How to integrate Outline MCP with Claude Agent SDK

Connect Claude Agent SDK to Outline MCP. Summarize latest engineering design documents, create onboarding page for new hires, and more using natural language, with authentication handled for you.

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Outline is a team knowledge base and wiki for creating, organizing, and sharing documentation. It helps teams keep decisions, guides, and project knowledge easy to find.

101 Tools

Introduction

This guide walks you through connecting Outline to the Claude Agent SDK using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Outline agent that can summarize latest engineering design documents, create onboarding page for new hires, find outdated api documentation pages through natural language commands.

This guide will help you understand how to give your Claude Agent SDK agent real control over a Outline account through Composio's Outline MCP server.

Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

Also integrate Outline with

TL;DR

Here's what you'll learn:
  • Get and set up your Claude/Anthropic and Composio API keys
  • Install the necessary dependencies
  • Initialize Composio and create a Tool Router session for Outline
  • Configure an AI agent that can use Outline as a tool
  • Run a live chat session where you can ask the agent to perform Outline operations

What is Claude Agent SDK?

The Claude Agent SDK is Anthropic's official framework for building AI agents powered by Claude. It provides a streamlined interface for creating agents with MCP tool support and conversation management.

Key features include:

  • Native MCP Support: Built-in support for Model Context Protocol servers
  • Permission Modes: Control tool execution permissions
  • Streaming Responses: Real-time response streaming for interactive applications
  • Context Manager: Clean async context management for sessions

What is the Outline MCP server, and what's possible with it?

The Outline MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to your Outline account. It provides structured and secure access so your agent can perform Outline operations on your behalf.

What is the Composio tool router, and how does it fit here?

What is Composio SDK?

Composio's Composio SDK helps agents find the right tools for a task at runtime. You can plug in multiple toolkits (like Gmail, HubSpot, and GitHub), and the agent will identify the relevant app and action to complete multi-step workflows. This can reduce token usage and improve the reliability of tool calls. Read more here: Getting started with Composio SDK

The tool router generates a secure MCP URL that your agents can access to perform actions.

How the Composio SDK works

The Composio SDK follows a three-phase workflow:

  1. Discovery: Searches for tools matching your task and returns relevant toolkits with their details.
  2. Authentication: Checks for active connections. If missing, creates an auth config and returns a connection URL via Auth Link.
  3. Execution: Executes the action using the authenticated connection.

Step-by-step Guide

Step by step09 STEPS
1

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:
  • Composio API Key and Claude/Anthropic API Key
  • Primary know-how of Claude Agents SDK
  • A Outline account
  • Some knowledge of Python
2

Getting API Keys for Claude/Anthropic and Composio

Claude/Anthropic API Key
  • Go to the Anthropic Console and create an API key. You'll need credits to use the models.
  • Keep the API key safe.
Composio API Key
  • Log in to the Composio dashboard.
  • Navigate to your API settings and generate a new API key.
  • Store this key securely as you'll need it for authentication.
3

Install dependencies

npm install @anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk @composio/core dotenv

Install the Composio SDK and the Claude Agents SDK.

What's happening:

  • @composio/core provides Composio integration for Anthropic
  • @anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk is the core agent framework
  • dotenv/config loads environment variables
4

Set up environment variables

bash
COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_composio_api_key_here
USER_ID=your_user_id_here
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your_anthropic_api_key_here

Create a .env file in your project root.

What's happening:

  • COMPOSIO_API_KEY authenticates with Composio
  • USER_ID identifies the user for session management
  • ANTHROPIC_API_KEY authenticates with Anthropic/Claude
5

Import dependencies

import 'dotenv/config';
import readline from 'node:readline';
import { Composio } from '@composio/core';
import { query, type Options } from "@anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk";

dotenv.config();
What's happening:
  • We're importing all necessary libraries including the Claude Agent SDK and Composio
  • The dotenv.config() function loads environment variables from your .env file
  • This setup prepares the foundation for connecting Claude with Outline functionality
6

Create a Composio instance and Tool Router session

async function chat() {
  const { COMPOSIO_API_KEY, USER_ID } = process.env;
  if (!COMPOSIO_API_KEY || !USER_ID) {
    throw new Error('COMPOSIO_API_KEY and USER_ID required in .env');
  }

  const composio = new Composio({ apiKey: COMPOSIO_API_KEY });

