Notion

notion

Use the Notion API to create/read/update pages, data sources (databases), and blocks.

Routing

• ❌ Don't use for local-first plain markdown notes (prefer obsidian).
• ❌ Don't use for quick macOS capture (prefer apple-notes).
• ❌ Don't use for simple tagged notes/research (prefer bear-notes).

Setup

1. Create an integration at https://notion.so/my-integrations
2. Copy the API key (starts with ntn_ or secret_)
3. Store it:

mkdir -p ~/.config/notion
echo "ntn_your_key_here" > ~/.config/notion/api_key

4. Share target pages/databases with your integration (click "..." → "Connect to" → your integration name)

API Basics

All requests need:

NOTION_KEY=$(cat ~/.config/notion/api_key)
curl -X GET "https://api.notion.com/v1/..." \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $NOTION_KEY" \
  -H "Notion-Version: 2025-09-03" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json"

Note: The Notion-Version header is required. This skill uses 2025-09-03 (latest). In this version, databases are called "data sources" in the API.

Common Operations

Search for pages and data sources:

curl -X POST "https://api.notion.com/v1/search" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $NOTION_KEY" \
  -H "Notion-Version: 2025-09-03" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query": "page title"}'

Get page:

curl "https://api.notion.com/v1/pages/{page_id}" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $NOTION_KEY" \
  -H "Notion-Version: 2025-09-03"

Get page content (blocks):

curl "https://api.notion.com/v1/blocks/{page_id}/children" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $NOTION_KEY" \
  -H "Notion-Version: 2025-09-03"

Create page in a data source:

curl -X POST "https://api.notion.com/v1/pages" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $NOTION_KEY" \
  -H "Notion-Version: 2025-09-03" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "parent": {"database_id": "xxx"},
    "properties": {
      "Name": {"title": [{"text": {"content": "New Item"}}]},
      "Status": {"select": {"name": "Todo"}}
    }
  }'

Query a data source (database):

curl -X POST "https://api.notion.com/v1/data_sources/{data_source_id}/query" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $NOTION_KEY" \
  -H "Notion-Version: 2025-09-03" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "filter": {"property": "Status", "select": {"equals": "Active"}},
    "sorts": [{"property": "Date", "direction": "descending"}]
  }'

Create a data source (database):

curl -X POST "https://api.notion.com/v1/data_sources" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $NOTION_KEY" \
  -H "Notion-Version: 2025-09-03" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "parent": {"page_id": "xxx"},
    "title": [{"text": {"content": "My Database"}}],
    "properties": {
      "Name": {"title": {}},
      "Status": {"select": {"options": [{"name": "Todo"}, {"name": "Done"}]}},
      "Date": {"date": {}}
    }
  }'

Update page properties:

curl -X PATCH "https://api.notion.com/v1/pages/{page_id}" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $NOTION_KEY" \
  -H "Notion-Version: 2025-09-03" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"properties": {"Status": {"select": {"name": "Done"}}}}'

Add blocks to page:

curl -X PATCH "https://api.notion.com/v1/blocks/{page_id}/children" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $NOTION_KEY" \
  -H "Notion-Version: 2025-09-03" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "children": [
      {"object": "block", "type": "paragraph", "paragraph": {"rich_text": [{"text": {"content": "Hello"}}]}}
    ]
  }'

Property Types

Common property formats for database items:

• Title: {"title": [{"text": {"content": "..."}}]}
• Rich text: {"rich_text": [{"text": {"content": "..."}}]}
• Select: {"select": {"name": "Option"}}
• Multi-select: {"multi_select": [{"name": "A"}, {"name": "B"}]}
• Date: {"date": {"start": "2024-01-15", "end": "2024-01-16"}}
• Checkbox: {"checkbox": true}
• Number: {"number": 42}
• URL: {"url": "https://..."}
• Email: {"email": "a@b.com"}
• Relation: {"relation": [{"id": "page_id"}]}

Key Differences in 2025-09-03

• Databases → Data Sources: Use /data_sources/ endpoints for queries and retrieval
• Two IDs: Each database now has both a database_id and a data_source_id
  • Use database_id when creating pages (parent: {"database_id": "..."})
  • Use data_source_id when querying (POST /v1/data_sources/{id}/query)
• Search results: Databases return as "object": "data_source" with their data_source_id
• Parent in responses: Pages show parent.data_source_id alongside parent.database_id
• Finding the data_source_id: Search for the database, or call GET /v1/data_sources/{data_source_id}

Notes

• Page/database IDs are UUIDs (with or without dashes)
• The API cannot set database view filters — that's UI-only
• Rate limit: ~3 requests/second average
• Use is_inline: true when creating data sources to embed them in pages