mindlm-mcp

Turn text, web pages and PDFs into interactive mind maps — an MCP server and a command-line tool, with no API key required.

npx -y mindlm-mcp demo

That renders a built-in example and opens it. One HTML file, no build step, no account, no key.

• Three inputs. Plain text or Markdown, an http(s) page, or a local PDF.
• Two outputs. A Markdown outline you can edit, and a standalone HTML mind map (markmap) that works offline — every script is inlined.
• Zero keys. Over MCP the server hands your own model a draft plus the cleaned source text and lets it write the final outline. Set your own API key only if you want the server to call a model itself. See How the outline gets written.

Docs and a live demo: https://qingchejun.github.io/mindlm-io/ · Source: https://github.com/qingchejun/mindlm-io

Quick start

Every client runs the same command — npx -y mindlm-mcp serve — and needs no environment variables. MINDMAP_OUTPUT_DIR below is optional; it just decides where exported files land.

Claude Code

claude mcp add mindlm -- npx -y mindlm-mcp serve

Scope it to one project with --scope project, and pass environment variables with -e:

claude mcp add mindlm -e MINDMAP_OUTPUT_DIR=~/Documents/mindmaps -- npx -y mindlm-mcp serve

Check it with claude mcp list, or /mcp inside a session.

Claude Desktop

Add this to claude_desktop_config.json, then restart the app:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mindlm": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mindlm-mcp", "serve"],
      "env": {
        "MINDMAP_OUTPUT_DIR": "~/Documents/mindmaps"
      }
    }
  }
}

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Cursor

The same block goes in ~/.cursor/mcp.json (all projects) or .cursor/mcp.json (one project):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mindlm": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mindlm-mcp", "serve"]
    }
  }
}

Ready-to-copy versions of all three live in examples/configs/.

Then ask for a mind map in plain language — "make a mind map of this PDF", "map out https://example.com/article" — and the client picks the right tool.

Tools

Four tools, always advertised in this order. The three *_to_mindmap tools return a Markdown outline; export_mindmap turns an outline into an HTML file. Every result carries both a readable text block and structuredContent.

text_to_mindmap

Outline text or Markdown you already have — a draft, notes, a transcript, a pasted chapter.

Input:

{
  "text": "# Tides\n\nSpring tides are the largest of the month.\n\n## Neap\n\nNeap tides are the smallest.\n"
}

structuredContent (default auto mode with no API key, i.e. client mode):

{
  "title": "Tides",
  "markdown": "# Tides\n\n## Spring tides are the largest of the month.\n\n### Neap\n- Neap tides are the smallest.\n",
  "mode": "client",
  "stats": { "inputChars": 79, "nodes": 4, "depth": 4, "truncated": false },
  "sourceText": "# Tides\n\nSpring tides are the largest of the mo

... [View full README on GitHub](https://github.com/qingchejun/mindlm-io#readme)