Workflowy MCP Server & CLI
A feature-rich Model Context Protocol (MCP) server and Command Line Interface (CLI) for Workflowy written in Go. Connect your AI assistant (Claude, ChatGPT, etc.) to your Workflowy data or run commands from a terminal emulator or script, including search, bulk replace, usage reports, and offline access capabilities.
Why This Workflowy MCP Server?
- Full-text search with regex
- Bulk search & replace
- Usage reports (stale nodes, size analysis)
- Offline mode via backup files
- CLI + MCP server in one tool
- Caching for performance
- Homebrew installation
- Basic CRUD operations
- Using short IDs (Copy Internal Link)
Quick Start
Install via Homebrew
brew install mholzen/workflowy/workflowy-cli
Configure Your API Key
mkdir -p ~/.workflowy
echo "your-api-key-here" > ~/.workflowy/api.key
chmod 600 ~/.workflowy/api.key
Get your API key at https://workflowy.com/api-key/
Run Your First Command
# Generate a report showing where most of your nodes are
workflowy report count | pbcopy # paste directly into Workflowy!
Use pbcopy on macOS, clip on Windows, wl-copy on Linux, or xclip for X11 systems.
Use with Claude Desktop or Claude Code
Add to your Claude Desktop configuration
- macOS:
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json - Windows:
%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
or ~/.claude.json for Claude Code:
{
"mcpServers": {
"workflowy": {
"command": "workflowy",
"args": ["mcp", "--expose=all", "--log-file=/tmp/workflowy-mcp.log"]
}
}
}
Switch --expose=all to --expose=read if you want to allow read tools only.
Restart Claude Desktop and start asking Claude to work with your Workflowy!
MCP Tools for AI Assistants
Read Tools (Safe)
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
workflowy_get | Get a node and its descendants as a tree |
workflowy_list | List descendants as a flat list |
workflowy_search | Search nodes by text or regex |
workflowy_targets | List shortcuts and system targets (inbox, etc.) |
workflowy_report_count | Find where most of your content lives |
workflowy_report_children | Find nodes with many children |
workflowy_report_created | Find oldest nodes |
workflowy_report_modified | Find stale, unmodified nodes |
Write Tools
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
workflowy_create | Create new nodes |
workflowy_update | Update node content |
workflowy_delete | Delete nodes |
workflowy_complete | Mark nodes complete |
workflowy_uncomplete | Mark nodes incomplete |
workflowy_replace | Bulk find-and-replace with regex |
CLI Features
Search Your Entire Outline
# Find all TODOs (case-insensitive)
workflowy search -i "foobar"
# Regex search for dates
workflowy search -E "<time.*>"
# Search within a specific subtree (using Internal Link)
workflowy search "bug" --item-id https://workflowy.com/#/1bdae4aecf00
Bulk Search and Replace
# Preview changes first (dry run)
workflowy replace --dry-run "foo" "bar"
# Interactive confirmation
workflowy replace --interactive "foo" "bar"
# Use regex capture groups
workflowy replace "TASK-([0-9]+)" 'ISSUE-$1'
Some Common CRUD Operations
# Add a task to your inbox
workflowy create "Buy groceries" --parent-id=inbox
# Change the name of an item
workflowy update xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx --name "Project Plan v2"
# Mark a node as complete, using a short ID
workflowy complete https://workflowy.com/#/xxxxxxxxxxxx
Usage Reports
# Where is most of my content?
workflowy report count --threshold 0.01
# Which nodes have the most children?
workflowy report children --top-n 20
# Find stale content (oldest modified)
workflowy report modified --top-n 50
Data Access Methods
Choose the best method for your use case:
| Method | Speed | Freshness | Offline | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
--method=get | Medium | Real-time | No | Specific items |
--method=export | Fast* | 1 min worst case (due to rate limiting) | No | Full tree access |
--method=backup | Fastest | Stale | Yes | Bulk operations |
*Cached after first fetch
Offline Mode with Dropbox Backup
Enable Workflowy's Dropbox backup and access your data offline:
workflowy get --method=backup
workflowy search -i "project" --method=backup
Installation Options
Homebrew (macOS & Linux)
brew install mholzen/workflowy/workflowy-cli
Scoop (Windows)
scoop bucket add workflowy https://github.com/mholzen/scoop-workflowy
scoop install workflowy
Go Install
go install github.com/mholzen/workflowy/cmd/workflowy@latest
Download Binary
Download pre-built binaries from GitHub Releases.
Docker
docker run --rm -e WORKFLOWY_API_KEY=your-key ghcr.io/mholzen/workflowy:latest get
From Source
git clone https://github.com/mholzen/workflowy.git
cd workflowy
go build ./cmd/workflowy
Documentation
Examples
AI Assistant Workflows
Ask Claude:
- "Search my Workflowy for all items containing 'meeting notes'"
- "Show me nodes I haven't touched in 6 months"
- "Replace all 'v1' with 'v2' in my Project A folder"
- "What's taking up the most space in my outline?"
CLI Workflows
# Morning review: find stale items
workflowy report modified --top-n 20
# Weekly cleanup: find oversized nodes
workflowy report count --threshold 0.05
# Bulk rename: update project prefix
workflowy replace "OLD-" "NEW-" --parent-id projects-folder-id
Contributing
Contributions welcome! See the Contributing Guide.
# Development setup
git clone https://github.com/mholzen/workflowy.git
cd workflowy
go test ./...
License
MIT — see LICENSE
Acknowledgments
- Thanks to Craig P. Motlin for pointing out mirrors are defined in the backup files