notion-local-dev-loop

Notion Local Dev Loop

Overview

Set up a fast, reproducible local development workflow for Notion integrations. This skill covers creating a dedicated dev integration with its own token, structuring the project for testability, mocking the Notion SDK in unit tests, and running integration tests against a sandboxed dev workspace. The approach keeps production data safe while enabling rapid iteration.

Prerequisites

• Completed notion-install-auth setup (you have a working Notion integration)
• Node.js 18+ with npm/pnpm, or Python 3.10+
• A Notion workspace where you can create test pages and databases

Instructions

Step 1: Create a Dev Integration and Workspace Sandbox

Create a separate integration exclusively for development. This prevents accidental writes to production data.

1. Go to Settings & Members > Connections > Develop or manage integrations (or visit developers.notion.com)
2. Click New integration and name it My App — Dev
3. Copy the token (starts with ntn_) into .env.development
4. Create a dedicated Dev Workspace page (or a top-level "Dev Testing" page) and share it with the dev integration
5. Inside that page, create test databases that mirror your production schema

# .env.development — git-ignored, dev only
NOTION_TOKEN=ntn_dev_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
NOTION_TEST_DATABASE_ID=aaaaaaaa-bbbb-cccc-dddd-eeeeeeeeeeee
NOTION_TEST_PAGE_ID=ffffffff-0000-1111-2222-333333333333

# .env.example — commit this as a template
NOTION_TOKEN=ntn_your_dev_token_here
NOTION_TEST_DATABASE_ID=your_test_db_id
NOTION_TEST_PAGE_ID=your_test_page_id

Project structure:

my-notion-project/
├── src/
│   ├── notion/
│   │   ├── client.ts          # Singleton with retry + rate-limit awareness
│   │   ├── queries.ts         # Database query wrappers
│   │   └── helpers.ts         # Property extractors, rich text builders
│   └── index.ts
├── tests/
│   ├── unit/
│   │   └── notion.test.ts     # Mocked SDK tests
│   └── integration/
│       └── notion.test.ts     # Live API tests (gated)
├── .env.development            # Dev token (git-ignored)
├── .env.example                # Template for team
├── .gitignore
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.json
└── vitest.config.ts

Step 2: Configure the Client with Retry and Rate-Limit Handling

The Notion API enforces a hard limit of 3 requests per second across all pricing tiers. Build retry logic into your client from day one.

// src/notion/client.ts
import { Client, LogLevel, isNotionClientError, APIResponseError } from '@notionhq/client';

let instance: Client | null = null;

export function getNotionClient(): Client {
  if (!instance) {
    instance = new Client({
      auth: process.env.NOTION_TOKEN,   // SDK reads NOTION_TOKEN automatically if omitted
      logLevel: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development' ? LogLevel.DEBUG : LogLevel.WARN,
      // baseUrl can be overridden for proxy/mock servers:
      // baseUrl: process.env.NOTION_BASE_URL || 'https://api.notion.com',
    });
  }
  return instance;
}

// Retry wrapper with exponential backoff for rate limits
export async function withRetry<T>(
  fn: () => Promise<T>,
  maxRetries = 3
): Promise<T> {
  for (let attempt = 0; attempt <= maxRetries; attempt++) {
    try {
      return await fn();
    } catch (error) {
      if (
        isNotionClientError(error) &&
        error instanceof APIResponseError &&
        error.status === 429 &&
        attempt < maxRetries
      ) {
        const retryAfter = parseInt(error.headers?.get('retry-after') || '1', 10);
        const delay = retryAfter * 1000 * Math.pow(2, attempt);
        console.warn(`Rate limited. Retrying in ${delay}ms (attempt ${attempt + 1}/${maxRetries})`);
        await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, delay));
        continue;
      }
      throw error;
    }
  }
  throw new Error('Unreachable');
}