  // Create Tool Router session for Outline
  const session = await composio.create(USER_ID, {
    toolkits: ['outline'],
  });
  const mcpUrl = session?.mcp.url;
What's happening:
  • The function checks for the required COMPOSIO_API_KEY environment variable
  • We're creating a Composio instance using our API key
  • The create method creates a Tool Router session for Outline
  • The returned url is the MCP server URL that your agent will use
7

Configure Claude Agent with MCP

const options: Options = {
  permissionMode: 'bypassPermissions',
  mcpServers: {
    composio: {
      type: 'http',
      url: mcpUrl,
      headers: { 'x-api-key': COMPOSIO_API_KEY }
    }
  },
  systemPrompt: 'You are a helpful assistant with access to Outline tools via Composio.',
  maxTurns: 10,
};
What's happening:
  • We're configuring the Claude Agent options with the MCP server URL
  • permissionMode: 'bypassPermissions' allows the agent to execute operations without asking for permission each time
  • The system prompt instructs the agent that it has access to Outline
  • maxTurns: 10 limits the conversation length to prevent excessive API usage
8

Create client and start chat loop

const rl = readline.createInterface({
    input: process.stdin,
    output: process.stdout,
    prompt: 'You: '
  });

  console.log('\nChat started. Type "exit" to quit.\n');

  let isProcessing = false;

  async function ask(prompt: string) {
    isProcessing = true;
    rl.pause();

    process.stdout.write('Claude is thinking...');
    const stream = query({ prompt, options });

    let firstChunk = true;
    for await (const msg of stream) {
      const content = (msg as any).message?.content || (msg as any).content;
      if (Array.isArray(content)) {
        for (const block of content) {
          if (block.type === 'text' && block.text) {
            if (firstChunk) {
              process.stdout.write('\r\x1b[K');
              process.stdout.write('Claude: ');
              firstChunk = false;
            }
            process.stdout.write(block.text);
          }
        }
      }
    }
    process.stdout.write('\n\n');

    isProcessing = false;
    rl.resume();
    rl.prompt();
  }

  rl.on('line', async (line) => {
    if (isProcessing) return;

    const input = line.trim();
    if (input === 'exit') {
      rl.close();
      process.exit(0);
    }
    if (input) await ask(input);
    else rl.prompt();
  });

  await ask('What can you help me with?');
}
What's happening:
  • The readline interface is created to handle user input and output
  • The query function is used to send the user's input to the agent
  • The chat loop continues until the user types 'exit' or 'quit'
9

Run the application

try {
  await chat();
} catch (error) {
  console.error(error);
  process.exit(1);
}
What's happening:
  • The chat function is the entry point for the application
  • The try-catch block is used to handle any errors that occur

Complete Code

Here's the complete code to get you started with Outline and Claude Agent SDK:

import 'dotenv/config';
import readline from 'node:readline';
import { Composio } from '@composio/core';
import { query, type Options } from "@anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk";

async function chat() {
  const { COMPOSIO_API_KEY, USER_ID } = process.env;
  if (!COMPOSIO_API_KEY || !USER_ID) {
    throw new Error('COMPOSIO_API_KEY and USER_ID required in .env');
  }

  const composio = new Composio({ apiKey: COMPOSIO_API_KEY });
  const session = await composio.create(USER_ID, {
    toolkits: ['outline']
  });
  const mcp_url = session?.mcp.url;

  const options: Options = {
    permissionMode: 'bypassPermissions',
    mcpServers: {
      composio: {
        type: 'http',
        url: mcp_url,
        headers: { 'x-api-key': COMPOSIO_API_KEY }
      }
    },
    systemPrompt: 'You are a helpful assistant with access to Outline tools via Composio.',
    maxTurns: 10,
  };

  const rl = readline.createInterface({
    input: process.stdin,
    output: process.stdout,
    prompt: 'You: '
  });

  console.log('\nChat started. Type "exit" to quit.\n');

  let isProcessing = false;

  async function ask(prompt: string) {
    isProcessing = true;
    rl.pause();

    process.stdout.write('Claude is thinking...');
    const stream = query({ prompt, options });

