LEASE_DEFAULT_TTL_SECONDS=600
OUTLINE_LEASE_MAX_TTL_SECONDS=7200Supported Features (At a Glance)
Area | What you can do | Main MCP tools | Required action |
Collections | List, create, update, delete collections |
|
|
Documents | Search/read/create/update/move/delete documents |
|
|
Document Insights | Resolve IDs, structure, backlinks, and markdown export |
|
|
Document Lifecycle | Archive, unarchive, restore, and inspect archived/trash docs |
|
|
Batch Operations | Execute create/update/move/archive/delete over many docs |
|
|
AI Search | Ask natural-language questions over docs in Outline |
|
|
Safe Concurrency | Prevent blind overwrite on concurrent edits |
|
|
Templates | Reuse template workflows |
|
|
Comments | Full comment lifecycle |
|
|
Memberships | Manage user/group access for docs and collections |
|
|
Audit & Revisions | Track activity and revisions |
|
|
Export & File Ops | Run exports and fetch artifact status/URL |
|
|
MCP Resources | Read via URI templates without tool calls |
|
|
Lease Control | Acquire/renew/release document lease for agent coordination |
|
|
Supported Outline APIs (Mapped)
API Group | Outline endpoints used by outline-mcp |
Collections |
|
Collection Memberships |
|
Documents |
|
Templates |
|
Document Memberships |
|
Comments |
|
Events/Revisions |
|
Export/File Operations |
|
Key Environment Variables
Variable | Default | Description |
| none (required) | Outline API token |
|
| Cloud or self-hosted endpoint |
|
| Allowed server actions |
|
| API timeout in milliseconds |
|
| Retry count for 429/5xx |
|
| Probe optional endpoints at startup |
|
|
|
| none | Required for |
|
| Default lease TTL |
|
| Maximum lease TTL |
Local Development (Monorepo)
git clone <repo-url>
cd outline-mcp
pnpm install
pnpm --filter @sigee-min/outline-mcp build
pnpm --filter @sigee-min/outline-mcp devTesting
pnpm test
pnpm typecheck
pnpm build
pnpm e2e:mcpE2E notes:
Loads
.env,.env.local,.env.e2efrom root andapps/mcpIf
OUTLINE_E2E_COLLECTION_IDis not set, it creates a temporary collection and cleans it up automatically
CI E2E notes:
.github/workflows/ci.ymlruns MCP inspector E2E as a separate job whenOUTLINE_API_KEYsecret existsDefault CI mode is read-focused (
OUTLINE_E2E_RUN_WRITE=false), configurable via GitHub Actions variableRecommended GitHub settings:
Secret:
OUTLINE_API_KEY(required)Variables (optional):
OUTLINE_BASE_URL,OUTLINE_E2E_RUN_WRITE,OUTLINE_E2E_COLLECTION_ID,OUTLINE_E2E_MEMBER_COLLECTION_ID,OUTLINE_E2E_MEMBER_USER_ID,OUTLINE_E2E_MEMBER_GROUP_ID
License
This server cannot be deployed
Maintenance
Related MCP Connectors
Read-only search and Markdown pages from the OpenPlanr docs, for coding agents.
- hiveWikiOAuthai.hivewiki
Shared project wiki for AI agents: read and write pages, next actions, and activity logs over MCP.
- LycatraOAuthcom.lycatra
Connect agents to Lycatra knowledge, memory, collaboration, schedules, notifications, and teams.
Your org's AI agents, tasks, runs, search, and brain files as MCP tools and resources.
Related MCP Servers
- FlicenseCqualityNot gradedmaintenanceEnables LLMs to interact with Outline wiki for document management, search, collections, and comments, with optional AI-powered features including RAG-based Q\&A and content summarization.37174 npm-
- AlicenseBqualityDmaintenanceEnables LLMs to interact with Outline wiki for document management, search, and collections, with optional AI-powered features including RAG-based Q\&A, semantic search, and document summarization.3744 npm1MIT
- AlicenseAqualityDmaintenanceAn MCP server that enables reading, writing, and searching documents in Outline via its API. It supports document management, full-text search, and collection organization using Markdown formatting.89 npm17MIT
- AlicenseBqualityDmaintenanceEnables Claude Code to search and retrieve documents from an Outline knowledge base.2ISC