Migrate Craft docs to local Markdown on Mac

Craft captured the attention of Mac and Apple ecosystem users by showing that note-taking could be visually stunning, fluid, and deeply integrated with native platform design paradigms.

With its sleek iOS and macOS interfaces, elegant typography, visual card blocks, and intuitive sub-page nesting, Craft made writing product specs, client deliverables, and personal journals feel modern and polished.

Yet as power users, developers, technical writers, and privacy-conscious professionals used Craft over extended periods, several core structural pain points emerged:

First, the proprietary cloud container model. While Craft offers an “External Locations” feature, its primary experience relies on Craft Cloud Spaces. In Craft Cloud, your documents are stored in proprietary cloud databases. You cannot easily version control them with Git, query them with standard command-line tools like grep or ripgrep, or inspect them directly in Finder without performing manual exports.

Second, subscription fatigue and paywalled capabilities. Craft utilizes a recurring subscription model, gating team collaboration, custom domains, AI assistant features, and advanced storage behind ongoing monthly or annual fees.

Third, superficial visual formatting vs true knowledge graphs. Craft prioritizes visual presentation—gradient cards, custom decorative covers, and stylized block containers—over deep associative knowledge graphs. It lacks robust bidirectional link tracking, dynamic backlinks panels, and interactive force-directed graph visualization.

Fourth, no native on-device meeting intelligence. Craft is a writing tool, not a workflow workspace. In modern remote and hybrid work environments, professionals spend hours in Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams meetings. Craft offers no native audio capture or local transcription, forcing users to juggle external transcription services and manually paste meeting notes.

Migrating your Craft spaces to clean CommonMark Markdown (.md) in Oyma preserves your elegant typography and structured document hierarchies while giving you complete data sovereignty, zero subscriptions, and integrated on-device meeting transcription on macOS.

The architectural chasm: proprietary cloud blocks vs sovereign local files

Comparing Craft’s architecture with Oyma highlights the shift from proprietary cloud containers to open, future-proof text files:

1. The Craft application model

• Proprietary block database: Documents are stored as JSON block objects inside SQLite containers or synchronized via Craft Cloud.
• Card-centric presentation: Information is frequently encapsulated in decorative cards that visual-lock content into Craft’s custom rendering engine.
• Cloud-dependent features: Advanced search, sharing, and AI integrations require an active internet connection and Craft servers.
• Hierarchical nesting: Relationships are primarily parent-to-child sub-pages rather than organic, multidimensional graph networks.

2. Oyma‘s local-first architecture

• Pure CommonMark files: Every document is a standard .md file stored directly on your Mac’s filesystem.
• 100% offline autonomy: Zero network dependencies. Every feature—including sub-50ms search and meeting transcription—runs locally on Apple Silicon.
• Associative knowledge graph: Connect ideas naturally across folders and spaces using [[WikiLinks]] and explore emergent relationships in an interactive Graph View.
• Botless meeting capture: Record and transcribe meetings directly on your Mac using ScreenCaptureKit and Whisper without cloud bots or transcription subscriptions.

Comprehensive transfer matrix: what moves from Craft

Craft provides one of the cleanest Markdown exporters among modern document editors:

Craft Feature	Conversion Status	Result in Oyma & Local Storage
Typography & headings	Clean	Converted directly to CommonMark #, ##, ### headers and clean paragraphs.
Bold, italics, code styling	Clean	Standard inline syntax (**bold**, *italic*, `code`) preserved 1:1.
Document sub-pages	Clean	Exported as nested subfolders containing discrete, interconnected .md files.
Tables & structured data	Clean	Converted to standard GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM) pipe tables.
Embedded photos & media	Clean	Exported into local asset directories and linked via relative Markdown paths.
Checklists & task items	Clean	Preserved as standard Markdown task lists (- [ ], - [x]).
Code blocks & languages	Clean	Converted to standard triple-backtick fenced blocks with language indicators.
Visual cards & gradient covers	Partial	Converted to clean Markdown blockquotes or linked text references.
Block background highlights	Partial	Retained as standard text; highlights can be represented with standard markdown tags.
Craft Cloud sync metadata	Unsupported	Cloud metadata is stripped; notes become sovereign local text files on your Mac.

