botserver/docs/src/chapter-14-migration/notion.md

Notion Migration Guide

Migrating content and workflows from Notion to General Bots.

Overview

Notion is a collaborative workspace combining notes, databases, and project management. General Bots provides equivalent functionality through its knowledge base, task management, and AI-powered conversation features—with the added benefit of self-hosting and native automation.

Why Migrate

Aspect	Notion	General Bots
Hosting	Cloud only	Self-hosted
Pricing	$10-15/user/month	No per-user fees
AI Features	$10/user/month add-on	Native (any LLM)
Automation	Limited	Full BASIC scripting
Chat/Bot	Not included	Multi-channel
API Creation	Not available	Instant webhooks
Data Sovereignty	Their servers	Your infrastructure

Content Mapping

Notion to General Bots

Notion Feature	General Bots Equivalent
Pages	Knowledge base documents (.gbkb)
Databases	Tables (CSV/database)
Kanban boards	Task boards
Calendar	Calendar API
Comments	Conversation history
Templates	Bot templates
Integrations	BASIC scripts + webhooks
Notion AI	LLM keyword

Migration Process

Step 1: Export Notion Content

1. Go to Settings & Members → Settings
2. Scroll to Export content
3. Choose Export format: Markdown & CSV
4. Download the ZIP file

The export includes:

• Pages as Markdown files
• Databases as CSV files
• Attachments in folders

Step 2: Prepare Knowledge Base

Organize exported content for General Bots:

my-bot.gbkb/
├── company-info/
│   ├── about.md
│   ├── policies.md
│   └── procedures.md
├── products/
│   ├── catalog.md
│   └── pricing.md
└── support/
    ├── faq.md
    └── troubleshooting.md

Step 3: Import Documents

Place Markdown files in your .gbkb folder. General Bots automatically indexes them for RAG:

USE KB "company-info"
USE KB "products"
USE KB "support"

TALK "How can I help you?"
HEAR question
answer = LLM question
TALK answer

Step 4: Convert Databases

Transform Notion CSV exports to General Bots tables:

' Import Notion database export
data = READ "notion-export/Projects.csv"

FOR EACH row IN data
    INSERT "projects", #{
        name: row["Name"],
        status: row["Status"],
        due_date: row["Due Date"],
        assignee: row["Assignee"],
        imported_at: NOW()
    }
NEXT row

TALK "Imported " + LEN(data) + " projects"

Step 5: Recreate Task Boards

Convert Notion Kanban boards to General Bots task boards:

' Create project for Notion board
project_id = CREATE PROJECT "Product Roadmap" WITH DESCRIPTION "Migrated from Notion"

' Import tasks
tasks = READ "notion-export/Roadmap.csv"

FOR EACH task IN tasks
    status = SWITCH task["Status"]
        CASE "Not Started" : "todo"
        CASE "In Progress" : "in_progress"
        CASE "Done" : "done"
        DEFAULT : "todo"
    END SWITCH
    
    CREATE TASK task["Name"] IN PROJECT project_id WITH STATUS status
NEXT task

Notion AI to General Bots

Document Summarization

Notion AI:

• Highlight text → "Summarize"
• Limited to Notion content

General Bots:

USE KB "documents"
summary = LLM "Summarize the key points from our Q3 report"
TALK summary

Content Generation

Notion AI:

• Type /ai → Generate content
• Basic prompting

General Bots:

SET CONTEXT "You are a technical writer. Write clear, concise documentation."

TALK "What would you like me to write?"
HEAR topic

content = LLM "Write comprehensive documentation about: " + topic
WRITE "/docs/" + SLUGIFY(topic) + ".md", content
TALK "Documentation created!"

Q&A on Documents

Notion AI:

• Ask questions about page content
• Single page context

General Bots:

' Load entire knowledge base
USE KB "all-docs"
USE KB "wiki"
USE KB "procedures"

' Answer questions across all content
TALK "Ask me anything about our documentation"
HEAR question
answer = LLM question
TALK answer

Automation Migration

Notion Automations (Limited)

Notion has basic automations for:

• Status changes
• Due date reminders
• Slack notifications

General Bots Equivalent

Status change automation:

ON "table:projects:update"
    IF params.old_status <> params.new_status THEN
        IF params.new_status = "complete" THEN
            SEND MAIL TO params.owner_email SUBJECT "Project Completed" BODY "Your project " + params.name + " is now complete!"
        END IF
    END IF
END ON

Due date reminders:

SET SCHEDULE "every day at 9am"

upcoming = FIND "tasks", "due_date = DATEADD(NOW(), 1, 'day') AND status <> 'done'"

FOR EACH task IN upcoming
    SEND MAIL TO task.assignee_email SUBJECT "Task Due Tomorrow" BODY "Reminder: " + task.name + " is due tomorrow"
NEXT task

Slack notifications:

ON "table:tasks:insert"
    POST "https://hooks.slack.com/services/xxx", #{
        text: "New task created: " + params.name,
        channel: "#tasks"
    }
END ON

Database Migration

Notion Database Properties

Notion Property	General Bots Equivalent
Title	TEXT column
Text	TEXT column
Number	NUMERIC column
Select	TEXT with validation
Multi-select	JSONB array
Date	DATE/TIMESTAMP column
Person	User reference
Files	File path references
Checkbox	BOOLEAN column
URL	TEXT column
Email	TEXT column
Phone	TEXT column
Formula	Computed in BASIC
Relation	Foreign key
Rollup	AGGREGATE queries

Formula Migration

Notion formula:

prop("Price") * prop("Quantity")

General Bots:

' Calculate on insert/update
total = price * quantity
INSERT "orders", #{item: item, price: price, quantity: quantity, total: total}

' Or query with calculation
SELECT "*, price * quantity as total FROM orders"

Relation Migration

Notion relations link databases together.

