surface vs Outline MCP Server
surface is a plugin bundle for AI coding tools published by Andrew Cove. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Community GitHub marketplaces). Outline MCP Server is an MCP server published by Vortiago. Marketplaces we read that list it: 4 (Official MCP Registry, Claude Code: claude-plugins-community, PyPI (MCP servers), Community GitHub marketplaces). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-24. This pair was picked by a reader, not by our comparison rule, so search engines are asked not to index the page.
Where each is published
| Marketplace |  Outline MCP Server | |
|---|---|---|
| Community marketplace aac/surface | Listed Version: 0.12.1 Forks (GitHub): 0 Stars (GitHub): 9 Not marked · First seen |
Not listed |
| Official MCP Registry | Not listed | Listed Version: 1.10.1 Downloads/month (PyPI): 1 398 Downloads/week (PyPI): 503 Forks (GitHub): 46 Stars (GitHub): 158 Not marked · First seen |
| Claude Code: claude-plugins-community | Not listed | Listed Version: 1.10.1 Forks (GitHub): 46 Stars (GitHub): 158 Not marked · First seen |
| PyPI (MCP servers) | Not listed | Listed Version: 1.10.1 Downloads/month (PyPI): 1 398 Downloads/week (PyPI): 503 Forks (GitHub): 46 Stars (GitHub): 158 Not marked · First seen |
Each figure is the marketplace's own and is never added up across marketplaces. A marketplace that publishes no figure shows none: no number is not zero.
The facts side by side
| Fact | surface | Outline MCP Server |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it (differs) | 1 (worse) | 4 (better) |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 9 (worse) | 158 (better) |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 0 (worse) | 46 (better) |
| Last release | Not published | Not published |
| Where it runs (differs) | Installs as a plugin bundle | On your machine (mcp-outline) |
| Transport (differs) | Not stated | stdio |
| Tools it declares | Not published | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for (differs) | Not published | 6, secrets among them: 1 |
| Parts of the bundle (differs) | 1 | 3 |
| Licence (differs) | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/aac/surface | github.com/vortiago/mcp-outline |
| Changes in the last 7 days | 0 | 0 |
| First seen (differs) | 2026-10-15 | 2026-10-11 |
Lines where the two differ have a tinted background and bold values. Where the data itself says which value is better (more marketplaces, a larger figure of the same marketplace, a fresher release, a verified mark on a marketplace that lists both), the better one is also marked green with ▲ and the worse one red with ▼. Where it runs, the transport, the tools, the settings, hooks, the bundle's parts, the licence and the week's changes are marked only as different: more or fewer is not better in itself.
What each says it does
surface
Ad-hoc structured input from one or more recipients via a flexible, distributable interface. The agent generates an ephemeral, task-shaped UI surface of opaque-ID affordances, delivers the URL through any outbound channel, and autonomously drains submissions to react. Also strong for information-dense display. Not for durable apps or simple in-chat questions.
Outline MCP Server
Connect AI assistants to Outline for document search, reading, and management
How to run each
surface As a Claude Code plugin
/plugin marketplace add aac/surface
/plugin install surface@surfaceOutline MCP Server As a local MCP server: PyPI package
claude mcp add --env "OUTLINE_API_KEY=<YOUR_OUTLINE_API_KEY>" --transport stdio mcp-outline -- uvx mcp-outlineRequires: OUTLINE_API_KEY (secret)
Commands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Tools each declares
Neither one's marketplaces publish a list of tools, so there is nothing to compare.
Settings each asks for
The marketplaces of surface publish no settings it asks for, so we do not compare settings.
What it can do: surface · What it can do: Outline MCP Server · Compare two other plugins
Data comes from public marketplace files in GitHub repositories of their authors. Data comes from the Official MCP Registry (registry.modelcontextprotocol.io), CC0 1.0. Data comes from the public marketplace file https://github.com/anthropics/claude-plugins-community/blob/HEAD/.claude-plugin/marketplace.json. Package data comes from the Python Package Index (pypi.org). Figures come from our own regular passes over the marketplaces, last read on . We publish no contact details for plugin publishers.