{
  "scripts": {
    "dev": "tsx watch src/index.ts",
    "dev:debug": "NOTION_LOG_LEVEL=debug tsx watch src/index.ts",
    "test": "vitest",
    "test:watch": "vitest --watch",
    "test:integration": "INTEGRATION=true vitest run tests/integration/",
    "typecheck": "tsc --noEmit"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "@notionhq/client": "^2.2.0"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "tsx": "^4.0.0",
    "typescript": "^5.0.0",
    "vitest": "^2.0.0",
    "dotenv": "^16.0.0"
  }
}

Step 3: Write Unit Tests with Mocked SDK and Integration Tests

Unit tests mock the entire @notionhq/client module so they run instantly with no network calls. Integration tests hit the real API but are gated behind an environment variable and target only the dev workspace.

// tests/unit/notion.test.ts
import { describe, it, expect, vi, beforeEach } from 'vitest';
import { Client } from '@notionhq/client';

vi.mock('@notionhq/client', () => ({
  Client: vi.fn().mockImplementation(() => ({
    databases: {
      query: vi.fn(),
      retrieve: vi.fn(),
      create: vi.fn(),
      update: vi.fn(),
    },
    pages: {
      create: vi.fn(),
      update: vi.fn(),
      retrieve: vi.fn(),
    },
    blocks: {
      children: { list: vi.fn(), append: vi.fn() },
      retrieve: vi.fn(),
      update: vi.fn(),
      delete: vi.fn(),
    },
    search: vi.fn(),
    users: { list: vi.fn(), retrieve: vi.fn() },
  })),
  isNotionClientError: vi.fn((err) => err?.code !== undefined),
  LogLevel: { DEBUG: 'debug', WARN: 'warn' },
}));

describe('Database queries', () => {
  let notion: InstanceType<typeof Client>;

  beforeEach(() => {
    notion = new Client({ auth: 'ntn_test_token' });
  });

  it('queries database with a status filter', async () => {
    const mockResponse = {
      results: [
        {
          id: 'page-1',
          properties: {
            Name: { type: 'title', title: [{ plain_text: 'Task 1' }] },
            Status: { type: 'select', select: { name: 'Done' } },
          },
        },
      ],
      has_more: false,
      next_cursor: null,
    };
    (notion.databases.query as ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>).mockResolvedValue(mockResponse);

    const result = await notion.databases.query({
      database_id: 'test-db-id',
      filter: { property: 'Status', select: { equals: 'Done' } },
    });

    expect(result.results).toHaveLength(1);
    expect(notion.databases.query).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
      expect.objectContaining({
        filter: { property: 'Status', select: { equals: 'Done' } },
      })
    );
  });

  it('handles pagination across multiple pages', async () => {
    const queryMock = notion.databases.query as ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>;
    queryMock
      .mockResolvedValueOnce({ results: [{ id: '1' }], has_more: true, next_cursor: 'cursor-abc' })
      .mockResolvedValueOnce({ results: [{ id: '2' }], has_more: false, next_cursor: null });

    const page1 = await notion.databases.query({ database_id: 'db' });
    expect(page1.has_more).toBe(true);

    const page2 = await notion.databases.query({
      database_id: 'db',
      start_cursor: page1.next_cursor,
    });
    expect(page2.has_more).toBe(false);
    expect(queryMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
  });
});

// tests/integration/notion.test.ts
import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
import { Client } from '@notionhq/client';

const SKIP = !process.env.INTEGRATION;

describe.skipIf(SKIP)('Notion Integration (live API)', () => {
  const notion = new Client({ auth: process.env.NOTION_TOKEN! });
  const testDbId = process.env.NOTION_TEST_DATABASE_ID!;

  it('connects and lists workspace users', async () => {
    const { results } = await notion.users.list({});
    expect(results.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
  });

  it('queries the test database', async () => {
    const response = await notion.databases.query({
      database_id: testDbId,
      page_size: 1,
    });
    expect(response.results).toBeDefined();
  });

  it('creates and archives a test page (cleanup)', async () => {
    const page = await notion.pages.create({
      parent: { database_id: testDbId },
      properties: {
        Name: { title: [{ text: { content: `DevLoop Test ${Date.now()}` } }] },
      },
    });
    expect(page.id).toBeTruthy();

