Notion Integration

Certum Draft integrates with Notion to manage your client and matter databases. Search for existing clients when creating matters, create new matters and clients in Notion, and sync notes bidirectionally.

What You Can Do

Feature	Direction	Description
Search clients	Read	Find existing clients when creating matters
Search matters	Read	Look up matters by number or client
Create matters	Write	New matters are created in Notion automatically
Create clients	Write	New clients are added to your Clients database
Link clients to matters	Write	Client relation is set on new matters
Shared Note	Bidirectional	Edit the Shared Note in the app or Notion
Team tagging	Write	Tag team members on new matters
Certum link	Write	Link back to Certum Draft saved to matter page

Setting Up Notion

1. Create a Notion Integration

   Go to Notion Integrations, click New integration, give it a name (e.g., “Certum Draft”), select your workspace, and click Submit.

   Important: Enable these capabilities:

   • Read content
   • Update content
   • Insert content

   Copy the Internal Integration Token (starts with ntn_).

2. Share Databases with the Integration

   In Notion, open your Clients database, click … (More) → Connections → find your integration and connect it. Repeat for your Matters database.

3. Find Your Database IDs

   Each Notion database has a unique ID in its URL:

   https://www.notion.so/yourworkspace/abc123def456...?v=...
                                       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
                                       This is the database ID

   Copy the ID portion (32 characters, before the ?v= query string).

4. Configure in Certum Draft

   Open Preferences (⌘ + ,) → Notion tab. Paste your Integration Token and click Save Token. Enter both Database IDs and click Save Database IDs.

Connection Diagnostics

After configuring, click Test Connection to verify your setup:

Check	What it Verifies
Authentication	Your integration token is valid
Clients Database	The database exists and is accessible
Matters Database	The database exists and is accessible
Schema Validation	Expected properties exist in each database

Database Schema

Certum Draft reads from and writes to specific Notion property names. Your databases should include these properties.

Clients Database

Property	Type	Required	Notes
Client Full Name	Title	Yes	Format: “SURNAME, Given Names”
Email	Email	No
Phone	Phone	No	Mobile and landline combined with | separator
Address	Text	No	Combined address (auto-parsed into components)
Type	Select	No	Individual, Company, Trust, Other
Matters	Relation	No	Link to Matters database
S/C Packet No	Text	No	Safe custody packet number

Tip

Phone number format: When both mobile and landline are provided, Certum Draft combines them with a pipe: 0412 345 678 | 02 9876 5432. The mobile number comes first.

Matters Database

Property	Type	Required	Notes
Description	Title	Yes	Matter name / Re: line
No.	Number	Yes	Matter number (e.g., 13556)
Client	Relation	Yes	Link to Clients database
Type	Multi-select	No	Matter type categories
Status	Status	No	Active, Completed, Closed, On Hold, Not started
Property	Text	No	Property description
Person Acting	People	No	Responsible person
Open Date	Date	No
Close Date	Date	No
File Ref	Text	No	Local file reference
S/C Packet No	Text	No	Safe custody packet number
Shared Note	Text	No	Synced with Matter Workspace
Certum Link	URL	No	Link back to open in Certum Draft

Tip

The client name field uses “SURNAME, Given Names” format (e.g., “SMITH, John William”). Certum Draft automatically parses this into separate surname and given name fields for templates.

How Data Flows

When Creating a Matter

1. Client selected from Notion — Name parsed into components, address split into parts
2. Matter created — New page created in Matters database with:
   • Matter number, description, type
   • Client relation linked
   • Status set to “Active”
   • Open Date set to today
   • Team members tagged (if configured)
   • Certum Draft link saved
3. New client created (if not found) — Added to Clients database
4. Shared Note initialised — Available for editing in the workspace

Phone Number Handling

Certum Draft separates mobile and landline numbers in the form, but Notion has a single Phone field.

Reading from Notion:

• If the phone contains |, it’s split: first part is mobile, second is landline
• If no pipe, the number is treated as mobile (backwards compatible)

Writing to Notion:

• Both numbers are combined with a pipe separator
• Format: {mobile} | {landline}
• If only one number exists, no pipe is added

Shared Note Sync

The Shared Note field syncs bidirectionally:

• From Notion: The note loads when you open a matter, showing @mentions with highlighting
• To Notion: Edits save back to Notion with proper @mention formatting
• @mentions: Typing @Name creates a real Notion mention (the person is notified)

Team Tagging

Automatically tag team members when creating matters:

1. Open Preferences → Notion → Team Tagging
2. Click Fetch Workspace Users to load available users
3. Select the team members to tag on new matters
4. When creating matters, selected users are:
   • Added to the “People” property on the matter page
   • @mentioned in a comment on the matter page

Certum Link

Each matter in Notion includes a URL field that links back to Certum Draft:

• Format: certum://open?matter=013548
• Usage: Clicking this link opens the matter in Certum Draft
• Limitation: Notion displays custom URL schemes as text (not clickable)

Note

While the Certum link in Notion isn’t clickable, you can copy it or use it in other applications. The reverse direction (Open in Notion from Certum Draft) works via the toolbar button.

Not Using Notion?

Notion integration is completely optional. Without it:

• Client details are entered manually for each matter
• Client information is stored locally in the matter metadata
• All other features work exactly the same
• Matters exist only on disk (no cloud sync)

Troubleshooting

”Test Connection” button is greyed out

All three fields must be saved: Integration Token (click Save Token), Clients Database ID, and Matters Database ID (click Save Database IDs).

”Not authenticated” Error

• Check that your integration token is correct
• Ensure the token starts with ntn_ (newer tokens) or secret_ (older tokens)
• Try generating a new token at Notion Integrations

”Database not found” Error

• Verify the database ID is correct (32 characters)
• Ensure you’ve connected the database to your integration in Notion
• Check that you haven’t accidentally copied the view ID instead

”Missing properties” Warning

• The schema validation found expected properties missing from your database
• Add the missing properties to your Notion database
• Or ignore if you don’t need those fields — only Title and Relation fields are essential

Matter not appearing in Notion

• Check that the integration has “Insert content” capability enabled
• Verify the Matters database is connected to your integration
• Look in Notion’s database for recent entries (it may be filtered by a view)

@mentions not working

• The person must be a member of your Notion workspace
• Their name must match exactly as it appears in Notion
• The integration needs permission to mention users

Rate Limit Errors

• Wait a few seconds and try again
• Notion allows approximately 3 requests per second
• Certum Draft automatically throttles requests, but rapid operations may trigger limits