Outline

Interact with Outline knowledge base

Actions53

Overview

This node interacts with the Outline knowledge base service, specifically focusing on managing collections of documents. The Collection - List operation retrieves a list of collections available in the Outline workspace. This is useful for scenarios where you want to fetch and process multiple collections, such as displaying them in a dashboard, syncing collection metadata with another system, or automating workflows that depend on existing collections.

For example, you might use this node to:

Retrieve all collections to display their titles and descriptions.
Filter collections based on certain criteria like date or status.
Paginate through collections when there are many, using limit and offset parameters.

Properties

Name	Meaning
Additional Fields	A set of optional filters and controls to refine the list of collections returned:
- Date Filter	Filter collections by date range: Day, Week, Month, Year
- Include Archived	Whether to include archived collections in the results (boolean)
- Include Drafts	Whether to include draft collections in the results (boolean)
- Limit	Number of collections to return (1 to 100, default 25)
- Offset	Number of collections to skip before starting to return results (default 0)
- Sort	Field to sort collections by: Created At, Updated At, Title, Index
- Direction	Sort direction: Ascending or Descending
- Status Filter	Filter collections by status: Published, Draft, Archived (multi-select, default is Published)

These properties allow fine control over which collections are retrieved and how they are ordered.

Output

The output is an array of JSON objects representing collections. Each object contains the data returned by the Outline API for collections, typically including fields such as collection ID, name, description, creation and update timestamps, and status flags.

The output does not include binary data.

Example output structure (simplified):

[
  {
    "id": "collection-id-123",
    "name": "Marketing Docs",
    "description": "Documents related to marketing campaigns",
    "createdAt": "2023-01-01T12:00:00Z",
    "updatedAt": "2023-06-01T08:30:00Z",
    "status": "published"
  },
  {
    "id": "collection-id-456",
    "name": "Engineering Specs",
    "description": "Technical specifications and design docs",
    "createdAt": "2022-11-15T09:20:00Z",
    "updatedAt": "2023-05-20T14:45:00Z",
    "status": "archived"
  }
]

Dependencies

Requires an API key credential for authenticating with the Outline API.
The node makes HTTP POST requests to Outline endpoints to retrieve collection data.
No additional external dependencies beyond the Outline API and proper authentication.

Troubleshooting

Common issues:
- Invalid or missing API credentials will cause authentication errors.
- Exceeding rate limits imposed by the Outline API may result in request failures.
- Providing invalid filter values (e.g., unsupported date filter) may cause the API to reject the request.
Error messages:
- Authentication errors usually indicate problems with the API key; verify the credential setup.
- Validation errors from the API often specify which parameter is incorrect; check property values.
- Network or timeout errors suggest connectivity issues; ensure the n8n instance can reach the Outline API endpoint.
Resolution tips:
- Double-check API key validity and permissions.
- Use valid values for filters and pagination parameters.
- Handle errors gracefully by enabling "Continue On Fail" if partial success is acceptable.

Links and References

Outline API Documentation
Outline Knowledge Base
n8n documentation on creating custom nodes

OutlineInstall