I’m working with the Notion API and need to relocate some pages in my workspace. I want to change the parent of certain pages so they appear under different sections. I’ve been looking through the official Notion API docs but haven’t found any clear methods for moving pages around or changing their hierarchy. Can anyone help me figure out if this is even supported? I’m specifically trying to move individual pages and maybe some databases too. Has anyone managed to do this kind of page reorganization using the API? What endpoints or methods should I be looking at?
Moving pages through the API works, but watch out for these gotchas. You need proper permissions on both source and destination - learned this when my requests kept throwing 403 errors. When you move a page, all child pages move with it automatically (caught me off guard). You can’t move pages to become top-level in a workspace - they always need a parent page or database. The API docs are pretty unclear about permission requirements, but once you nail the authentication, it’s just a simple PATCH request.
You can definitely move pages and databases with the Notion API. To do this, use the PATCH method targeting the pages endpoint. You’ll need to make a PATCH request to https://api.notion.com/v1/pages/{page_id} and include a parent property in the request body to specify the new parent. For moving pages, structure the body as { "type": "page_id", "page_id": "new-parent-id" }, and for databases, it should look like { "type": "database_id", "database_id": "target-database-id" }. I’ve handled this process multiple times when organizing various workspaces, and it works seamlessly. Just ensure your integration has editing permissions for both the source and destination pages.
hit this exact issue last week! the trick everyone misses: you need to update the parent object correctly in your PATCH request. use “page_id” if it’s going under another page, “database_id” if it’s going into a database. also check your integration token has write access to the destination - it’ll fail silently without it.
You’re right about the parent property approach, but I ran into some issues with archived pages. The API blocks moves on archived pages - you have to restore them first with a separate PATCH request. Also found out that pages with rollup properties get weird display bugs after moving. They still work, but look broken until you refresh the parent page. If you’re moving lots of pages, add exponential backoff between requests. Notion gets strict with rate limiting during bulk ops and you’ll hit 429 errors (even though they barely document this).
Skip the Notion API headaches and automate this instead. Manual moves work fine for one-offs, but they’re a pain for bulk operations or regular tasks.
I’ve built workflows that reorganize pages automatically - triggered by content changes, tags, or schedules. Way more reliable than writing API calls each time.
The real magic happens when you stack automations. I have one that moves finished project pages to archive, updates properties, and pings team members. All from changing a status.
You can also set up approval flows where moves only happen after meeting certain conditions. Great for keeping workspaces organized without babysitting everything.
Plus it handles permission errors and weird edge cases automatically. The workflow checks permissions first and deals with failures without breaking.
Latenode makes this setup way cleaner than managing API calls yourself: https://latenode.com
Been wrestling with this for months across different projects. PATCH method works like others said, but timing matters - especially in shared workspaces where multiple people edit at once. I add a small delay between checking page status and executing the move to prevent conflicts. If you’re moving pages with complex nested structures or embedded databases, the API sometimes needs a few seconds to process hierarchy changes. Always verify the move worked by checking the parent property after - I’ve had requests return 200 but the page didn’t actually move due to workspace restrictions I didn’t know about.