Give Codex a folder and an instruction and it walks every file, then hands you the diff. Your Notion database is exactly that job, but it is not a folder, so the cleanup you keep deferring, normalize the tags, tighten the summaries, fix the rich-text, would run live, where every view and linked database reacts the instant a row changes.
Scratch pulls the database down, one file per row. Codex edits the properties on your laptop and reports back like a code change; Scratch holds each one as a diff; nothing writes back until you approve it. Page bodies and computed properties stay read-only, so the structure the rest of your workspace leans on never moves.
How it works
- Scratch pulls your database into files. A Notion database becomes a folder on your laptop, one file per row, every property laid out to edit.
- Codex edits the rows. Point Codex at the Scratch folder and describe the cleanup. It works the table the way it works a codebase, and you read the result like a pull request. Normalize the tags on every row and tighten each summary to one line. Codex works the files, never the live database.
- You review every diff and publish. Scratch shows each changed property beside the original, word by word. Approve what holds up, and Scratch writes only those rows back through the Notion API.
What people use it for
The database tidying that stalls because Notion makes you open each row:
- Normalize tags and categories across every row.
- Bring each summary or description down to one line.
- Standardize a rich-text column after a long, messy edit cycle.
- Clean up the database behind a Notion site so the site reads clean.
- Fill empty select or status cells by reading each row.
Run it on a handful of rows to feel the loop, then turn it loose on the database.
Why not an MCP server?
A Notion MCP server or integration wires Codex straight to your live workspace. One pass rewrites every row at once, and whatever those databases feed updates instantly.
Scratch gives Codex the same full read and write access against a local copy instead. The write-back is lifted out and handed to you. Codex can change anything; only you can commit it. On a database your team works in every day, that gap is the whole point.
What Codex edits in Notion
- Database properties: titles, rich-text, select, multi-select, and dates
- Relation, people, and files properties
- Cover and icon metadata
Page bodies stay read-only. The connector edits the database side, not the block trees, toggles, or embeds inside a page, and computed properties (formula, rollup, created and edited metadata) stay locked. The full picture lives on Scratch for Notion.
Questions people ask
Is this an MCP server or a Notion integration?
Neither. An MCP or an integration hands Codex the write button. Scratch keeps it. Codex gets the same access, and writing back is a separate step you approve, one row at a time.
Will it touch my page content?
No. Codex edits database properties only. Page bodies, block trees, toggles, and embeds are never exposed, and computed properties like formulas and rollups stay locked.
Can I roll a change back after it writes?
Yes. Scratch keeps the original beside the rewrite, so every written row reverts per row. You decide which version stays.
How is this different from a CSV import or a script?
A CSV import and a script both write straight to the live database with no diff and no per-row approval, and a find-and-replace does only what you spelled out. Codex handles the rows a rule cannot, and Scratch still holds every change for review before it writes.
Can it run across a whole database from one prompt?
Yes, that is the use case. Run it on a handful of rows to feel the flow, then point it at the whole database.
Do I need to be technical?
Codex lives in the terminal, so if you run it already, you are set. If a terminal is not where you want to be, the Claude desktop app runs the same Scratch loop with a more familiar surface.
See it on your own database
The fastest way to trust it is to watch it run on your data. See it run on your Notion database →, or download Scratch free and take the first pass yourself.