Step-by-step migration playbook: from Craft to Oyma

The following walkthrough demonstrates how to export your Craft documents and open them in Oyma:

Step 1: Export all documents from Craft

1. Open the Craft application on your Mac.
2. Select the Space you wish to migrate from the left sidebar.
3. In the sidebar, click on All Documents to view your complete library.
4. Select all documents by pressing ⌘A, or click the Space name at the top of the sidebar and select Space Settings.
5. Choose Export.
6. In the export dialog:
   • Format: Select Markdown (or Textpack).
   • Export Mode: Select Separate Files.
   • Media: Ensure Include Images and Attachments is checked.
7. Click Export and choose a destination folder on your Mac (for example, ~/Downloads/Craft-Export).
8. Craft will generate a folder containing all your documents as .md files alongside their embedded media assets.

Step 2: Organize folder hierarchies

Open the exported folder in Finder:

• Notice that documents with nested sub-pages have been created as folders containing individual .md files.
• All photos, diagrams, and attachments are organized neatly in accompanying asset folders.
• Move the exported folder to your permanent notes directory:

mv ~/Downloads/Craft-Export ~/Documents/Notes/Craft-Vault

Step 3: Optional: Convert relative file links to [[WikiLinks]]

Craft exports inter-document links as standard markdown relative paths: [Meeting Notes](Meeting%20Notes.md)

If you prefer clean bidirectional [[WikiLinks]] for seamless graph visualization and effortless linking, run this Python script across your vault:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import os
import re
import urllib.parse

VAULT_DIR = os.path.expanduser("~/Documents/Notes/Craft-Vault")

# Match standard markdown links to local .md files
LINK_REGEX = re.compile(r"\[([^\]]+)\]\(([^)]+\.md)\)")

def convert_links(filepath):
    with open(filepath, "r", encoding="utf-8") as f:
        content = f.read()

    def replace_link(match):
        title = match.group(1)
        target_path = match.group(2)
        
        # Strip URL encoding and .md extension
        decoded_path = urllib.parse.unquote(target_path)
        base_title = os.path.splitext(os.path.basename(decoded_path))[0]
        
        # If link text matches file title, simplify to [[Title]]
        if title.strip() == base_title.strip():
            return f"[[{base_title}]]"
        else:
            return f"[[{base_title}|{title}]]"

    new_content = LINK_REGEX.sub(replace_link, content)
    
    if new_content != content:
        with open(filepath, "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
            f.write(new_content)

for root, _, files in os.walk(VAULT_DIR):
    for file in files:
        if file.endswith(".md"):
            convert_links(os.path.join(root, file))

print("All Craft relative links converted to [[WikiLinks]]!")

Step 4: Open your vault in Oyma

1. Launch Oyma on your Mac.
2. In the welcome dialog, click Open vault (or press ⌘O).
3. Select your ~/Documents/Notes/Craft-Vault folder.

Oyma instantly mounts your entire library:

• All pages and subfolders render in the left navigation sidebar.
• Your typography renders crisply in our live-preview editor.
• The interactive Graph View maps the relationships between your documents.
• Instant offline full-text search indexes your entire library in milliseconds.

What Oyma adds to your Craft workflow

Moving from Craft to Oyma gives you the visual refinement you expect on macOS, backed by powerful features designed for serious knowledge work:

1. Bidirectional [[WikiLinks]] and dynamic backlinks

While Craft primarily organizes notes through parent-child folder hierarchies, Oyma unlocks fluid associative linking. Type [[ anywhere to link concepts across different folders. The backlinks panel automatically reveals every reference to the current note, helping you discover connections you had forgotten.

2. High-performance spreadsheet tables

Craft’s tables are visually neat but limited in functionality. Oyma provides spreadsheet-like tables with keyboard navigation (Tab/Enter), formula calculations, column sorting, and seamless copy-pasting to and from Microsoft Excel and Apple Numbers—all serialized cleanly as standard Markdown on disk.

