UI Export Guide - Keyboard Shortcuts & Partial Exports

November 5, 2025 · View on GitHub

This guide explains how to export EDN data using Logseq's UI instead of the CLI, including how to configure keyboard shortcuts to avoid exporting unwanted pages and blocks.

Quick Navigation: Why Use UI Export? | Setting Up Shortcuts | Export Types | Partial Exports

Why Use UI Export?

While the CLI export workflow is recommended for developers, UI-based exports are useful when:

✅ You want a quick one-off export without setting up CLI
✅ You're working on a non-developer machine
✅ You need to export specific pages or blocks (partial export)
✅ You prefer visual workflow over command-line

However: UI exports have an important limitation you need to understand.

⚠️ Critical: Keyboard Shortcuts Required

The Problem

When using Logseq's UI to export EDN data without setting keyboard shortcuts, the export will include:

❌ ALL pages in your graph (including personal notes, journal entries, etc.)
❌ ALL blocks (not just your template classes and properties)
❌ Timestamped filenames (e.g., logseq_db_Templates_1762330414.edn)

This is NOT what you want when exporting templates from a working graph!

The Solution

Set up keyboard shortcuts to export only specific data:

For page-level exports → Export entire pages with their properties
For block-level exports → Export individual blocks (more granular)
For template-only exports → Export just classes and properties (graph ontology)

Setting Up Keyboard Shortcuts

Step 1: Open Keymap Settings

Open Logseq
Click Settings (⚙️ icon)
Navigate to Keymap section
In the search box, type: export

You should see these export options:

Export page EDN data
Export block EDN data
Export public graph pages as html
Export graph's tags and properties EDN data

Step 2: Configure Shortcuts

Click on each export type to set a keyboard shortcut:

Export Type	Recommended Shortcut	What It Exports
Export page EDN data	`Ctrl+Alt+E` (Windows/Linux) `⌘+Alt+E` (Mac)	Current page and its properties
Export block EDN data	`Ctrl+Alt+B` (Windows/Linux) `⌘+Alt+B` (Mac)	Selected block only
Export graph's tags and properties EDN data	`Ctrl+Alt+T` (Windows/Linux) `⌘+Alt+T` (Mac)	All classes and properties (template export)

Screenshot Reference:

Your screenshot shows the default state where shortcuts are marked as "Unset" or "Custom". After setting them up, you'll see your configured shortcuts.

Step 3: Test Your Shortcuts

Open any page in your graph
Press your configured shortcut (e.g., Ctrl+Alt+E)
A file save dialog should appear
Name your export file (e.g., test_export.edn)
Click Save

✅ If the save dialog appears → Your shortcut is working! ❌ If nothing happens → The shortcut may conflict with another app or wasn't saved properly

Understanding Export Types

1. Export Page EDN Data (`Ctrl+Alt+E`)

When to use: Exporting a single class definition with all its properties.

What it exports:

The current page
All properties on that page
All blocks on that page
Metadata (created/updated timestamps if included)

Example use case:

You're working on a "Person" class page with properties:
- email
- jobTitle
- birthDate

Export this single page to share with another developer.

Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Alt+E (Custom: ⌘+Alt+E)

2. Export Block EDN Data (`Ctrl+Alt+B`)

When to use: Exporting a single property or small section.

What it exports:

The currently selected block only
Child blocks (if any)
No page-level metadata

Example use case:

You have a block defining a property:
- propertyName: "email"
- type: :default
- cardinality: :one

Export just this block definition.

Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Alt+B (Custom: ⌘+Alt+B)

3. Export Graph's Tags and Properties EDN Data (`Ctrl+Alt+T`)

When to use: Exporting your ENTIRE template (all classes and properties).

What it exports:

✅ All classes (e.g., Person, Organization, Event)
✅ All properties (e.g., email, legalName, eventStatus)
✅ Class-property relationships
✅ Parent-child class hierarchy
❌ NO regular pages (journal entries, personal notes, etc.)
❌ NO content blocks (just structure)

Example use case:

You've built a complete template graph with 632 classes and 1,033 properties.

Export the entire ontology to share as a template.

Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Alt+T (Custom: ⌘+Alt+T + ⌘+Alt+P)

⭐ This is the recommended export for template developers!

Partial Export Strategies

Strategy 1: Export Ontology Only (Recommended)

Goal: Export just classes and properties, no content pages.

Method:

Use keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Alt+T
This triggers: "Export graph's tags and properties EDN data"
Save as: logseq_db_Templates.edn

What you get:

{:properties
 {:user.property/email-xyz {...}
  :user.property/jobTitle-abc {...}
  ...}

 :classes
 {:user.class/Person-123 {...}
  :user.class/Organization-456 {...}
  ...}

 :logseq.db.sqlite.export/export-type :graph-ontology}

✅ Clean template export ✅ No personal data ✅ Ready to share

Strategy 2: Export Specific Classes

Goal: Export only certain classes (e.g., Person, Organization) without the entire template.

