Notion

The Notion integration backs up and restores Notion workspaces through the official Notion API. Workspace content, including pages, databases, blocks and their hierarchical relationships, is captured as structured JSON and stored in a Kloset store.

The integration includes two connectors:

Requirements

• An internal Notion integration created in the workspace, with the capabilities described in Notion API setup.
• The API token of that integration.
• At least one page shared with the integration.
• For restores, a target page shared with the integration, and its Page ID.

Installation

The Notion package can be installed using pre-built binaries or compiled from source.

$ plakar pkg add notion

$ plakar pkg show

$ plakar pkg build notion

$ plakar pkg add -allow-unsigned ./notion_v1.0.0_darwin_arm64.ptar

$ plakar pkg show

To list, upgrade, or remove the package, see managing packages guide.

Notion API setup

Plakar accesses a workspace through an internal integration created in that workspace. The integration’s capabilities determine what Plakar can read and write, and only pages shared with it are visible to Plakar.

Create a Notion integration

1. Go to https://www.notion.so/profile/integrations.
2. Click Create a new integration.
3. Configure the integration:
   • Name: a descriptive name (e.g., “Plakar Backup”)
   • Type: Internal
   • Associated workspace: the workspace to back up
4. Click Create to create the integration.
5. Click Configure integration settings in the success popup.

Configure integration capabilities

In the Capabilities section of the integration settings page, enable the following capabilities, then click Save:

• Read content: required for backing up pages and databases
• Update content: required for restoring pages and databases
• Insert content: required for restoring pages and databases
• Read comments: required for backing up discussion threads
• Insert comments: required for restoring discussion threads

Copy the API token

The token section is on the integration settings page, just before the Capabilities section. Click Show on the “Internal Integration Secret” and copy the token (format: ntn_xxx...).

Share pages with the integration

The integration must be given access to top-level pages:

1. Click Edit Access.
2. Select the top-level pages and databases to back up.
3. Click Save.

What is backed up

A backup captures the following content from every page shared with the integration:

• Pages: all content, blocks, and page properties
• Databases: structure, properties, views, and all entries
• Media: images, files, and embedded content (stored as references)
• Comments: discussion threads and annotations
• Metadata: creation dates, authors, last edited information
• Relationships: parent-child hierarchies and database links

Configuration

The source connector retrieves workspace data through the Notion API and stores it as structured JSON, including page content, databases, blocks, metadata and hierarchical relationships. The destination connector reads that JSON from a Kloset store and recreates pages and content in Notion through the API, under an existing target page.

Backup flow

flowchart LR

subgraph Source["Notion"]
  FS["Data"]
end

Plakar["Plakar"]

Via["Retrieve data via
Notion source connector"]

Transform["Transform data as a structured JSON document"]

Store["Kloset Store"]

FS --> Via --> Plakar --> Transform --> Store

Restore flow

flowchart LR

Store["Kloset Store"]

Plakar["Plakar"]

Transform["Reconstruct data from structured JSON document"]

Via["Restore data via
Notion destination connector"]

subgraph Destination["Notion"]
  FS["Data"]
end

Store --> Plakar --> Transform --> Via --> FS

Shared configuration

The following options apply to both source and destination connectors.

Destination configuration

The following extra option is required by destination connectors.

The Page ID identifies the page under which the backup contents are restored. To find it, open the page in Notion, click Share in the top right, then Copy link. The URL has the format https://www.notion.so/PageName-PAGE_ID, and the Page ID is the long alphanumeric string after the last dash. For example, in https://www.notion.so/MyPage-1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef, the Page ID is 1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef.

Example

Create a Notion source configuration and back up the workspace to a Kloset store:

$ plakar source add mynotion location=notion:// token=$NOTION_API_TOKEN

$ plakar at /var/backups backup "@mynotion"

Create a Notion destination configuration, set the target page ID, and restore a snapshot:

$ plakar destination add mynotion location=notion:// token=$NOTION_API_TOKEN

$ plakar destination set mynotion rootID=$NOTION_PAGE_ID

$ plakar at /var/backups restore -to "@mynotion" <snapshot_id>

Limitations and scope

Each top-level page must be manually shared with the integration. Pages that are not explicitly shared are not backed up, even if they are linked from shared pages.

Some third-party or custom Notion blocks may not serialize perfectly. All standard Notion blocks are fully supported.

Due to Notion API limitations, media files (images, PDFs, documents) cannot be restored directly. Media can be restored to the filesystem and re-uploaded manually.

Restoring requires an existing Notion Page ID as the destination. The API does not support creating new top-level pages.