Switching to Alexandria

Start with the mental model

Most note apps ask you to put each note somewhere: a folder, notebook, space, or database. Alexandria starts from a different place:

• A note is a plain Markdown file with YAML frontmatter.
• Any note can also become a tag.
• A note can have many tags, so it does not need one fixed location.
• A tag can define typed properties that appear on notes carrying that tag.

That means folders usually become tags, and repeated fields become tag properties. A Book tag might define author:string, status:select, and rating:number. A Project tag might define status:select, deadline:date, and budget:money.

The files remain yours. Alexandria stores notes under notes/ as Markdown files, keeps media under media/, and derives its search/tag index from those files.

Import capability today

Alexandria has one dedicated importer today: Notion, through akb-importer.

For other tools, migration is currently manual: export or convert your content to Markdown, create Alexandria notes, recreate the important tags, and fill in tag-property values as you review.

See Imports for the current importer mechanics and options.

Per-tool guides

• Switching from Notion: use the dedicated importer, then review the Alexandria tags and properties it creates.
• Switching from Obsidian: keep Markdown bodies, then adapt folders, tags, links, and plugin-specific syntax.
• Switching from Evernote: convert ENEX or HTML exports to Markdown before recreating notebooks and tags.
• Switching from Apple Notes: copy or export notes, convert rich content to Markdown, and recreate folders as tags.
• Switching from Tana: map nodes and supertags to notes, tags, and supported property types.

A practical migration shape

Start with a small representative set rather than the whole archive.

1. Pick the notes you most care about.
2. Decide which old folders, notebooks, databases, or supertags should become Alexandria tags.
3. Decide which repeated fields should become tag properties.
4. Import or create the notes.
5. Review the result in Alexandria, then repeat in larger batches.

Related

• Imports
• Concepts
• Tagging
• Getting Started