MCP Outline

🚀 MCP Document Server

A server implementing the Model Context Protocol (MCP) that enables AI assistants to interact with the Outline (https://www.getoutline.com) document service.

🚀 Quick Start

This project implements a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, allowing AI assistants (such as Claude) to interact with the Outline document management features, bridging the gap between natural language interaction and Outline document management capabilities.

✨ Features

The currently implemented features are as follows:

• Document Search: Search for documents by keywords.
• Collection Management: List all available collections and view the document structure.
• Document Reading: Retrieve document content and export it in Markdown format.
• Comment Management: View and add comments on documents.
• Document Creation: Create a new document in a specified collection.
• Document Editing: Update document content and move documents.
• Backlink Management: View other documents that reference a specific document.

📦 Installation

Dependencies

• Python 3.10+
• An Outline account and API access rights
• An Outline API Key (obtained from your Outline account settings)

Installation Steps

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Vortiago/mcp-outline.git
cd mcp-outline

# Install in development mode
uv pip install -e ".[dev]"

Configuration

Create a .env file in the project root directory and add the following variables:

# Outline API configuration
OUTLINE_API_KEY=your_outline_api_key_here

# For cloud - deployed Outline (default)
# OUTLINE_API_URL=https://app.getoutline.com/api

# For self - hosted Outline
# OUTLINE_API_URL=https://your-outline-instance.example.com/api

Running the Server

# Run in development mode using the MCP monitoring tool
mcp dev src/mcp_outline/server.py

# Or use the provided script
./start_server.sh

# Install in Claude Desktop (if available)
mcp install src/mcp_outline/server.py --name "Document Outline Assistant"

💻 Usage Examples

Basic Usage

Search for Documents

Search for documents containing the keyword "Project Plan".

List Collections

Show all available collections.

Read a Document

Get the content of the document with ID "docId123".

Create a New Document

Create a new document named "Research Report" in the collection "colId456" with the following content:
# Introduction

This is a research report...

Add a Comment

Add a comment to the document with ID "docId123": "This looks great, but we should add more details to the methodology section."

Move a Document

Move the document "docId123" to the collection "colId789".

📚 Documentation

Contribution

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

Development

# Run tests
uv run pytest tests/

# Format the code
uv run ruff format .

📄 License

This project is open - sourced under the MIT License. Please refer to the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Built using the MCP Python SDK.
• Uses the Outline API for document management.