3. Integrated botless meeting capture and transcription

Many Craft users maintain meeting logs and customer notes. With Oyma, you never need to take manual notes during calls again. Built on macOS ScreenCaptureKit, Oyma captures both microphone and system audio without sending a bot to your Google Meet or Zoom call. On-device Whisper models transcribe the conversation with zero cloud transmission, and private LLMs extract key decisions directly into your notes.

4. Absolute data privacy and zero subscriptions

Craft requires paid subscriptions to access advanced features and relies on proprietary cloud synchronization. In Oyma, your notes are standard Markdown files stored on your local disk. You have complete data sovereignty, zero ongoing subscription fees, and guaranteed longevity.

Elevate your writing on macOS

Craft proved that writing on Apple devices should be an aesthetic pleasure. Oyma takes that vision further: pairing beautiful typography with the speed of local-first engineering, the intelligence of on-device meeting capture, and the permanent sovereignty of open Markdown.

Export your Craft spaces today and enjoy the ultimate writing experience on macOS.

What transfers from Craft to local Markdown

Migrating from Craft to sovereign Markdown (.md) preserves your core intellectual property while changing how formatting blocks are stored. Here is our empirically tested fidelity matrix:

Step-by-step migration procedure

Follow this sequence to export your Craft library safely and open it in Oyma without data loss:

1. Export your Craft Spaces via the Mac desktop app

   Open Craft on your Mac. Navigate to the Space you wish to export. Open Settings > Space Settings > Advanced, or select all documents in the All Documents view. Click the Export button, select 'Markdown' (or 'Textpack'), and choose 'Export all documents as individual files'.

2. Unpack archives and organize folder structures

   Craft generates a zipped folder containing individual `.md` files alongside corresponding asset folders. Unpack the zip file into your preferred notes location (such as `~/Documents/Notes/Craft-Vault`). Verify that sub-pages have unpacked into their parent folder directories.

3. Convert sub-page references into [[WikiLinks]]

   Craft formats internal document links as standard markdown relative paths (`[Title](subpage.md)`). You can keep these standard links or run an automated regex script to convert them into intuitive bidirectional `[[WikiLinks]]` for seamless graph visualization.

4. Open the folder directly in Oyma

   Launch Oyma, select 'Open vault', and choose your unpacked Craft directory. Oyma instantly mounts your notes, builds a local SQLite full-text search index, and displays your entire knowledge archive in our fluid live-preview editor.

Known conversion gaps and practical workarounds

Every proprietary note system utilizes features that have no 1:1 equivalent in plain Markdown. Here is how to navigate Craft's structural limitations:

• Decorative card formatting: Craft allows wrapping paragraphs in colorful cards and visual banners; Markdown represents these as standard text callouts or blockquotes.
• Block background colors: Visual color highlights applied to entire blocks flatten to standard text or inline highlights.
• Proprietary Craft Cloud sync: Craft's closed cloud synchronization is replaced by local disk ownership and optional Git version control.

Frequently asked questions

What export format should I choose in Craft: Markdown or Textpack?

Both formats are excellent. Markdown exports individual `.md` files alongside asset folders. Textpack (`.textpack`) packages each document and its media into a zipped bundle. For Oyma, exporting directly as standard Markdown is fastest, as all `.md` files and asset folders are immediately ready to open in Finder.

How does Craft handle nested sub-pages during export?

Craft treats sub-pages as nested documents. When you export a document with sub-pages, Craft creates a folder named after the parent document containing the sub-pages as individual `.md` files. This maps naturally to native macOS folder hierarchies in Oyma.

Can I preserve Craft tables in Oyma?

Yes. Craft exports tables as standard GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM) pipe tables. When opened in Oyma, our spreadsheet-like table editor renders them with keyboard navigation, column sorting, and instant editing.

Why switch from Craft to Oyma on Mac?

Craft is an aesthetically pleasing app, but it relies on proprietary cloud synchronization, subscription tiers for storage and AI, and closed database containers for offline spaces. Oyma provides native macOS elegance with 100% local Markdown sovereignty, on-device Whisper meeting transcription, and zero cloud lock-in.