    let firstChunk = true;
    for await (const msg of stream) {
      const content = (msg as any).message?.content || (msg as any).content;
      if (Array.isArray(content)) {
        for (const block of content) {
          if (block.type === 'text' && block.text) {
            if (firstChunk) {
              process.stdout.write('\r\x1b[K');
              process.stdout.write('Claude: ');
              firstChunk = false;
            }
            process.stdout.write(block.text);
          }
        }
      }
    }
    process.stdout.write('\n\n');

    isProcessing = false;
    rl.resume();
    rl.prompt();
  }

  rl.on('line', async (line) => {
    if (isProcessing) return;

    const input = line.trim();
    if (input === 'exit') {
      rl.close();
      process.exit(0);
    }
    if (input) await ask(input);
    else rl.prompt();
  });

  await ask('What can you help me with?');
}

try {
  await chat();
} catch (error) {
  console.error(error);
  process.exit(1);
}

Conclusion

You've successfully built a Claude Agent SDK agent that can interact with Outline through Composio's Tool Router.

Key features:

  • Native MCP support through Claude's agent framework
  • Streaming responses for real-time interaction
  • Permission bypass for smooth automated workflows
You can extend this by adding more toolkits, implementing custom business logic, or building a web interface around the agent.
TOOLS

Supported Tools

Every Outline action and event your agent gets out of the box.

Activate User

Tool to activate a previously suspended user in Outline.

Add Group to Collection

Tool to add a group to a collection in Outline.

Add Document User

Tool to add a user membership to a document.

Add Group to Document

Tool to give all members in a group access to a document.

Add User to Group

Tool to add a user to a group.

Add User to Collection

Tool to add a user to a collection with specified permissions.

Archive Document

Tool to archive a document in Outline.

Create Attachment

Tool to create an attachment in Outline.

Create Collection

Tool to create a new collection in Outline.

Create Comment

Tool to create a comment on an Outline document.

Create Document

Tool to create a new document in Outline.

Create Group

Tool to create a new group in Outline.

Create OAuth Client

Tool to create a new OAuth client in Outline.

Create Share

Tool to create a public share link for an Outline document.

Create Star

Tool to create a star for a document or collection in Outline.

Create Template

Tool to create a new template in Outline.

Create View

Tool to create a view for a document.

Delete Attachment

Tool to delete an attachment from Outline.

Delete Collection

Tool to delete a collection and all of its documents from Outline.

Delete Comment

Tool to delete a comment in Outline.

Delete Document

Tool to delete a document in Outline.

Delete File Operation

Tool to delete a file operation and its associated files from Outline.

Delete Group

Tool to delete a group from Outline.

Delete OAuth Authentication

Tool to delete an OAuth authentication in Outline.

Delete OAuth Client

Tool to delete an OAuth client from Outline.

Delete Star

Tool to delete a star from a document in Outline.

Delete Template

Tool to delete a template in Outline.

Delete User

Tool to delete a user in Outline.

Duplicate Document

Tool to duplicate an Outline document.

Duplicate Template

Tool to duplicate an Outline template.

Empty Documents Trash

Tool to permanently delete all documents in the trash.

Export All Collections

Tool to export all collections and their documents in bulk.

Export Collection

Tool to export a collection in markdown, JSON, or HTML format.

Export Document

Tool to export a document from Outline in Markdown, HTML, or PDF format.

Get Attachment Redirect URL

Tool to retrieve an attachment redirect URL from Outline.

Get authentication config

Tool to retrieve authentication configuration options for an Outline workspace.

Get Collection Info

Tool to retrieve a collection by its unique identifier.

Get Collection Documents

Tool to retrieve a collection's document structure as a tree of navigation nodes.

Get Comment

Tool to retrieve a comment by its ID from Outline.

Get Document Info

Tool to retrieve a document from Outline by its UUID, urlId, or shareId.

Get Document Children Structure

Tool to retrieve a document's child structure.

Get File Operation Info

Tool to retrieve the details and current status of a file operation by its unique identifier.

Get Group Info

Tool to retrieve a group by its unique identifier.

Get OAuth Client Info

Tool to retrieve an OAuth client from Outline by its id or clientId.

Get Revision Info

Tool to retrieve a revision by its ID from Outline.

