n8n-nodes-outline

A community node for n8n that allows you to interact with your Outline knowledge base through its API.

Features

• ✅ Complete API Coverage: Access all 10 Outline resources with 70+ operations
• ✅ AI Agent Compatible: All operations structured for proper AI tool calling interface
• ✅ Advanced Operations: Full CRUD plus specialized operations (archive, restore, export, user management)
• ✅ Webhook Support: Receive real-time events from Outline
• ✅ Authentication: Secure API key authentication with built-in credential testing
• ✅ TypeScript: Fully typed for better development experience

Prerequisites

• n8n installed and running
• An Outline instance (hosted or self-hosted)
• An Outline API key (generate one in Settings → API & Apps)

Installation

npm install n8n-nodes-outline

Configuration

Credentials

1. In n8n, go to Credentials in the left sidebar
2. Click New Credential and search for "Outline API"
3. Configure the credential with:
   • Base URL: Your Outline instance URL (e.g., https://app.getoutline.com or your self-hosted domain)
   • API Key: Your API key from Outline's Settings → API & Apps

Testing Connection

The credential includes an automatic test to verify your API key and connection. Make sure the test passes before using the nodes.

Nodes

Outline Node

The main node for interacting with Outline's API.

Supported Resources

Documents (15 operations)

• Create: Create new documents
• Get: Retrieve document information
• List: List documents (with optional collection filtering)
• Search: Search for documents
• Update: Update document content and metadata
• Delete: Delete documents
• Answer Question: AI-powered question answering for documents
• Archive: Archive documents
• Restore: Restore archived documents or specific revisions
• Duplicate: Create copies of documents
• Move: Move documents between collections
• Import: Import documents from files
• Export: Export documents to various formats
• Templatize: Convert documents to templates
• Unpublish: Unpublish documents
• Memberships: List document memberships
• Add User: Add user permissions to documents
• Remove User: Remove user permissions from documents

Collections (12 operations)

• Create: Create new collections
• Get: Retrieve collection information
• List: List all collections
• Update: Update collection details
• Delete: Delete collections
• Documents: List documents in a collection
• Add User: Add user to collection with permissions
• Remove User: Remove user from collection
• Memberships: List collection memberships
• Add Group: Add group to collection with permissions
• Remove Group: Remove group from collection
• Group Memberships: List group memberships
• Export: Export collection contents
• Export All: Export all collections

Users (2 operations)

• Get: Get user information
• List: List team users

Teams (1 operation)

• Get: Get team information

Attachments (3 operations)

• Create: Upload file attachments
• Delete: Remove attachments
• Redirect: Get attachment download URLs

Comments (5 operations)

• Create: Add comments to documents
• Get: Retrieve comment information
• List: List comments for documents
• Update: Update comment content
• Delete: Remove comments

Events (1 operation)

• List: Retrieve audit trail and activity logs

File Operations (4 operations)

• Get: Retrieve file information
• List: List uploaded files
• Delete: Remove files
• Redirect: Get file download URLs

Groups (7 operations)

• Create: Create user groups
• Get: Retrieve group information
• List: List all groups
• Update: Update group details
• Delete: Remove groups
• Add User: Add users to groups
• Remove User: Remove users from groups
• Memberships: List group memberships

Auth (2 operations)

• Info: Get authentication information and validate API key
• Config: Get authentication configuration

Example Workflows

Create a Document

{
	"resource": "document",
	"operation": "create",
	"title": "My New Document",
	"text": "# Welcome\n\nThis is the content of my document in markdown.",
	"collectionId": "your-collection-id",
	"publish": true
}

Search Documents

{
	"resource": "document",
	"operation": "search",
	"query": "meeting notes",
	"additionalFields": {
		"limit": 10
	}
}

Archive a Document

{
	"resource": "document",
	"operation": "archive",
	"documentId": "document-id-to-archive"
}

Add User to Collection

{
	"resource": "collection",
	"operation": "addUser",
	"collectionId": "collection-id",
	"userId": "user-id",
	"permission": "read_write"
}

Create Comment on Document

{
	"resource": "comment",
	"operation": "create",
	"documentId": "document-id",
	"data": {
		"body": "This is a helpful comment on the document."
	}
}

Export Collection

{
	"resource": "collection",
	"operation": "export",
	"collectionId": "collection-id"
}

Outline Webhook Node

Trigger workflows based on Outline events.

