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Bringing a DEVONthink library into Actium
Actium can read a DEVONthink files-and-folders export and carry across the metadata that comes with it. This is an on-ramp for people already keeping their work in DEVONthink, not a full database migration. It is one supported import path among several, not the reason Actium exists.
What this import is, and is not
DEVONthink can export any group as a plain tree of files and folders, with each item's metadata written alongside it. Actium reads that export: it registers the folder as a repository, indexes the files in place, and maps the exported metadata onto its own fields and annotation files. Nothing is uploaded, and the original export stays readable on its own.
It is not a reconstruction of the DEVONthink database. Anything that only exists inside DEVONthink's store, rather than in the export, does not come across. The list below is explicit about where that line falls.
Before you start
- Use a recent version of Actium Desktop for macOS. The import runs on the Mac.
- Decide where the exported tree should live. If you put it in iCloud Drive, the imported library and its metadata sync to your iPhone and iPad like any other Actium repository.
- Give yourself disk space for a second copy. The export is a genuine duplicate of your files; you can delete the DEVONthink originals later, once you are satisfied.
Step by step
Export from DEVONthink as files and folders
In DEVONthink, select the group (or the whole database) and use File › Export › Files & Folders. Keep the option that writes metadata alongside each item enabled. DEVONthink produces a folder tree plus small sidecar files describing each document.
Put the export where you want the library to live
Move the exported folder to its final home — an iCloud Drive folder if you want it on mobile too, or local storage if it should stay on one Mac.
Register it in Actium and run the import
Add the folder as a repository. Actium detects the DEVONthink export layout, indexes the files, and writes the mapped metadata into its own _actium sidecar files next to each document.
Review the result
Open the Health view to check for anything flagged, spot-check a few items to confirm tags, comments, and custom fields landed where you expect, then set up inboxes, projects, and research areas the way you want to work now.
What carries across
- Finder comments become Actium annotations.
- Tags are imported as tags.
- Item URLs (the "URL" field DEVONthink keeps per item) are preserved.
- Custom metadata is mapped onto Actium custom fields, including fields DEVONthink stores without a human-readable label.
- Creation and modification dates and the folder structure of the export.
- A stable identifier per item, so links you make in Actium keep working as the library changes.
What does not
- Smart Groups. If they appear in the export they are shown in the file tree, but Actium does not re-run their rules — they are a snapshot, not a live query.
- Replicants and the database's duplicate handling. The export is a plain file tree; a replicated item becomes an ordinary file.
- Database-only search operators and AI features. Actium has its own search, related-items, and local-AI classification; it does not reproduce DEVONthink's.
- Anything DEVONthink chose not to write into the export.
The honest summary
If your DEVONthink use is mostly files, folders, tags, comments, and custom fields, the import gets you a working Actium library without re-entering any of it. If you lean on Smart Groups, replicants, or database-specific search, treat those as things to rebuild in Actium's terms rather than expect to inherit.