From df117ebad53a38ad2eeaf8ef8cff196907be9b3c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Tom Moor <tom@getoutline.com>
Date: Thu, 21 May 2026 17:41:37 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] fix: Updating collection description via MCP does not take
 (#12410)

---
 server/models/Collection.ts                  | 15 ++++++++++++++-
 server/routes/api/collections/collections.ts | 14 --------------
 2 files changed, 14 insertions(+), 15 deletions(-)

diff --git a/server/models/Collection.ts b/server/models/Collection.ts
index 4af1dc579f..b06715929b 100644
--- a/server/models/Collection.ts
+++ b/server/models/Collection.ts
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ import { UrlHelper } from "@shared/utils/UrlHelper";
 import { sortNavigationNodes } from "@shared/utils/collections";
 import slugify from "@shared/utils/slugify";
 import { CollectionValidation } from "@shared/validations";
+import { parser } from "@server/editor";
 import { ValidationError } from "@server/errors";
 import type { APIContext } from "@server/types";
 import { CacheHelper } from "@server/utils/CacheHelper";
@@ -346,9 +347,21 @@ class Collection extends ParanoidModel<
 
   @BeforeSave
   static async onBeforeSave(model: Collection) {
-    if (!model.content) {
+    const descriptionChanged = model.changed("description");
+    const contentChanged = model.changed("content");
+
+    if (descriptionChanged && !contentChanged) {
+      model.content = model.description
+        ? (parser.parse(model.description)?.toJSON() ?? null)
+        : null;
+    } else if (contentChanged && !descriptionChanged) {
+      model.description = model.content
+        ? await DocumentHelper.toMarkdown(model, { includeTitle: false })
+        : null;
+    } else if (!model.content) {
       model.content = await DocumentHelper.toJSON(model);
     }
+
     if (model.changed("documentStructure")) {
       await CacheHelper.clearData(
         RedisPrefixHelper.getCollectionDocumentsKey(model.id)
diff --git a/server/routes/api/collections/collections.ts b/server/routes/api/collections/collections.ts
index 04a283afe4..c04070bea7 100644
--- a/server/routes/api/collections/collections.ts
+++ b/server/routes/api/collections/collections.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ import {
 } from "@shared/types";
 import collectionExporter from "@server/commands/collectionExporter";
 import teamUpdater from "@server/commands/teamUpdater";
-import { parser } from "@server/editor";
 import auth from "@server/middlewares/authentication";
 import { rateLimiter } from "@server/middlewares/rateLimiter";
 import { transaction } from "@server/middlewares/transaction";
@@ -26,7 +25,6 @@ import {
   FileOperation,
   Document,
 } from "@server/models";
-import { DocumentHelper } from "@server/models/helpers/DocumentHelper";
 import { authorize } from "@server/policies";
 import {
   presentCollection,
@@ -87,12 +85,6 @@ router.post(
       templateManagement,
     });
 
-    if (data) {
-      collection.description = await DocumentHelper.toMarkdown(collection, {
-        includeTitle: false,
-      });
-    }
-
     await collection.saveWithCtx(ctx);
 
     // we must reload the collection to get memberships for policy presenter
@@ -628,16 +620,10 @@ router.post(
 
     if (description !== undefined) {
       collection.description = description;
-      collection.content = description
-        ? parser.parse(description)?.toJSON()
-        : null;
     }
 
     if (data !== undefined) {
       collection.content = data;
-      collection.description = await DocumentHelper.toMarkdown(collection, {
-        includeTitle: false,
-      });
     }
 
     if (icon !== undefined) {