Importing notes from other apps

You can import a zip file containing notes from other apps into Capacities. The import can contain Markdown files and media files (images, PDFs, audio files, etc.).

Below are the general rules for importing notes into Capacities.

Markdown files

Your notes will be imported to the specified space. Usually they will be added as a page unless a type or rules for the import are specified (see below). The import will try to preserve the structure of your notes as much as possible.

Formatting

The import supports any common Markdown formatting options. All special cases are listed below.

Linking

Links following these options will be correctly added:

• Markdown links to notes [link Text](linkUrl): Link URLs need to point to a local file in your import (relative or absolute path) and needs to be encoded as URL (no whitespace). If the file cannot be found, the link will be ignored.
• Markdown links to files ![link Text](linkUrl): Link URLs need to point to a local file in your import (relative or absolute path) and needs to be encoded as URL (no whitespace). If the file cannot be found, the link will be ignored.
• Wikilinks [[Note title]]: Wikilinks need to either reference a local file name or a note which is already in your space. If no note can be found, it will be ignored.
• Wikilinks to files ![[File name]]: Wikilinks need to reference a local file name. If no file can be found, it will be ignored.

In-text tagging

Hashtags in your import will be transformed to Capacities tags. A tag needs to start with a # and can contain letters, numbers, - and _.

Frontmatter

Frontmatter is a YAML block at the top of your note. It can contain metadata about your note. Capacities will import all properties of your frontmatter as properties to your object.

---
type: Book
title: Antifragile
description: A book about things that gain from disorder
createdAt: 2012-11-27 12:23
tags:
  - book
  - non-fiction
Author: Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Rating: 8
---

Certain properties have a special purpose. They need to be named exactly as specified below:

• type: The type of your object. The type needs to be exactly the singular of the object type in your space. If no type is specified or the type cannot be found in your space, the object will be imported as a page.
  If you want to import your notes into a object based structure we recommend to first create and structure your objects in Capacities and then import your notes.
• title: The title of your object. If no title is specified, the title will be the file name of your note.
• description: The description of your object. If no description is specified, the description will be empty.
• createdAt: The creation date of your object. If no creation date is specified, the creation date will be the date of the import. The date needs to be in the format YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm or as an ISO 8601 string (more information here) at GMT+0, not your local time zone.
• tags: The tags of your object. If no tags are specified, the tags will be empty. Tags need to either be comma separated or in a yaml list (either [tag1, tag2] or with dashed like above).
• Other properties: All other properties will be added to your object as properties. The property name needs to be exactly the same as the property name of your object or a lowerCamelCase version of it (e.g. Author of Book can be imported from authorOfBook). If the property does not exist, it will be added as unstructured metadata to your object and will be visible on the object page. The import currently accepts the following types of properties:
  • Text: Text properties will be imported as text. The text should not contain any line breaks or formatting.
  • Number: Number properties will be imported as numbers. The number should not contain any formatting.

Files and media

All other files will be analyzed and uploaded to Capacities as images, PDFs, audio files, or files. The file type will be determined based on the file extension. If the file type cannot be determined, it will be ignored. Files can be referenced in your notes using Markdown links or Wikilinks (see linking).

CSV files

CSV files allow you to import structured data to Capacities. The import will try to preserve the structure of your data as much as possible. You can import CSV files in two ways:

• As a file object: CSV files will be imported as a file object. The file will be uploaded to Capacities and can be referenced in your notes.
• As a collection: CSV files will be transformed into collections in Capacities. Each row in your CSV file will become an object of a certain type in your space. To properly map the object type and properties, please make sure to follow the rules below.

In the following, you can read more about import rules for importing CSV files as collections.

CSV object type and collection name

Capacities will determine the object type of your CSV rows based on the object type settings in the import settings. The type of your objects will be your fallback object type unless you select Top-level folder as object type. In that case the type of your collection will be determined based on the name of your top-level folder (read more below). If you import multiple CSV files, make sure to name them differently to avoid conflicts.

CSV property mapping

The import will try to map the columns of your CSV file to the properties of your object type. If the property does not exist, it will be added as unstructured metadata to your object and will be visible on the object page. The matching will work exactly like the matching rules of frontmatter properties in Markdown files.

Mapping CSV rows to markdown files

If you want to import your CSV file as additional metadata to your markdown files, your CSV file needs to contain a column with the name reference. The reference column needs to be an absolute path to your markdown file. The import will try to match the reference column to the file name of your markdown files. If the reference column does not exist or the markdown file cannot be found, a new object based on your CSV row will be created.

If you for example have a top-level folder called Meetings with a Markdown file called Meeting1.md your CSV file should look something like this:

title; tags; reference
Meeting1; project-unicorn; Meetings/Meeting1.md

If your markdown file has the same property names in the frontmatter, the import will favor the CSV data over the frontmatter data.

Organization options

Based on how you organized your content in your import you can pick from different options to organize your import in your space.

When importing notes, Capacities will try to organize your notes based on the following options:

Object type settings

• Fallback object type
  Notes will get converted to objects based on the type property in the frontmatter. If you did not specify a type property, you can select a type for these notes. The default fallback object type is Page.
• Top-level folder as object type
  If you choose these options the name of the first level folder will be used as a type identifier. It's important to use the plural of your object type. If you for example have an object called Meeting Note (Plural of name: Meeting Notes) the top-level folder needs to be called Meeting notes. Higher-level folders will be ignored. If you have a nested folder, like My Notes/Meeting Notes the import will try to match to My Notes and not Meeting Notes.
  This option allows to conveniently import notes to your existing objects. Simple create top-level folders and move all your book notes in the Books folder, etc. If you are importing to a new space or you want to add new object types from your imported notes, simply define these objects in your space first, create a folder named after the plural of that object type and add all notes to that folder.

Folder settings

My were maybe relying on a folder structure in your previous note-taking tool. Capacities does not have folders but there are multiple options on how you can import that information.

• Ignore Folders
  All notes will be imported but the folder structure will be lost.
• Add to top of content
  All notes will be imported and and the name of the folder will be added as a small note to the top of the content. If your notes was in the folder 2024/Favorites the note will start with Folder: 2024/Favorites.
• Add as tag
  All notes will be imported and the name of the folder will be added as a tag to the note. If your notes was in the folder 2024/Favorites the note will have the tag 2024/Favorites. If the tag does not exist yet, it will be created.

Import job settings

If you're importing a multiple times, your you want all your imported notes to be labeled, you might loose the overview. Here are some options to keep track of your imports.

• Do nothing
  The import will be added without any additional information.
• Add quick note to top of content
  You can choose a short text that will be added to the top of all imported notes. This can be useful to add a note like "Imported from Obsidian" to all your notes.
• Add tag to all imported notes
  You can choose a tag that will be added to all imported notes. This can be useful to add a tag like Needs processing to all your notes.
• Add to collection
  You can specify a collection name all imported notes will be added to. You can for example add all imported notes to a collection called Imported notes. Please be aware, that there will be one collection created for every object type you import notes to.

Limitations

• Folder structures
• Entity properties if note does not exist