xmindcli

A non-interactive CLI tool for creating, reading, editing, and exporting .xmind mind map files. Designed for AI agents (Claude Code, etc.) — all commands output structured JSON for programmatic use.

Installation

npm i -g xmindcli

Verify Installation

xmind --help

Skill Setup (for Claude Code)

xmindcli ships with a built-in Claude Code custom skill so AI agents automatically know how to use the xmind CLI.

Project-level (built-in)

If your project already includes this repo, the skill is already in .claude/skills/xmind/ — no extra setup needed.

Global-level

Copy the skill to your Claude Code global skills directory:

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/xmind
cp .claude/skills/xmind/SKILL.md ~/.claude/skills/xmind/

Once installed, the AI agent will automatically trigger this skill for .xmind-related tasks.

Command Overview

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | xmind map create -f <path> --root-topic <title> | Create a new mind map | | xmind map read -f <path> [--depth <n>] | Read mind map structure | | xmind node add -f <path> --parent <id> --topic <text> | Add a child node | | xmind node add-batch -f <path> --parent <id> --data '<json>' | Batch add child nodes | | xmind node update -f <path> --target <id> [--topic] [--label] [--note] | Update node properties | | xmind node delete -f <path> --target <id> | Delete a node | | xmind node move -f <path> --target <id> --new-parent <id> | Move a node | | xmind export -f <path> --format md\|txt [--output-file <path>] | Export to Markdown / plain text | | xmind import -f <path> --source <md-file> | Import from Markdown |

All commands support -o json|text to switch output format (default: json).

Quick Start

# Create a mind map
xmind map create -f demo.xmind --root-topic "Weekend Plan"
# -> { "status": "success", "root_id": "abc-123" }

# Batch add child nodes (use the root_id from the response)
xmind node add-batch -f demo.xmind --parent "abc-123" --data '["Saturday","Sunday"]'
# -> { "status": "success", "new_node_ids": ["id-1", "id-2"] }

# Add deeper nodes
xmind node add -f demo.xmind --parent "id-1" --topic "Morning Run"
xmind node add -f demo.xmind --parent "id-1" --topic "Grocery Shopping"

# Read the full structure
xmind map read -f demo.xmind

# Export to Markdown
xmind export -f demo.xmind --format md

# Import from Markdown to create a new mind map
xmind import -f new.xmind --source notes.md

Development

pnpm install        # Install dependencies
pnpm build          # Bundle to dist/
pnpm test           # Run tests
npx tsx src/index.ts <args>  # Run in dev mode

License

MIT