General Bots:

' Create related tables
CREATE TABLE "projects" (id, name, status)
CREATE TABLE "tasks" (id, project_id, name, assignee)

' Query with join
tasks = FIND "tasks", "project_id = '" + project_id + "'"

' Or use JOIN keyword
result = JOIN "projects", "tasks", "projects.id = tasks.project_id"

Template Migration

Notion Templates

Notion templates are pre-filled pages. Convert to General Bots templates:

Meeting notes template → BASIC script:

' meeting-notes.bas
PARAM meeting_title AS string
PARAM attendees AS string
PARAM date AS date

DESCRIPTION "Create meeting notes document"

template = "# " + meeting_title + "

**Date:** " + FORMAT(date, "MMMM d, yyyy") + "
**Attendees:** " + attendees + "

## Agenda
1. 
2. 
3. 

## Discussion Notes


## Action Items
- [ ] 
- [ ] 

## Next Meeting
"

WRITE "/meetings/" + FORMAT(date, "yyyy-MM-dd") + "-" + SLUGIFY(meeting_title) + ".md", template
TALK "Meeting notes created: " + meeting_title

Project Template

' new-project.bas
PARAM project_name AS string
PARAM owner AS string

DESCRIPTION "Create new project with standard structure"

project_id = CREATE PROJECT project_name WITH DESCRIPTION "Created by template"
ADD USER TO PROJECT project_id, owner, "owner"

' Create standard tasks
CREATE TASK "Define requirements" IN PROJECT project_id
CREATE TASK "Create timeline" IN PROJECT project_id
CREATE TASK "Assign resources" IN PROJECT project_id
CREATE TASK "Kickoff meeting" IN PROJECT project_id
CREATE TASK "First milestone review" IN PROJECT project_id

TALK "Project '" + project_name + "' created with 5 starter tasks"

What You Gain

Self-Hosting

Your data stays on your infrastructure. No concerns about Notion's data practices or service availability.

Native AI Without Extra Cost

Notion charges $10/user/month for AI features. General Bots includes AI at no additional cost—use any LLM provider.

Full Automation

Go beyond Notion's limited automations with complete BASIC scripting:

SET SCHEDULE "every monday at 9am"

' Generate weekly report
projects = FIND "projects", "status = 'active'"
tasks_completed = AGGREGATE "tasks", "COUNT", "id", "completed_at > DATEADD(NOW(), -7, 'day')"

SET CONTEXT "You are a project manager. Create a concise weekly summary."
report = LLM "Summarize: " + LEN(projects) + " active projects, " + tasks_completed + " tasks completed this week"

SEND MAIL TO "team@company.com" SUBJECT "Weekly Project Summary" BODY report

Multi-Channel Access

Access your knowledge base through any channel:

' Same bot works on web, WhatsApp, Teams, Slack
TALK "How can I help you today?"
HEAR question

USE KB "company-wiki"
answer = LLM question
TALK answer

Custom APIs

Create APIs instantly—something not possible in Notion:

WEBHOOK "project-status"

project = FIND "projects", "id = '" + params.id + "'"
tasks = FIND "tasks", "project_id = '" + params.id + "'"

WITH response
    .project = project
    .task_count = LEN(tasks)
    .completed = LEN(FILTER(tasks, "status = 'done'"))
END WITH

Migration Checklist

Pre-Migration

• Export all Notion content (Markdown & CSV)
• Inventory databases and their properties
• Document active integrations
• Identify critical templates
• Set up General Bots environment

Migration

• Organize Markdown files into .gbkb structure
• Import database CSVs to tables
• Convert formulas to BASIC calculations
• Recreate task boards as projects
• Migrate templates to BASIC scripts
• Set up automations

Post-Migration

• Verify all content is searchable
• Test database queries
• Confirm automations work
• Train team on new interface
• Redirect any Notion integrations

Best Practices

Organize knowledge base thoughtfully. Group related documents in collections for better RAG results.

Simplify database structures. Notion encourages complex relations; General Bots works best with cleaner schemas.

Leverage AI for migration. Use General Bots' LLM to help transform and summarize Notion content:

content = READ "notion-export/long-document.md"
summary = LLM "Create a concise summary of this document: " + content
WRITE "/summaries/document-summary.md", summary

Keep templates as scripts. BASIC templates are more powerful than Notion's static templates.

See Also

• Knowledge Base - KB configuration
• Projects - Project management
• Template Variables - Dynamic content
• Platform Comparison - Full feature comparison