Bulk Import Guide

Overview

The load-md-folder.sh script allows you to bulk import markdown files from a folder into MDDB. It's perfect for migrating existing documentation, importing blog posts, or loading large collections of markdown content.

Features

  • Automatic Key Generation - Creates unique keys from filenames
  • Frontmatter Support - Extracts YAML-style metadata from file headers
  • Recursive Scanning - Process entire directory trees
  • Progress Tracking - Real-time progress with statistics
  • Dry Run Mode - Preview imports without making changes
  • Error Handling - Graceful failure handling with detailed reporting
  • Metadata Enrichment - Add custom metadata to all imported files
  • Multi-language Support - Specify language code for all documents

Installation

The script is located in the scripts/ directory and requires:

  • Bash shell
  • mddb-cli command available in PATH
  • Running MDDB server
chmod +x scripts/load-md-folder.sh

Basic Usage

Simple Import

Import all .md files from a folder:

./scripts/load-md-folder.sh ./docs blog

This will:

  1. Scan ./docs for .md files
  2. Import them into the blog collection
  3. Use default language en_US
  4. Generate keys from filenames

Recursive Import

Process all subfolders:

./scripts/load-md-folder.sh ./content articles --recursive

Or use the short form:

./scripts/load-md-folder.sh ./content articles -r

Custom Language

Specify a different language code:

./scripts/load-md-folder.sh ./docs-pl blog --lang pl_PL

Short form:

./scripts/load-md-folder.sh ./docs-pl blog -l pl_PL

Advanced Usage

Adding Metadata

Add custom metadata to all imported files:

./scripts/load-md-folder.sh ./posts blog \ --meta "author=John Doe" \ --meta "status=published" \ --meta "category=tutorial"

Short form:

./scripts/load-md-folder.sh ./posts blog \ -m "author=John Doe" \ -m "status=published"

Dry Run

Preview what would be imported without making changes:

./scripts/load-md-folder.sh ./docs blog --dry-run

This shows:

  • Which files would be imported
  • Generated keys
  • Extracted metadata
  • Final metadata combination

Verbose Output

See detailed information during import:

./scripts/load-md-folder.sh ./docs blog --verbose

Shows:

  • Each file being processed
  • Generated key for each file
  • Metadata for each file
  • Success/failure status

Custom Server

Connect to a different MDDB server:

./scripts/load-md-folder.sh ./docs blog \ --server http://production-server:11023

Or use environment variable:

MDDB_SERVER=http://production-server:11023 \ ./scripts/load-md-folder.sh ./docs blog

Batch Size

Control progress update frequency:

./scripts/load-md-folder.sh ./docs blog --batch-size 50

Default is 10 files per progress update.

Frontmatter Support

The script automatically extracts metadata from YAML-style frontmatter:

---
title: Getting Started
author: John Doe
tags: tutorial, beginner
category: documentation
date: 2024-01-15
--- Your content here...

This frontmatter will be converted to metadata:

  • title=Getting Started
  • author=John Doe
  • tags=tutorial, beginner
  • category=documentation
  • date=2024-01-15

Frontmatter Format

Supported format:

---
key: value
another_key: another value
tags: value1, value2
---

Requirements:

  • Must start with --- on first line
  • Must end with --- on its own line
  • Use key: value format
  • Values can contain spaces (quotes optional)

Key Generation

Keys are automatically generated from filenames:

FilenameGenerated Key
Getting Started.mdgetting-started
API_Reference.mdapi-reference
2024-01-15-blog-post.md2024-01-15-blog-post
My Document (v2).mdmy-document-v2

Rules:

  • Convert to lowercase
  • Replace spaces and special characters with hyphens
  • Remove consecutive hyphens
  • Trim leading/trailing hyphens

Metadata Combination

Metadata is combined from multiple sources:

  1. Automatic metadata:

    • source=folder-import
    • filename=original-filename.md

  2. Frontmatter metadata (extracted from file)

  3. Custom metadata (from --meta flags)

Example:

---
author: Jane
category: tutorial
--- ./scripts/load-md-folder.sh ./docs blog -m "status=published" source=folder-import,filename=tutorial.md,author=Jane,category=tutorial,status=published