    // Always clean up
    await notion.pages.update({ page_id: page.id, archived: true });
  });
});

Vitest configuration:

// vitest.config.ts
import { defineConfig } from 'vitest/config';

export default defineConfig({
  test: {
    globals: true,
    setupFiles: ['dotenv/config'],
    testTimeout: 30_000,  // Notion API can be slow under rate limits
    include: ['tests/**/*.test.ts'],
  },
});

Output

After completing these steps you will have:

• A dedicated dev integration with its own token, isolated from production
• A singleton client with built-in retry logic for the 3 req/s rate limit
• Unit tests that run instantly using mocked @notionhq/client
• Integration tests gated behind INTEGRATION=true, targeting dev-only pages
• Hot reload via tsx watch for rapid iteration
• Type checking via tsc --noEmit

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Solution
NOTION_TOKEN undefined	Missing .env.development or not loaded	Run cp .env.example .env.development and fill in dev token
401 Unauthorized	Token invalid or integration not connected to page	Re-share the dev page with the dev integration
404 Not found (database/page)	Test DB not shared with dev integration	Open DB in Notion > ... > Connections > add your dev integration
Mock not intercepting calls	vi.mock() not at file top level	Move vi.mock('@notionhq/client', ...) above all imports
429 Rate Limited	Exceeded 3 req/s	Use withRetry wrapper; add delay between batch operations
Integration tests timeout	Slow API under rate limits	Increase testTimeout in vitest config; reduce test data volume
baseUrl connection refused	Proxy or mock server not running	Verify proxy is up; remove baseUrl override for direct API access

Examples

TypeScript: Quick Connection Test

import { Client } from '@notionhq/client';

const notion = new Client({ auth: process.env.NOTION_TOKEN });

async function smokeTest() {
  const { results } = await notion.users.list({});
  console.log(`Connected. ${results.length} user(s) in workspace.`);

  // Verify dev database access
  const db = await notion.databases.retrieve({
    database_id: process.env.NOTION_TEST_DATABASE_ID!,
  });
  console.log(`Dev database: "${(db as any).title?.[0]?.plain_text || db.id}"`);
}

smokeTest().catch(console.error);

Python: Dev Environment with notion-client

import os
from notion_client import Client
from dotenv import load_dotenv

load_dotenv(".env.development")

notion = Client(auth=os.environ["NOTION_TOKEN"])

# Quick smoke test
users = notion.users.list()
print(f"Connected. {len(users['results'])} user(s) in workspace.")

# Query dev database
db_id = os.environ["NOTION_TEST_DATABASE_ID"]
results = notion.databases.query(database_id=db_id, page_size=1)
print(f"Dev database has {len(results['results'])} page(s) (showing 1)")

# Mock example for pytest
def test_query_with_mock(mocker):
    mock_notion = mocker.patch("notion_client.Client")
    mock_notion.return_value.databases.query.return_value = {
        "results": [{"id": "page-1"}],
        "has_more": False,
        "next_cursor": None,
    }
    client = Client(auth="ntn_test")
    result = client.databases.query(database_id="test-db")
    assert len(result["results"]) == 1

Resources

• @notionhq/client (npm) — official Node.js SDK
• notion-sdk-py (PyPI) — official Python SDK
• Notion API Rate Limits — 3 req/s across all tiers
• Notion API Errors — status codes and retry guidance
• Vitest Mocking Guide — vi.mock patterns for SDK mocking

Next Steps

See notion-sdk-patterns for production-ready query helpers, pagination utilities, and property extraction functions.