Logseq DB Unofficial FAQ

Luhmann · June 8, 2025, 1:51am

WARNING: Logseq DB is still in alpha. Use only at own risk of losing data.

This post is for people who have questions about the new database (DB) version of Logseq. For the official announcement about the database version, see this post from April 2024. In writing this FAQ I don’t claim to speak for the team. Also, I am not a programmer and might make some mistakes. I’m just doing the best I can based on information I’ve seen posted on Discord and the Forums.

What happened to markdown files?

Both the original Markdown (MD) based version of logseq and the DB version use an internal database when you are using the app. The difference is that, in the MD version, the files are always canonical. In the DB version, while you will can export to markdown files, the database version is always canonical.

UPDATE: Here is a chart from @danzu that adds some clarity. When you are using either version of Logseq, it reads from in-memory database running on “Datascript.” The MD version stores the disk version in MD files, while the DB version stores the disk version in sqlite (an embedded database).

What does this mean? In the MD version you can modify your graph by editing the MD files directly. In the DB version you cannot do this. Some flexibility is lost as a result, but in exchange we will get better sync, real time collaboration (RTC), and less data loss.

Note, however, that sync and RTC will be part of “logseq pro” and require a subscription.

What are NewTags?

See my post on how tags work in Logseq DB.

Can we import our MD graph?

Yes, you can. Right now it is recommended to use the “File to DB Graph” option, and not the “EDN to DB Graph” option.

Note that #tags and [[page references]] are handled the same in the MD version but are different in the DB version. (See about NewTags above.) This will affect how your graph gets imported, depending on which options you choose during the import process. You should experiment with different options. Importing will not affect the original MD files.

What happened to whiteboards?

Whiteboards have been removed from the DB version of the app, temporarily, but will still work in the MD version of the combined desktop app.

They will come back after the team decides how best to handle them.

What happened to Zotero?

Zotero will no longer be supported as part of the core app. One will have to rely on plugins, like Zotero-local. The developer of Zotero-local has promised to update the app after the desktop app is released.

Is there a desktop app for Logseq DB?

A new combined desktop app is due to be released shortly. You can already try a pre-release build from this page. (You have to be logged in to Github in order to see the download links.)

This app allows you to open either MD or DB graphs. The DB version is still in alpha though, and they strongly recommend against using it for important work. Also, back up your MD graph before trying it as well, and note that some changes may affect how your MD graph behaves, especially if you depend on plugins. (Not all plugins will work with this new version of the app.)

What happened to sync?

There will be two sync solutions going forward. MD sync will continue to work as it does now, while the DB version will be part of “Logseq Pro” which will include real time collaboration (RTC) and publishing as well. It should be much faster and more reliable than the MD sync.

Logseq Pro will hopefully make Logseq profitable and allow for the company to be sustainable over the long term, so the team is putting a lot of work into making sure that these features work flawlessly.

What is Logseq Pro?

See the official FAQ.

Will we be able to self-host Logseq DB?

See this discussion

When will it be released?

UPDATE, posted on 2025-06-25

There is no official timeline, but the rollout to a final release will happen in stages:

The new desktop app (very soon, within weeks)
The new mobile app for Android and iOS (later this month).
The new sync solution (later this month)

Note that the Android app is already bundled with the desktop app, and the web app is usable on mobile already - but the rewritten mobile app will be better optimized for mobile devices. Also, the initial testing of the mobile app and sync will be for a small group of alpha testers, not open to the general public. Hard to know when it will transition to an open alpha that everyone can try.

How do namespaces (hierarchy) work in the DB version?

Namespaces in MD work like this [[computer/apple]]

In DB they work like this:

Apple
Parent::Computer

That is, the page is simply called “[[Apple]]” but the hierarchy is show via the “Parent::” property. That means you could have another page called “[[Apple]]” but with the “Parent::” value set to “pie.”

Will there be a calendar view?

Yes, supposedly a calendar view is planned. There are no details on it yet.

Will the mobile app support plugins?

It seems that there are plans to do this eventually, but right now the priority is to release the app and sync, so work on this will not happen for some time.

What is the “Library”?

One feature that has gotten very little attention from Logseq over the years is the “namespace” feature, which gives users the ability to have some additional hierarchy. In the MD version this feature was never even properly documented.

It seems that, in the MD version, the primary use intended for the feature was to avoid conflict between two identically spelled words that have different meanings. For instance, you might want to differentiate a page for “apple” when applied to Apple Computers, and for Apple Pie. You could do this by putting them in seaprate namespaces: [[computer/apple]] and [[pie/apple]].

In the DB version there was a new way to do this, you could have the same word with different tags: [[apple]]#computer and [[apple]]#pie, so it wasn’t clear what the future of the namespace feature might be. Namespaces made in the MD version were imported in an annoying way. You would get a page called [[apple]] with a property called Parent:: and the parent page would be [[computer]].

You could only edit each page’s place in the hierarchy by navigating to the page and editing this property. Now, however, the team has added a new “Library” feature which should make this easier, and make namespaces more useful.

What is Library? According to the PR for this feature , it is a “page to automatically collect namespace pages.” You can watch the demonstration video on that page, but the idea is simple. If you write [[computer/apple]] it will actually make it [[library/computer/apple]] and on the page [[library]] you will see an outline of all the page names that have hierarchy. You can edit them by simply dragging and dropping those pages in the outline, and you can add additional namespaces as well.