Method:

Create a new temporary graph
Import only the classes you need from your main template
Use Ctrl+Alt+T to export the filtered ontology

Alternative (Manual):

Export full template using Ctrl+Alt+T
Open the EDN file in a text editor
Manually remove unwanted classes and properties
Validate the EDN syntax

⚠️ Warning: Manual editing is error-prone. Use with caution.

Strategy 3: Export Working Graph with Content (NOT Recommended for Templates)

Goal: Export everything (including pages, blocks, content).

Method:

Do NOT set keyboard shortcuts (leave them unset)
Go to: File → Export → Export graph as EDN
This will export your entire graph

What you get:

All pages (including journal, personal notes)
All blocks (including content, tasks, queries)
All properties
All classes
Timestamped filename

⚠️ Use case: Backing up or migrating an entire graph, NOT for template distribution.

Best Practices for Template Exports

✅ Do This

Set keyboard shortcuts for ontology export (Ctrl+Alt+T)
Use consistent filenames without timestamps:
- logseq_db_Templates.edn (clean version)
- logseq_db_Templates_full.edn (with metadata)
Test imports in a fresh graph before sharing
Validate EDN syntax using scripts/validate.sh
Use CLI for automation if you're doing frequent exports

❌ Don't Do This

❌ Export without keyboard shortcuts configured (gets everything)
❌ Keep timestamped filenames (e.g., logseq_db_Templates_1762330414.edn)
❌ Export from a graph with personal data mixed in
❌ Manually edit EDN without validation
❌ Rely on UI export if you need version control (use CLI instead)

Troubleshooting

Problem: Keyboard Shortcut Doesn't Work

Possible causes:

Shortcut conflicts with system or browser shortcuts
Shortcut wasn't saved (didn't click "Save" or "Apply")
Logseq needs restart to apply changes

Solution:

Try a different key combination
Restart Logseq
Check if another app is capturing the shortcut

Problem: Export Includes Unwanted Pages

Cause: You exported without using the "Export graph's tags and properties EDN data" option.

Solution:

Use Ctrl+Alt+T (ontology export) instead of full graph export
Configure the keyboard shortcut as described above

Problem: File Has Timestamped Name

Cause: Logseq's default export behavior adds timestamps.

Solution:

After export, manually rename the file:

logseq_db_Templates_1762330414.edn
→
logseq_db_Templates.edn

Or use the CLI export scripts which control filenames

Problem: Export File is Huge (500MB+)

Cause: You exported the entire graph including all content blocks.

Solution:

Use ontology-only export (Ctrl+Alt+T)
Check .gitignore to avoid committing large files
Template files should be < 5MB (text-only ontology)

Workflow Comparison: UI vs CLI

Aspect	UI Export	CLI Export
Setup	No setup, use immediately	Requires Node.js + `@logseq/cli`
Speed	Manual (2-3 clicks)	Automated (one command)
Filename Control	Manual rename required	Fully automated
Consistency	Depends on user	Always consistent
Partial Exports	Easy (page/block level)	Requires filters
Version Control	Manual git workflow	Integrated in scripts
Best For	One-off exports, quick tests	Daily development, CI/CD

Recommendation:

Use UI export for quick tests and one-off exports
Use CLI export for daily development and automation

Step-by-Step: Complete UI Export Workflow

For Template Developers

1. Configure Keyboard Shortcuts (One-time)
   Settings → Keymap → Search "export"
   Set "Export graph's tags and properties EDN data" to Ctrl+Alt+T

2. Work in Your Template Graph
   Build classes, add properties, test functionality

3. Export Ontology
   Press Ctrl+Alt+T
   Save as: logseq_db_Templates_[timestamp].edn

4. Rename File
   logseq_db_Templates_1762330414.edn
   →
   logseq_db_Templates.edn

5. Review Changes
   git diff logseq_db_Templates.edn

6. Commit
   git add logseq_db_Templates.edn
   git commit -m "feat: add Recipe class"
   git push

Advanced: Mixing UI and CLI Workflows

You can combine both approaches:

# Use UI for quick page-level exports during development
1. Press Ctrl+Alt+E to export current page
2. Review changes in that specific class

# Use CLI for final template export
3. Run: ./scripts/export.sh
4. Commit the CLI-generated clean version

Benefits:

Fast iteration with UI exports
Consistent final output with CLI

CI/CD Pipeline - Complete CLI export workflow
Quick Start Guide - Getting started
Technical Reference - EDN format details

FAQ

Q: Can I export a subset of classes using UI? A: Not directly. You'd need to:

Create a temporary graph
Import only desired classes
Export that filtered graph

Q: Should I commit timestamped exports to Git? A: No. Add them to .gitignore and rename to consistent filenames.

Q: Is UI export suitable for CI/CD? A: No. Use CLI exports for automation and version control.

Q: Can I automate UI exports? A: Not easily. The UI requires manual interaction. Use CLI for automation.

Last Updated: November 2025 Maintained By: Logseq Template Graph Contributors

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