Get Share Info

Tool to retrieve a share object by its unique identifier or by the associated document ID.

Get Template Info

Tool to retrieve a template by its unique identifier.

Get User Info

Tool to retrieve a user by their unique identifier.

Invite Users

Tool to invite users to the Outline workspace.

List Archived Documents

List all archived documents in the Outline workspace.

List Collection Group Memberships

Tool to list all group memberships for a specific collection in Outline.

List collection memberships

Tool to list all individual user memberships for a collection.

List Collections

Tool to list all collections that the authenticated user has access to.

List Comments

Tool to retrieve all comments with optional filtering by document or collection.

List Data Attributes

Tool to list all data attributes in Outline.

List Deleted Documents

Tool to list all deleted documents in the workspace that the current user has access to.

List Document Group Memberships

Tool to list a document's group memberships.

List document memberships

Tool to list users with direct membership to a document.

List Documents

Tool to list all documents in your Outline workspace.

List Document Users

Tool to list all users with access to a document.

List Draft Documents

Tool to list all draft documents belonging to the current user.

List Events

Tool to list all events from the audit trail.

List File Operations

Tool to list all file operations for the workspace.

List Group Memberships

Tool to list all members of a specific group in Outline.

List Groups

Tool to list all groups in the workspace.

List OAuth Authentications

Tool to list all OAuth authentications for the current user.

List OAuth Clients

Tool to list all OAuth clients accessible to the authenticated user.

List Recently Viewed Documents

Tool to list all recently viewed documents by the current user.

List Revisions

Tool to list all revisions for a specific document.

List Shares

Tool to list all share links in the workspace.

List Stars

Tool to list all starred documents and collections for the authenticated user.

List Templates

Tool to list all templates available to the current user.

List Users

Tool to list all users in the workspace.

List Views

Tool to list all users that have viewed a specific document and the overall view count.

Move Document

Tool to move a document to a new location or collection in Outline.

Redirect File Operation

Tool to retrieve a file from Outline by file operation ID.

Remove Collection Group

Tool to remove a group from a collection, revoking access for all group members.

Remove Collection User

Tool to remove a user from a collection.

Remove Document User

Tool to remove a user membership from a document.

Remove Group from Document

Tool to remove a group from a document, revoking access for all group members.

Remove Group User

Tool to remove a user from a group.

Restore Document

Tool to restore a document in Outline.

Restore Template

Tool to restore a previously deleted template in Outline.

Retrieve Auth Info

Tool to retrieve authentication details for the current API key.

Revoke Share

Tool to revoke a share in Outline, making the share link inactive so it can no longer be used to access the document.

Rotate OAuth Client Secret

Tool to rotate the secret for an OAuth client in Outline.

Search Documents

Tool to search all documents in your Outline workspace using keywords.

Search Document Titles

Tool to search document titles in Outline workspace using keywords.

Suspend User

Tool to suspend a user in Outline.

Create Template from Document

Tool to create a template from an existing Outline document.

Unpublish Document

Tool to unpublish a document in Outline.

Update Collection

Tool to update an existing collection's properties in Outline.

Update Comment

Tool to update a comment in Outline.

Update Document

Tool to update a document in Outline.

Update Group

Tool to update an existing group's name in Outline.

Update OAuth Client

Tool to update an existing OAuth client in Outline.

Update Share

Tool to update a share in Outline.

Update Star

Tool to update a star's position in the Outline sidebar.

Update Template

Tool to update an existing template in Outline.

Update User

Tool to update a user's name, avatar, or language preference in Outline.

Update User Role

Tool to change a user's role in Outline workspace.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

With a standalone Outline MCP server, the agents and LLMs can only access a fixed set of Outline tools tied to that server. However, with the Composio Tool Router, agents can dynamically load tools from Outline and many other apps based on the task at hand, all through a single MCP endpoint.

Yes, you can. Claude Agent SDK fully supports MCP integration. You get structured tool calling, message history handling, and model orchestration while Tool Router takes care of discovering and serving the right Outline tools.

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Outline scopes and actions are allowed when connecting your account to Composio. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials or API configuration so you keep full control over what the agent can do.

All sensitive data such as tokens, keys, and configuration is fully encrypted at rest and in transit. Composio is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and follows strict security practices so your Outline data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

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