timeline

Timeline documents

.timeline files are plain YAML describing a horizontal timeline: point events (dots), range events (bars), shaded weekends/holidays, and automatic color assignment. Manage them with the timeline MCP tools.

Workflow

1. create_timeline — set timeline_start (YYYY-MM-DD) when the user will track progress day by day (past days get crossed off); omit dates for a freeform/historical timeline (bounds infer from events).
2. add_events — batch all events in one call. An end date makes a bar; omitting it makes a dot. Mark deadlines important: true (boxed label) and finished items done: true (struck through).
3. render_timeline to a .png and look at the returned image — check for crowded labels or bad color pairings, adjust (e.g. days_per_row via set_timeline_options), and re-render.
4. Final output: render to .pdf for printing (US letter landscape, paged) or .png for sharing (single image; dark: true for a dark version).

Conventions

• Dates are always YYYY-MM-DD.
• Event names must be unique within a document (updates match by name).
• Palettes: bright (default), muted, jewel, ocean, sunset, forest.
• US federal holidays shade automatically; add_holiday for custom ones (a name prints under the dates).
• To show the user the document in the native app: open <file>.timeline.
• Don't edit a file that's currently open in the Timeline app; it won't reload external changes.