This should make editing hierarchy much easier, and allow people to give their logseq notes more structure if they need to.

Ryuki · June 10, 2025, 2:40am

Thanks for explanation.
I am using the desktop app for Logseq DB.
At first, I can not get used to the new tag. Through your post, I learned that they are targeting the super tag of tana.
After reading official document, I get the point of new tag.
I believe that the release of logseq DB can put logseq on the right track. After making profits through membership services, the update speed can be accelerated.
This will attract more developers to develop plugins to enrich the entire software ecosystem.
I hope that the official synchronization of logseq will be the same as Obsidian, and Chinese people can synchronize without VPN.

Luhmann · June 10, 2025, 10:52pm

Since the founder and lead developer, Tienson Qin, is based in China, I don’t think that will be a problem.

Ryuki · June 11, 2025, 1:29am

Hope it can come soon.
We have waited for 1.5 years.

steven_36632 · June 12, 2025, 6:19am

Thank you so much for your incredibly helpful post(s), @Luhmann! I’ve been a long-time Logseq user and your writings have been instrumental in allowing me to get the most out of Logseq as well as in now slowly transitioning to Logseq DB!

That said, there is one challenge I am facing with the new DB version that I haven’t found a workaround for yet, and I’m very much hoping you might be able to help with this:

I’ve been using attributes in Logseq MD quite a lot. For example, I’d have a page for [[Jon Krakauer]] and then I’d add an alias:: [[Krakauer, Jon]] for academic referencing. For a few personal contacts, I’d even add the first name [[Jon]] as an alias as well. This workflow no longer seems to be possible, so I was wondering whether there is any workaround or how you’d go about this. Thank you so much in advance for your help!

Ryuki · June 12, 2025, 7:11am

Hi. Steven.
There is an official property in Logseq. It is Alias.

steven_36632 · June 12, 2025, 8:02am

Hi @Ryuki, thank you so much for pointing that out, this is absolutely amazing and it perfectly works! Gosh, I’m so relieved that I can continue with my existing workflow! Just out of interest: For those of you who have been using the DB version those past weeks, has anyone experienced any data loss or anything alike?

Ryuki · June 12, 2025, 11:32am

Actually, in my two weeks of low-intensity use, I didn’t meet this issue.
Although there is no problem with the data, I did crash the software several times during my initial exploration. So the current alpha version is not stable enough. You need to be very careful when using it.

bitbonk · June 21, 2025, 10:39am

So Logseq MD will continue to be supported on desktop and mobile and I can always decide whether I use DB or MD for new graphs, correct?

What features will not be available or not work as well when I choose an MD based graph? (e.g., sync and RTC)

What features will not be available or not work as well when I choose a DB based graph? (e.g., self hosting with sync)

Luhmann · June 21, 2025, 10:31pm

Good questions. It would be good to have a clear chart showing this. Maybe @danzu would be willing to make one?

Luhmann · June 22, 2025, 3:57am

Here is a chart from @danzu

bitbonk · June 22, 2025, 2:46pm

Thank you @danzu! That chart is extremely helpful and makes perfect sense.
What are the longterm plans for MD mode? Is the plan to continue to support and develop MD mode further? Or will MD mode eventually be deprecated? I imagine it to be kind of challenging to support both modes well.

Luhmann · June 22, 2025, 8:49pm

Whenever the team has been asked such questions in the past, they have insisted that they will support MD mode going forward. But it is hard to know exactly what that means. I think we got a sense from the last big update to the desktop app, which broke some plugins and themes that worked with MD mode, even as it fixed hundreds of bugs. So the “core” MD mode still works, and was even updated with bug fixes, but some tools MD users might have depended on were broken. It is also unclear whether or not they will continue to support the older version of sync used by MD users?

Ryuki · June 23, 2025, 1:28am

That is cool. There will be KanBan View and Calendar View.
So when can we get the Logseq DB beta version and buy logseq pro?
It has been five years since Logseq released in 2020. We hope to see the 1.0 version as soon as possible.

Thorah · June 24, 2025, 5:50pm

Thanks so much @Luhmann and @danzu .

Could I ask what the Advanced Properties are though . I thought they were just the ‘class’ feature but I guess not. Maybe I missed an update.

Nayar · June 27, 2025, 3:23am

You are truly a genius at collecting and organizing

Luhmann · June 27, 2025, 12:53pm

The ‘class’ feature refers to NewTags, which allow you to associate a number of Advanced Properties with a tag, as well as have an automatic table view of all tagged items. Advanced Properties refers to the features associated with the properties themselves. You can create different kinds of properties: date, text, node, checkbox, etc. and they have a number of settings associated with them. The best way to understand it is to create a NewTag yourself and add some properties. You will then see all the options that are available.

Luhmann · June 27, 2025, 12:54pm

I’ve updated that section of the FAQ with the latest statement from Tienson

Ryuki · June 27, 2025, 4:19pm

That is a little difficult to understand. Maybe we need some examples in real-world use cases.

Thanks for your post. It really helps us.

danzu · June 27, 2025, 5:51pm

Take a look at Logseq DB Library video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1xpHrZKGIY
Let me know if there is anything else to clarify.