Outline CLI

CLI for the Outline wiki/knowledge base API.

Installation

Requires Node 24+.

npm install -g @doist/outline-cli

Agent Skills

Install skills for your coding agent:

ol skill install claude-code
ol skill install codex
ol skill install cursor
ol skill install gemini
ol skill install pi
ol skill install universal

Skills are installed to ~/<agent-dir>/skills/outline-cli/SKILL.md (e.g. ~/.claude/ for claude-code, ~/.agents/ for universal, etc.). When updating the CLI, installed skills are updated automatically. The universal agent is compatible with Amp, OpenCode, and other agents that read from ~/.agents/.

ol skill list
ol skill uninstall <agent>

Uninstallation

First, remove any installed agent skills:

ol skill uninstall <agent>

Then uninstall the CLI:

npm uninstall -g @doist/outline-cli

Local Setup

git clone https://github.com/todoist/outline-cli.git
cd outline-cli
npm install
npm run build
npm link

Setup

OAuth login (recommended)

ol auth login
ol auth login --base-url <your-outline-url>
ol auth login --client-id <your-client-id>
ol auth login --callback-port 54969
ol auth status
ol auth logout

Setup:

1. Create a public OAuth app in Outline (Settings → Applications)
2. Set the redirect URI to http://localhost:54969/callback
3. Run ol auth login and enter your OAuth client ID when prompted (or pass it directly with --client-id <your-client-id>)
4. If needed, pass --base-url <your-outline-url> or set OUTLINE_URL (for self-hosted instances or non-default URLs)
5. If needed, pass --callback-port <port> or set OUTLINE_OAUTH_CALLBACK_PORT and register http://localhost:<port>/callback in your OAuth app

The client ID is saved for future logins. You can also set OUTLINE_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID for your local environment.

Manual token login

If you prefer using an API token directly:

ol auth token <your-api-token>   # save a token (verifies it against your instance)
ol auth token                    # prompt for the token interactively
ol auth token view               # print the stored token to stdout (refreshes an expiring OAuth token first)

Generate a token in Outline under Settings → API Tokens. Pass --base-url <your-outline-url> if the token belongs to a self-hosted instance.

You can also skip storing a token entirely by setting OUTLINE_API_TOKEN in your environment.

Configuration

Token resolution: OUTLINE_API_TOKEN env var → ~/.config/outline-cli/config.json.

Base URL resolution: OUTLINE_URL env var → config file → https://app.getoutline.com.

Callback port resolution for OAuth login: --callback-port → OUTLINE_OAUTH_CALLBACK_PORT → 54969.

Self-hosted instances: pass --base-url or set OUTLINE_URL (you can still provide it interactively).

Commands

# Search
ol search "query" --limit 10 --offset 10 --collection <id> --status published

# Documents (alias: ol doc)
ol document list --collection <id> --sort updatedAt --direction DESC
ol document get <urlId>              # renders markdown for terminal
ol document get <urlId> --raw        # outputs raw markdown
ol document open <urlId>             # opens in browser
ol document create --title "Title" --collection <id> --file doc.md --publish
ol document update <urlId> --file updated.md
cat notes.md | ol document update <urlId> --stdin # reads markdown from stdin
ol document update <urlId> --publish # publishes a draft
ol document update <urlId> --publish --collection <id> # publishes a draft that has no collection
ol document update <urlId> --file updated.md --if-updated-at <updatedAt> # fails if saved since then
ol document delete <urlId> --confirm
ol document restore <urlId>          # restores from trash
ol document move <urlId> --collection <target-id>
ol document archive <urlId>
ol document unarchive <urlId>

# Collections (alias: ol col)
ol collection list
ol collection get <id>
ol collection create --name "Engineering" --color "#4CAF50"
ol collection update <id> --name "New Name"
ol collection delete <id> --confirm

Output modes

All commands support:

• Default: colored human-readable output
• --json: pretty-printed JSON (essential fields)
• --json --full: all fields
• --ndjson: one JSON object per line (for piping)

Development

npm install
npm run dev          # watch mode
npm run type-check   # typecheck without emitting
npm run test         # run tests
npm run build        # compile to dist/