Supported Events

• documents.create: Document created
• documents.update: Document updated
• documents.delete: Document deleted
• documents.archive: Document archived
• documents.restore: Document restored
• documents.move: Document moved
• documents.duplicate: Document duplicated
• collections.create: Collection created
• collections.update: Collection updated
• collections.delete: Collection deleted
• collections.move: Collection moved
• users.create: User created
• users.update: User updated
• users.delete: User deleted
• comments.create: Comment added
• comments.update: Comment updated
• comments.delete: Comment deleted
• groups.create: Group created
• groups.update: Group updated
• groups.delete: Group deleted

Configuration

1. Add the Outline Webhook node to your workflow.
2. Select the events you want to listen for.
3. n8n will automatically create a webhook in your Outline instance when you activate the workflow, and delete it when you deactivate it.

Local Development

To test this node locally with your n8n instance:

1. Clone and build:

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd n8n-nodes-outline
   bun install
   bun run build

2. Link to n8n:

   # Remove existing custom nodes
   rm -rf ~/.n8n/custom/*
   
   # Create symbolic link
   ln -s $(pwd) ~/.n8n/custom/n8n-nodes-outline

3. Restart n8n to pick up the new custom node.

API Reference

This node implements the Outline API endpoints. Refer to the official documentation for detailed information about request/response formats and additional parameters.

The webhook creation and deletion is handled automatically by the node.

Rate Limits

Outline has rate limits in place. The node will respect these limits and return appropriate error messages when limits are exceeded.

Error Handling

• All API errors are properly handled and returned as structured error objects
• Use the "Continue on Fail" option to handle errors gracefully in your workflows
• Check the ok field in responses to determine success/failure

Examples

Document Management Workflow

{
	"nodes": [
		{
			"name": "Create Document",
			"type": "n8n-nodes-outline.outline",
			"parameters": {
				"resource": "document",
				"operation": "create",
				"title": "Weekly Report",
				"text": "# Weekly Report\n\n## Achievements\n- Item 1\n- Item 2",
				"collectionId": "collection-id",
				"publish": true
			}
		},
		{
			"name": "Update Document",
			"type": "n8n-nodes-outline.outline",
			"parameters": {
				"resource": "document",
				"operation": "update",
				"documentId": "{{ $node['Create Document'].json.data.id }}",
				"text": "# Updated Weekly Report\n\nContent updated!"
			}
		}
	]
}

Webhook Integration

{
	"nodes": [
		{
			"name": "Document Created Webhook",
			"type": "n8n-nodes-outline.outlineWebhook",
			"parameters": {
				"events": ["documents.create"]
			}
		},
		{
			"name": "Process New Document",
			"type": "n8n-nodes-base.set",
			"parameters": {
				"values": {
					"title": "{{ $node['Document Created Webhook'].json.data.title }}",
					"author": "{{ $node['Document Created Webhook'].json.data.createdBy.name }}"
				}
			}
		}
	]
}

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. "Cannot find module 'n8n-workflow'"

   • Ensure n8n is properly installed
   • Restart n8n after installing the node

2. "401 Unauthorized"

   • Check your API key is correct
   • Ensure the API key has sufficient permissions
   • Verify the base URL is correct

3. "Rate limited"

   • Wait for the rate limit to reset
   • Implement retry logic in your workflows

Getting Help

• Check the Outline API documentation
• Review n8n's community node documentation
• Open an issue in the repository

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Add tests if applicable
5. Submit a pull request

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Links

• Outline
• n8n
• API Documentation
• Repository