Imports: bring your notes in

Imports move content from other tools into Alexandria.

The supported importer today is Notion. Export your Notion workspace, then run akb-importer to create Alexandria notes, tags, and properties.

Looking to pull activity data (like your Netflix viewing history) onto the timeline instead? See data ingestion.

What gets imported

• Pages: page content becomes note bodies.
• Databases: rows become notes; database fields become tag properties where possible.
• Basic Notion properties: text, select, multi-select, date, number, checkbox.
• Local image assets referenced by pages: imported into media/, with their Markdown references rewritten. External image URLs are left as external URLs.
• Page hierarchy: parent/child relationships are recreated from the export's folder structure where possible (treat the result as a rough outline and lean on tags for cross-cutting organization).

What is not imported yet

• Database relations, formulas, and rollups.
• Database views, filters, sorts, grouping, permissions, comments, and page history.
• Non-image attachments.

Import from Notion

1. In Notion, go to Settings & members → Settings → Export content.
2. Choose Markdown & CSV.
3. Download and unzip the export folder.

Build the importer from the repository root:

cargo build --release -p alexandria-importer

Run it with your export folder and destination Alexandria workspace:

./target/release/akb-importer notion \
  /path/to/notion/export \
  /path/to/alexandria/workspace

Useful options:

• --dry-run: preview the import without writing files.
• --use-created-time: use Notion's Created time for note dates.
• --verbose: show detailed progress.
• --continue-on-error: keep going when some files fail.

Examples:

# Basic import
./target/release/akb-importer notion \
  ./notion-export \
  ./alexandria-workspace

# Use original creation dates
./target/release/akb-importer notion \
  ./notion-export \
  ./alexandria-workspace \
  --use-created-time

# Dry run first
./target/release/akb-importer notion \
  ./notion-export \
  ./alexandria-workspace \
  --dry-run --verbose

After importing, open the Alexandria workspace and review the created notes and tags. For large imports, test with a small export first.