Examples

Migrate Documentation

./scripts/load-md-folder.sh ./docs documentation \ --recursive \ --meta "version=2.0" \ --meta "status=published" \ --verbose

Import Blog Posts

./scripts/load-md-folder.sh ./blog-posts blog \ --lang en_US \ --meta "author=John Doe" \ --meta "type=blog-post"

Multi-language Content

./scripts/load-md-folder.sh ./content/en articles -l en_US -r ./scripts/load-md-folder.sh ./content/pl articles -l pl_PL -r ./scripts/load-md-folder.sh ./content/de articles -l de_DE -r

Preview Before Import

./scripts/load-md-folder.sh ./docs blog --dry-run ./scripts/load-md-folder.sh ./docs blog

Large Import with Progress

./scripts/load-md-folder.sh ./large-docs blog \ --recursive \ --batch-size 100 \ --verbose

Output

Progress Display

════════════════════════════════════════════════ MDDB Folder Loader
════════════════════════════════════════════════ Checking server connectivity...
✓ Server is running Configuration: Folder: ./docs Collection: blog Language: en_US Server: http://localhost:11023 Recursive: true Scanning for markdown files...
Found 150 markdown file(s) ════════════════════════════════════════════════ Loading Files
════════════════════════════════════════════════ Progress: [########################## ] 52% (78/150 files)

Summary

════════════════════════════════════════════════ Summary
════════════════════════════════════════════════ Results: Total files: 150 Successful: 148 Failed: 2 Duration: 45s Throughput: 3.29 files/sec ✓ Import completed with some failures

Error Handling

Common Errors

Server not running:

✗ Cannot connect to MDDB server at http://localhost:11023 Make sure the server is running

Folder not found:

Error: Folder does not exist: ./nonexistent

No markdown files:

No markdown files found in ./empty-folder

Failed Imports

If some files fail to import:

  • The script continues processing remaining files
  • Failed files are counted in the summary
  • Exit code is 1 (failure) if any imports failed
  • Exit code is 0 (success) if all imports succeeded

Environment Variables

VariableDescriptionDefault
MDDB_SERVERServer URLhttp://localhost:11023
MDDB_CLICLI command pathmddb-cli

Example:

export MDDB_SERVER=http://production:11023
export MDDB_CLI=/usr/local/bin/mddb-cli ./scripts/load-md-folder.sh ./docs blog

Performance Tips

  1. Batch Size: Increase for large imports to reduce output

    ./scripts/load-md-folder.sh ./docs blog -b 100

  2. Disable Verbose: For faster imports

    ./scripts/load-md-folder.sh ./docs blog

  3. Use Extreme Mode: Enable on server for better performance

    MDDB_EXTREME=true mddbd

  4. Local Server: Import to local server, then backup/restore to production

Troubleshooting

Script not executable

chmod +x scripts/load-md-folder.sh

CLI not found

make build-cli
make install-all MDDB_CLI=/path/to/mddb-cli ./scripts/load-md-folder.sh ./docs blog

Server connection refused

mddb-cli stats make docker-up
make run

Frontmatter not parsed

Ensure frontmatter format:

  • Starts with --- on line 1
  • Ends with --- on its own line
  • Uses key: value format

Integration with CI/CD

GitHub Actions

name: Import Documentation on: push: paths: - 'docs/**/*.md' jobs: import: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v2 - name: Install MDDB CLI run: | wget https://github.com/tradik/mddb/releases/latest/download/mddb-cli-latest-linux-amd64.tar.gz tar xzf mddb-cli-latest-linux-amd64.tar.gz sudo mv mddb-cli /usr/local/bin/ - name: Import Documentation env: MDDB_SERVER: ${{ secrets.MDDB_SERVER }} run: | ./scripts/load-md-folder.sh ./docs documentation -r -m "version=${{ github.sha }}"

GitLab CI

import-docs: stage: deploy script: - chmod +x scripts/load-md-folder.sh - ./scripts/load-md-folder.sh ./docs documentation -r only: - main

Best Practices

  1. Always dry run first on production data
  2. Use meaningful collection names that reflect content type
  3. Add version metadata for tracking changes
  4. Use recursive mode for organized folder structures
  5. Include frontmatter in markdown files for rich metadata
  6. Test with small batches before large imports
  7. Monitor server resources during large imports
  8. Backup database before major imports

See Also