Quick Start

One-Click Install

Click a button to install with interactive API key prompt:

Manual Install

Install with uv (recommended), pip, or Docker:

uvx mcp-outline          # using uv
pip install mcp-outline   # using pip

# using Docker
docker run -e OUTLINE_API_KEY=<your-key> ghcr.io/vortiago/mcp-outline:latest

Then add to your MCP client config (works with VS Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, and others):

{
  "inputs": [
    {
      "id": "outline_api_key",
      "type": "promptString",
      "description": "Enter OUTLINE_API_KEY",
      "password": true
    },
    {
      "id": "outline_api_url",
      "type": "promptString",
      "description": "Outline API URL (optional, for self-hosted)",
      "password": false
    }
  ],
  "servers": {
    "mcp-outline": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mcp-outline"],
      "env": {
        "OUTLINE_API_KEY": "${input:outline_api_key}",
        "OUTLINE_API_URL": "${input:outline_api_url}"
      }
    }
  }
}

claude mcp add mcp-outline uvx mcp-outline

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-outline": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mcp-outline"],
      "env": {
        "OUTLINE_API_KEY": "<YOUR_API_KEY>",
        "OUTLINE_API_URL": "<YOUR_OUTLINE_URL>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Setup guides for more clients: Docker (HTTP), Cline, Codex, Windsurf, and others

Configuration

| Variable | Required | Default | Notes | |----------|----------|---------|-------| | OUTLINE_API_KEY | Yes* | - | Required for tool calls to succeed. For SSE/HTTP, can alternatively be provided per-request via x-outline-api-key header (details) | | OUTLINE_API_URL | No | https://app.getoutline.com/api | For self-hosted: https://your-domain/api | | OUTLINE_VERIFY_SSL | No | true | Set false for self-signed certificates | | OUTLINE_READ_ONLY | No | false | true = disable ALL write operations (details) | | OUTLINE_DISABLE_DELETE | No | false | true = disable only delete operations (details) | | OUTLINE_DISABLE_AI_TOOLS | No | false | true = disable AI tools (for Outline instances without OpenAI) | | OUTLINE_DYNAMIC_TOOL_LIST | No | false | true = enable per-user tool filtering by role/key scopes (details) | | OUTLINE_MAX_CONNECTIONS | No | 100 | Max concurrent connections in pool | | OUTLINE_MAX_KEEPALIVE | No | 20 | Max idle connections in pool | | OUTLINE_TIMEOUT | No | 30.0 | Read timeout in seconds | | OUTLINE_CONNECT_TIMEOUT | No | 5.0 | Connection timeout in seconds | | OUTLINE_WRITE_TIMEOUT | No | 30.0 | Write timeout in seconds | | MCP_TRANSPORT | No | stdio | Transport mode: stdio (local), sse or streamable-http (remote) | | MCP_HOST | No | 127.0.0.1 | Server host. Use 0.0.0.0 in Docker for external connections | | MCP_PORT | No | 3000 | HTTP server port (only for sse and streamable-http modes) |

Access Control

| Feature | Env Var | Effect | |---------|---------|--------| | Read-only mode | OUTLINE_READ_ONLY=true | Disables all write operations — only search, read, and export tools available | | Disable deletes | OUTLINE_DISABLE_DELETE=true | Disables only delete operations, all other writes allowed | | Dynamic tool list | OUTLINE_DYNAMIC_TOOL_LIST=true | Filters tools per-user based on Outline role and API key scopes | | Per-user Outline API keys | x-outline-api-key header | Each user passes their own Outline API key in HTTP mode for multi-user setups |

Read-only mode takes precedence over disable-delete. See Configuration Guide for details.

Tools

Note: Tool availability depends on your access control settings.

Search & Discovery

• search_documents(query, collection_id?, limit?, offset?) - Search documents by keywords with pagination
• list_collections() - List all collections
• get_collection_structure(collection_id) - Get document hierarchy within a collection
• get_document_id_from_title(query, collection_id?) - Find document ID by title search

Document Reading

• read_document(document_id) - Get document content
• export_document(document_id) - Export document as markdown

Document Management

• create_document(title, collection_id, text?, parent_document_id?, publish?) - Create new document
• update_document(document_id, title?, text?, append?) - Update document (append mode available)
• move_document(document_id, collection_id?, parent_document_id?) - Move document to different collection or parent

Document Lifecycle

• archive_document(document_id) - Archive document
• unarchive_document(document_id) - Restore document from archive
• delete_document(document_id, permanent?) - Delete document (or move to trash)
• restore_document(document_id) - Restore document from trash
• list_archived_documents() - List all archived documents
• list_trash() - List all documents in trash

Comments & Collaboration

• add_comment(document_id, text, parent_comment_id?) - Add comment to document (supports threaded replies)
• list_document_comments(document_id, include_anchor_text?, limit?, offset?) - View document comments with pagination
• get_comment(comment_id, include_anchor_text?) - Get specific comment details
• get_document_backlinks(document_id) - Find documents that link to this document

Collection Management

• create_collection(name, description?, color?) - Create new collection
• update_collection(collection_id, name?, description?, color?) - Update collection properties
• delete_collection(collection_id) - Delete collection
• export_collection(collection_id, format?) - Export collection (default: outline-markdown)
• export_all_collections(format?) - Export all collections