5-minute tutorial
Migrate Notion to PostgreSQL in 60 Seconds
Learn how to copy your Notion data to PostgreSQL with a single command using ingestr - no code required.
What you'll learn
Prerequisites
- Python 3.8 or higher installed
- Notion workspace with databases
- Integration created and connected to workspace
- Database shared with integration
- API token generated
- PostgreSQL server accessible from your network
- Database user with appropriate permissions
- pg_hba.conf configured to allow connections
- Firewall rules allowing port 5432 (or custom port)
Step 1: Install ingestr
Install ingestr in seconds using pip. Choose the method that works best for you:
Recommended: Using uv (fastest)
# Install uv first if you haven't already
pip install uv
# Run ingestr using uvx
uvx ingestr
Alternative: Global installation
# Install globally using uv
uv pip install --system ingestr
# Or using standard pip
pip install ingestr
Verify installation: Run ingestr --version
to confirm it's installed correctly.
Step 2: Your First Migration
Let's copy a table from Notion to PostgreSQL. This example shows a complete, working command you can adapt to your needs.
Set up your connections
Notion connection format:
notion://api_key@database_id
Parameters:
- • api_key: Integration token from Notion
- • database_id: ID of the Notion database
PostgreSQL connection format:
postgresql://username:password@host:port/database?sslmode=disable
Parameters:
- • username: Database user
- • password: User password
- • host: Database server hostname or IP
- • port: Server port (default 5432)
- • database: Database name
- • sslmode: SSL mode (disable, require, verify-ca, verify-full)
BigQuery Setup Required
Before running the command:
- Create a service account in Google Cloud Console
- Grant it BigQuery Data Editor and Job User roles
- Download the JSON key file
- Use the path to this file in your connection string
Run your first copy
Copy the entire users table from Notion to PostgreSQL:
ingestr ingest \
--source-uri 'notion://secret_abc123@8a4b5c6d7e8f9g0h' \
--source-table 'Tasks' \
--dest-uri 'postgresql://myuser:mypass@localhost:5432/mydb?sslmode=require' \
--dest-table 'raw.Tasks'
What this does:
- • Connects to your Notion database
- • Reads all data from the specified table
- • Creates the table in PostgreSQL if needed
- • Copies all rows to the destination
Command breakdown:
--source-uri
Your source database--source-table
Table to copy from--dest-uri
Your destination--dest-table
Where to write data
Step 3: Verify your data
After the migration completes, verify your data was copied correctly:
Check row count in PostgreSQL:
-- Run this in PostgreSQL
SELECT COUNT(*) as row_count
FROM raw.Tasks;
-- Check a sample of the data
SELECT *
FROM raw.Tasks
LIMIT 10;
Advanced Patterns
Once you've mastered the basics, use these patterns for production workloads.
Only copy new or updated records since the last sync. Perfect for daily updates.
ingestr ingest \
--source-uri 'notion://secret_abc123@8a4b5c6d7e8f9g0h' \
--source-table 'public.orders' \
--dest-uri 'postgresql://myuser:mypass@localhost:5432/mydb?sslmode=require' \
--dest-table 'raw.orders' \
--incremental-strategy merge \
--incremental-key updated_at \
--primary-key order_id
How it works: The merge strategy updates existing rows and inserts new ones based on the primary key. Only rows where updated_at
has changed will be processed.
Common Use Cases
Ready-to-use commands for typical Notion to PostgreSQL scenarios.
Daily Customer Data Sync
Keep your analytics warehouse updated with the latest customer information every night.
# Add this to your cron job or scheduler
ingestr ingest \
--source-uri 'notion://secret_abc123@8a4b5c6d7e8f9g0h' \
--source-table 'public.customers' \
--dest-uri 'postgresql://myuser:mypass@localhost:5432/mydb?sslmode=require' \
--dest-table 'analytics.customers' \
--incremental-strategy merge \
--incremental-key updated_at \
--primary-key customer_id
Historical Data Migration
One-time migration of all historical records to your data warehouse.
# One-time full table copy
ingestr ingest \
--source-uri 'notion://secret_abc123@8a4b5c6d7e8f9g0h' \
--source-table 'public.transactions' \
--dest-uri 'postgresql://myuser:mypass@localhost:5432/mydb?sslmode=require' \
--dest-table 'warehouse.transactions_historical'
Development Environment Sync
Copy production data to your development PostgreSQL instance (with sensitive data excluded).
# Copy sample data to development
ingestr ingest \
--source-uri 'notion://secret_abc123@8a4b5c6d7e8f9g0h' \
--source-table 'public.products' \
--dest-uri 'postgresql://myuser:mypass@localhost:5432/mydb?sslmode=require' \
--dest-table 'dev.products' \
--limit 1000 # Only copy 1000 rows for testing
Troubleshooting Guide
Solutions to common issues when migrating from Notion to PostgreSQL.
Connection refused or timeout errors
Check your connection details:
- Ensure integration has access to database
- Verify API token is valid
- Check database ID is correct
- Confirm API rate limits not exceeded
- Check pg_hba.conf for authentication settings
- Verify listen_addresses in postgresql.conf
- Ensure firewall allows connections on PostgreSQL port
- Test with psql client first to isolate issues
Authentication failures
Common authentication issues:
- Ensure integration has access to database
- Verify API token is valid
- Check database ID is correct
- Confirm API rate limits not exceeded
- Check pg_hba.conf for authentication settings
- Verify listen_addresses in postgresql.conf
- Ensure firewall allows connections on PostgreSQL port
- Test with psql client first to isolate issues
Schema or data type mismatches
Handling data type differences:
- ingestr automatically handles most type conversions
- Notion: Rich text needs parsing
- Notion: Relations are referenced by ID
- Notion: Files are URLs
- Notion: Formula fields are computed
- PostgreSQL: JSONB fields may need special handling
- PostgreSQL: Arrays are PostgreSQL-specific feature
- PostgreSQL: UUID type requires proper mapping
- PostgreSQL: Custom types may need conversion
Performance issues with large tables
Optimize large data transfers:
- Use incremental loading to process data in chunks
- Run migrations during off-peak hours
- Split very large tables by date ranges using interval parameters
Ready to scale your data pipeline?
You've learned how to migrate data from Notion to PostgreSQL with ingestr. For production workloads with monitoring, scheduling, and data quality checks, explore Bruin Cloud.