outline_create_document
Create a new document in Outline
LABSCO SUMMARY
The wiki becomes somewhere the client can file things, not just quote from.
Creation takes parentDocumentId and publish, which is the difference between dumping a page at the root of a collection and putting a draft under the document it belongs to, unpublished until a human looks at it. The surface stops at documents and collections — there is nothing for users, permissions, comments or revisions — so the API key you issue is the whole of the access control.
What it is
A document-and-collection layer over an Outline instance, addressed by document id, collection id, or a search query with a limit.
What you get
- Documents found by search query and fetched in full by id
- Document lists per collection, through outline_list_documents with a collectionId
- New documents written with title, text, a parent document and a publish flag
- Existing documents updated in place — title, text or publish state — and removed by id
- The collection list, and one collection's details when you need to know where a document is going
Requirements
An Outline instance reachable at OUTLINE_BASE_URL and an API key in OUTLINE_API_KEY carrying rights to the collections you intend to read or write.
Setup effort
One command plus a key — npx -y getoutline-mcp-server, then supply credentials
USE CASES
01
Answering from the wiki instead of from memory
Search for the phrase the answer would contain, then pull the matching document in full so the reply quotes what is actually written.
02
Filing a decision where the team will look for it
Check which collections exist, pick the one that owns the topic, and create the document there with a parent and a publish flag.
03
Keeping a runbook current after the fix ships
List what the collection holds, find the page that has gone stale, and update its text in place rather than adding a second version of it.
8 tools
Counted once with only startup setup. Other versions, modes or optional credentials may expose a different list.
outline_delete_document
Delete a document from Outline
outline_get_collection
Get information about a specific collection
outline_get_document
Get a specific document from Outline by ID
outline_list_collections
List all collections in Outline
outline_list_documents
List documents from Outline, optionally filtered by collection
outline_search_documents
Search for documents in Outline
outline_update_document
Update an existing document in Outline
BEFORE YOU INSTALL
What to know first
Tools you get
8 tools when we connected. outline_create_document, outline_update_document and outline_delete_document write to your wiki, so the server can do whatever the API token allows; the project suggests a restricted token.
Requires
- npx on PATH
- OUTLINE_API_KEY in your environment
CONTEXT COST
Light Standing cost
Rated by the size of the 8 tool definitions that ride along on every turn, not by how many there are
INSTALLATION
Connect your client
Server setup
TERMINAL
npx -y getoutline-mcp-serverMCP Clients
Claude Desktop — npx
CLAUDE DESKTOP — NPX · JSON
{
"mcpServers": {
"outline": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"getoutline-mcp-server"
],
"env": {
"OUTLINE_API_KEY": "<YOUR_OUTLINE_API_KEY>",
"OUTLINE_BASE_URL": "<YOUR_OUTLINE_BASE_URL>"
}
}
}
}Claude Desktop — from source
CLAUDE DESKTOP — FROM SOURCE · JSON
{
"mcpServers": {
"outline": {
"command": "node",
"args": [
"<YOUR_PATH_TO_PROJECTS>/outline-mcp-server/dist/index.js"
],
"env": {
"OUTLINE_API_KEY": "<YOUR_OUTLINE_API_KEY>",
"OUTLINE_BASE_URL": "<YOUR_OUTLINE_BASE_URL>"
}
}
}
}Cursor
CURSOR · TERMINAL
export OUTLINE_BASE_URL="<YOUR_OUTLINE_BASE_URL>"
export OUTLINE_API_KEY="<YOUR_OUTLINE_API_KEY>"
# Then launch Cursor from this terminal
<YOUR_PATH_TO_CURSOR_APP_CONTENTS_MAC>
