Export

Export downloads an entire space, or a single folder, as one ZIP archive of Markdown files. Because your files are the source of truth (the file-first principle), export reads them straight off disk instead of rebuilding them from an index: the archive carries the actual files, including the notarium-id in each file's frontmatter.

That is exactly why export is reversible — you can bring it back with import, or move it to another instance without losing structure, identity, or dates. Export isn't really "hauling data out"; it's a convenient way to package what already lives on disk as your files.

How to export

Export lives on the Export tab in a space's settings:

The button queues a job, and from there you get a progress bar with percentages (once the note count is known) plus a Cancel button.
When it's ready, the archive downloads automatically; the Download .zip (download again) and Export again (re-run the export) buttons stay put alongside it.
Leaving the tab and coming back is safe: on your return you'll see the running job again, or a file ready to download.

You can export a single folder from the tree's context menu — the Export folder item. It's the same job scoped to a subtree; progress shows up in a "sticky" toast with a cancel button.

Options

Both export paths accept the same set of parameters:

Parameter	Values	What it does
`scope`	`user` (default) · `all`	`user` — your notes only; `all` — everything the space holds, including the agent's memory mount (`.notarium/memory`).
`frontmatter`	`keep` (default) · `strip`	`keep` writes the file as-is; `strip` cuts the YAML block — a clean copy for reading.
`folder`	path	Scope the export to a subtree (what Export folder does).

frontmatter=strip breaks re-import

Stripping frontmatter yields a lossy copy: along with the YAML block you lose the notarium-id and tags. Such an archive is convenient for handing notes off for reading, but you can no longer import it back without loss. For moving data, stick with keep (the default).

Export is not an instance backup

Even with scope=all, an export archive carries nothing but the space's Markdown files. It contains no metadata database: no accounts, no access rights, no version history, no job state. You cannot restore an instance from it. Backups are a separate operation, run with a built-in command of the image — see Backup and restore.

How it works under the hood

Export is built to stream, so that an arbitrarily large knowledge base is never held in memory:

Asynchronous job by default. When the host has a metadata database (the norm for self-host), export is a durable job: a background worker assembles the ZIP into artifact storage and serves the finished file with resumable-download support. A closed tab, a dropped connection, or a server restart won't derail the export.
The download isn't buffered. The browser streams the finished archive straight to disk, taking the name from the response header — a large knowledge base isn't held in the tab's memory.
Canceling stops the work. A canceled download stops pulling notes — the server won't sit reading the whole knowledge base for nothing.

flowchart LR
  notes[(Markdown notes)] -->|read from disk| worker[Background worker]
  worker -->|ZIP| artifact[Job artifact]
  artifact -->|download| user([Browser])

Export without a metadata database

On a host with no metadata database (it's absent only in AUTH_MODE=none mode) there's no job layer: export takes the synchronous streaming path — the same ZIP is served as a direct download within a single request, with no progress and no resumable download. Only the delivery method changes; the result is the same.

Boundaries

One space at a time. Spaces are isolated stores with their own access control; to export several, export each one separately.
The artifact has a TTL. The finished ZIP is kept for a limited time (7 days by default) and removed by the garbage collector; you can re-download it until it expires.
Binary attachments aren't exported. The archive carries note text — Markdown files.
Cancel, but not pause. A job can be canceled; there's no pausing and resuming.

Import — bring an archive back, or move a knowledge base to another instance.
Section overview — why file-first makes import and export cheap.