documents

---

name: documents description: The Metabase-flavored Markdown grammar for document_write — the CommonMark subset, {% card %} embeds, {% entity %} links, ::: layout containers (flex / supporting / resize) and nesting rules, surgical edits and their limits, card clones, comments. Triggers — "create a document / report", "put prose beside a chart", "embed a question in a document", "edit a document", "document comments".

Documents

A document is a rich-text page mixing prose with embedded saved questions. document_write takes Metabase-flavored Markdown: CommonMark plus tokens. Charts must exist first (question_write), embedded by id.

document_write {"method": "create", "name": "Weekly report",
                "content_markdown": "# Weekly report\n\nOrders trended up this week.\n\n{% card id=118 %}\n"}

CommonMark subset: headings, paragraphs, bold/italic/inline code, links (bare URLs autolink), lists, blockquotes, fenced code, horizontal rules, images. No tables, strikethrough, or task lists — the editor has no nodes for them; show tabular data by embedding a table-display question.

Tokens

• Card embed (block, own line): {% card id=118 %} or {% card id=118 name="Revenue by region" %} (name overrides the title). The id must be a saved question you can read; an unresolvable id fails the write. Height is assigned for you.
• Entity link (inline chip): {% entity id="42" model="dashboard" %} — id quoted; model ∈ card, dataset, metric, dashboard, collection, table, database, document (user parses but renders without a working link).

Layout containers (::: fences)

::: <name> {attrs} on its own line opens a container; a bare ::: closes the innermost open one (never ::: end) — every opener needs its own closer, in order.

• ::: flex {columns=[60,40]} — a row of 1–3 cells (percent widths); a cell is a card embed or a ::: supporting block. Never nest flex in flex.
• ::: supporting — a prose cell (paragraphs, headings, lists) inside a flex row.
• ::: resize {height=442 minHeight=280} — wraps exactly one card embed or flex row to pin its pixel height.

Prose beside a chart:

::: flex {columns=[60,40]}
::: supporting
### What happened
Revenue climbed through the quarter, led by the Gadget category.
:::
{% card id=118 %}
:::

(First ::: closes supporting, last closes flex.) To pin the row's height, wrap it in ::: resize {height=400} … :::.

Card clones

A card the document doesn't already own is cloned into it on write and its id rewritten in the stored body — the markdown stored is not the markdown you sent, so always take the returned content_markdown as current, and edit against that, never your own earlier text. The clone is what renders: to change an embedded chart (display, settings, query), question_write the clone id shown in content_markdown; the master card does nothing for the document. E.g. you embedded 148, the body now reads {% card id=155 %} — question_write {"method": "update", "id": 155, "display": "row"} changes the document, updating 148 does not.

Updating

Pass id and exactly one of:

• edits: [{old_str, new_str, replace_all?}] — the default. Each old_str must match the current server-side markdown exactly once: 0 matches = the document changed since you read it (copy from the returned content_markdown); >1 = extend the snippet or set replace_all: true. Blocks keep their ids, so comment anchors survive.
• content_markdown — full rewrite; every block is re-created, so every comment thread on the body is orphaned (listed in the response's orphaned_comment_threads). Only for restructuring; tell the user first.
• edits: [] — metadata only (name, collection_id, collection_position, archived), body untouched.

Writes are last-write-wins; a stale old_str failing to match is the only staleness signal.

What edits can do: new_str is parsed as Markdown, the same grammar as content_markdown. Inline syntax such as **bold** or *em* formats, a blank line (\n\n) splits a paragraph, and a new_str that replaces a whole block with - item lines, a fence, or a ::: container turns it into that block (listed in changed_blocks). Inside a code span or code block the replacement stays code. So edits cover rewording, formatting, and restructuring a block; content_markdown is only for rewriting the whole body.

Add a paragraph — extend the end of the block before it:

"edits": [{"old_str": "led by the Gadget category.",
           "new_str": "led by the Gadget category.\n\nGizmos were flat for the third quarter running."}]

Edit one bullet - match its text only, never the - marker, so the edit stays inside that item:

"edits": [{"old_str": "Churn fell to 4%", "new_str": "Churn fell to 3.8%"}]

Comments

get_content {"type": "document", "id": 12, "include": ["comments"]} returns threads grouped by anchored block, each with anchor: {start, end, text} — the exact character slice of the returned content_markdown — and thread messages (id, creator, text, is_resolved, created_at). A thread whose block was rewritten or deleted appears under orphaned_comments: the discussion still exists but points at no text, and only the UI can re-anchor it. MCP can read comments but not reply, resolve, or re-anchor — tell the user when a thread needs that.

Don't

• Don't question_write the master card to change an embedded chart — a no-op for the document; edit the clone id.
• Don't put Markdown syntax in new_str that you mean literally - it is parsed; escape it (\*).
• Don't include the - marker in a bullet edit - match the item's text only.
• Don't full-rewrite for a small change — every comment thread is orphaned, irreversibly.
• Don't write tables, strikethrough, or task lists — no document representation.

To confirm

get_content {"type": "document", "id": 12} returns the stored content_markdown (clone ids included); add "include": ["layout"] for the block outline, ["comments"] for anchors. Rendering in the editor has no API check.