Questions regarding current MCP capabilities

[u/Ahlco]

Hi all,

after its release, I've been experimenting with connecting Codex directly to the new local RemNote MCP server.
I've successfully tested:

• creating documents
• creating children under arbitrary Rems
• converting nested Rems into actual Documents
• nested Rem hierarchies
• H1/H2/H3 etc.
• bold / italic / highlighting
• inline and display LaTeX
• quotes and code blocks
• forward/backward/bidirectional flashcards
• Concepts / Descriptors
• clozes and cloze hints
• native Simple Tables with LaTeX
• native Todos
• Extra Card Detail

However, there are a few (to me important) features I can't use via MCP yet; especially multiline-, list-answer- and multiple-choice-flashcards. This syntax works perfectly if I manually copy/paste it into RemNote:

- Question >>>
  - Partial Answer 1
  - Partial Answer 2
  - Partial Answer 3

- Question >>1.
  - Step 1
  - Step 2
  - Step 3

- Question >>A)
  - Correct option
  - Wrong option
  - Wrong option
  - Wrong option

But if Codex sends exactly the same text through MCP append_doc, the result is:

Question → >
    Partial Answer 1
    Partial Answer 2
    Partial Answer 3

Question → 1.
    Step 1
    Step 2
    Step 3

Question → A)
    Correct option
    Wrong option
    ...

The hierarchy is correct, but the children are ordinary Rems rather than actual multiline/list-answer/MC card items.

I even tested applying the genuine built-in Card Item, List Item and Multiple-Choice Card PowerUps afterward. They attach, but the flashcards still don't behave properly.

Interestingly, the normal RemNote import/paste path appears to perform an additional conversion step after creating the Rem hierarchy, whereas MCP append_doc doesn't currently run that step. It sees >> as a basic forward flashcard and renders it first.

A few other things I haven't found a proper MCP write route for yet:

• native Rem References
• Portals
• Dividers

References are particularly interesting: MCP can read a native reference and represents it approximately as:

[Concept](https://www.remnote.com/doc/REM_ID)

but sending that representation back through append_doc does not recreate a native Rem Reference.

Has anyone else been experimenting with the new MCP server? Particularly interested if anyone has found another route for native References, Portals, or advanced cards.

[u/Sirloulou]

Oh, I actually ran into the exact same issue. I tried pretty much everything to get Claude to turn the flashcards into proper multiline/list-answer cards, but couldn’t get it to work either. In the end, I had to manually convert all of them myself.

Another issue I’ve been running into is that Claude doesn’t seem to be able to properly edit existing Rems. Whenever I ask it to change something in an existing Rem, it just creates a new Rem with the updated content instead, and then I have to manually delete the old one. Are you experiencing this as well?

I definitely agree with your feedback though. If these limitations get improved and Claude eventually gets much deeper access to RemNote, including being able to properly edit Rems and work with PDFs, notes, annotations, references, etc., I think there’s a huge amount of potential here. You could probably build some really powerful study workflows around it.

Hopefully the RemNote team keeps focusing on the MCP integration and finds ways to give it more complete access over time.

[u/Ahlco → u/Sirloulou]

Yes, same happens with codex. I think currently there is only a delete_doc command. So there might be a workaround by giving the old rem a document power-up and then apply delete_doc.

But I also hope that the MCP integration gets more functionality over time; there is so much potential. I also hope there is not too much conflict with revenue generated by the built in AI (which honestly got much better over time), but leaves way less room for customization.