How to integrate Outline MCP with Claude Code

Connect Claude Code 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

Manage your Outline directly from Claude Code with zero worries about OAuth hassles, API-breaking issues, or reliability and security concerns.

You can do this in two different ways:

  1. Via Composio Connect - Direct and easiest approach
  2. Via Composio SDK - Programmatic approach with more control

Also integrate Outline with

Why use Composio?

  • Only one MCP URL to connect multiple apps with Claude Code with zero auth hassles.
  • Programmatic tool calling allows LLMs to write its code in a remote workbench to handle complex tool chaining. Reduces to-and-fro with LLMs for frequent tool calling.
  • Handling Large tool responses out of LLM context to minimize context rot.
  • Dynamic just-in-time access to 20,000 tools across 1000+ other Apps for cross-app workflows. It loads the tools you need, so LLMs aren't overwhelmed by tools you don't need.

Connecting Outline to Claude Code using Composio

1. Add the Composio MCP to Claude

Terminal

2. Start Claude Code

bash
claude

3. Open your MCP list

bash
/mcp

4. Select Composio and click on Authenticate

Select Composio and click Authenticate

5. This will redirect you to the Composio OAuth page. Complete the flow by authorizing Composio and you're all set.

Composio OAuth authorization page
Composio authorization complete
Ask Claude to connect to your account and authenticate via the link

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.

Connecting Outline via Composio SDK

Composio SDK is the underlying tech that powers Rube. It's a universal gateway that does everything Rube does but with much more programmatic control. You can programmatically generate an MCP URL with the app you need (here Outline) for even more tool search precision. It's secure and reliable.

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 step10 STEPS
1

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:
  • Claude Pro, Max, or API billing enabled Anthropic account
  • Composio API Key
  • A Outline account
  • Basic knowledge of Python or TypeScript
2

Install Claude Code

bash
# macOS, Linux, WSL
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

# Windows PowerShell
irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex

# Windows CMD
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.cmd -o install.cmd && install.cmd && del install.cmd

To install Claude Code, use one of the following methods based on your operating system:

3

Set up Claude Code

bash
cd your-project-folder
claude

Open a terminal, go to your project folder, and start Claude Code:

  • Claude Code will open in your terminal
  • Follow the prompts to sign in with your Anthropic account
  • Complete the authentication flow
  • Once authenticated, you can start using Claude Code
Claude Code initial setup showing sign-in prompt
Claude Code terminal after successful login
4

Set up environment variables

bash
COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_composio_api_key_here
USER_ID=your_user_id_here

Create a .env file in your project root with the following variables:

  • COMPOSIO_API_KEY authenticates with Composio (get it from Composio dashboard)
  • USER_ID identifies the user for session management (use any unique identifier)
5

Install Composio library

npm install @composio/core dotenv

Install the Composio TypeScript library to create MCP sessions.

  • @composio/core provides the core Composio functionality
  • dotenv loads environment variables from your .env file
6

Generate Composio MCP URL

import 'dotenv/config';
import { Composio } from '@composio/core';

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 composioClient = new Composio({ apiKey: COMPOSIO_API_KEY });

const composioSession = await composioClient.create(USER_ID, {
  toolkits: ['outline'],
});

const composioMcpUrl = composioSession?.mcp.url;

console.log(`MCP URL: ${composioMcpUrl}`);
console.log(`\nUse this command to add to Claude Code:`);
console.log(`claude mcp add --transport http outline-composio "${composioMcpUrl}" --headers "X-API-Key:${COMPOSIO_API_KEY}"`);

Create a script to generate a Composio MCP URL for Outline. This URL will be used to connect Claude Code to Outline.

What's happening

  • We import the Composio client and load environment variables
  • Create a Composio instance with your API key
  • Call create() to create a Tool Router session for Outline
  • The returned mcp.url is the MCP server URL that Claude Code will use
  • The script prints this URL so you can copy it
7

Run the script and copy the MCP URL

node --loader ts-node/esm generate_mcp_url.ts
# or if using tsx
tsx generate_mcp_url.ts

Run your TypeScript script to generate the MCP URL.

  • The script connects to Composio and creates a Tool Router session
  • It prints the MCP URL and the exact command you need to run
  • Copy the entire claude mcp add command from the output
8

Add Outline MCP to Claude Code

bash
claude mcp add --transport http outline-composio "YOUR_MCP_URL_HERE" --headers "X-API-Key:YOUR_COMPOSIO_API_KEY"

# Then restart Claude Code
exit
claude

In your terminal, add the MCP server using the command from the previous step. The command format is:

  • claude mcp add registers a new MCP server with Claude Code
  • --transport http specifies that this is an HTTP-based MCP server
  • The server name (outline-composio) is how you'll reference it
  • The URL points to your Composio Tool Router session
  • --headers includes your Composio API key for authentication

After running the command, close the current Claude Code session and start a new one for the changes to take effect.

9

Verify the installation

bash
claude mcp list

Check that your Outline MCP server is properly configured.

  • This command lists all MCP servers registered with Claude Code
  • You should see your outline-composio entry in the list
  • This confirms that Claude Code can now access Outline tools

If everything is wired up, you should see your outline-composio entry listed:

Claude Code MCP list showing the toolkit MCP server
10

Authenticate Outline

The first time you try to use Outline tools, you'll be prompted to authenticate.

  • Claude Code will detect that you need to authenticate with Outline
  • It will show you an authentication link
  • Open the link in your browser (or copy/paste it)
  • Complete the Outline authorization flow
  • Return to the terminal and start using Outline through Claude Code

Once authenticated, you can ask Claude Code to perform Outline operations in natural language. For example:

  • "Summarize latest engineering design documents"
  • "Create onboarding page for new hires"
  • "Find outdated API documentation pages"

Complete Code

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

import 'dotenv/config';
import { Composio } from '@composio/core';

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 composioClient = new Composio({ apiKey: COMPOSIO_API_KEY });

const composioSession = await composioClient.create(USER_ID, {
  toolkits: ['outline'],
});

const composioMcpUrl = composioSession?.mcp.url;

console.log(`MCP URL: ${composioMcpUrl}`);
console.log(`\nUse this command to add to Claude Code:`);
console.log(`claude mcp add --transport http outline-composio "${composioMcpUrl}" --headers "X-API-Key:${COMPOSIO_API_KEY}"`);

Conclusion

You've successfully integrated Outline with Claude Code using Composio's MCP server. Now you can interact with Outline directly from your terminal using natural language commands.

Key features of this setup:

  • Terminal-native experience without switching contexts
  • Natural language commands for Outline operations
  • Secure authentication through Composio's managed MCP
  • Tool Router for dynamic tool discovery and execution

Next steps:

  • Try asking Claude Code to perform various Outline operations
  • Add more toolkits to your Tool Router session for multi-app workflows
  • Integrate this setup into your development workflow for increased productivity

You can extend this by adding more toolkits, implementing custom workflows, or building automation scripts that leverage Claude Code's capabilities.

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 Code 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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