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Pages, databases, data sources, comments and blocks are either located inside other pages, databases, data sources, and blocks, or are located at the top level of a workspace. This location is known as the “parent”. Parent information is represented by a consistent parent object throughout the API. General parenting rules:
  • Pages can be parented by other pages, data sources, blocks, agents, or by the whole workspace.
    • Prior to API version 2025-09-03, page parents were databases, not data sources.
    • Agent parents only show up on agent instruction pages.
  • Blocks can be parented by pages, data sources, blocks, or agents.
    • Agent parents only show up on blocks inside agent instruction pages.
  • Databases can be parented by pages, blocks, or by the whole workspace.
    • For wikis, databases can also have a data source parent.
  • Data sources are parented by databases.
    • Linked or externally synced external data sources may have data source parents, but aren’t thoroughly supported in Notion’s API.
Exceptions applyThese parenting rules reflect the possible response you may receive when retrieving information about pages, databases, and blocks via Notion’s REST API in the latest APIversion.If you are creating new pages, databases, or blocks via Notion’s public REST API, the parenting rules may vary. For example, the parent of a database currently must be a page if it is created via the API.Refer to the API reference documentation for creating pages, databases, data sources, and blocks for more information on current parenting rules.

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Database parent

Database parents most commonly show up for Data source objects.
PropertyTypeDescriptionExample values
typestringAlways "database_id"."database_id"
database_idstring (UUIDv4)The ID of the database that this page belongs to."b8595b75-abd1-4cad-8dfe-f935a8ef57cb"
{
  "type": "database_id",
  "database_id": "d9824bdc-8445-4327-be8b-5b47500af6ce"
}

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Data source parent

Data source parents most commonly show up for Page objects.
PropertyTypeDescriptionExample values
typestringAlways "data_source_id"."data_source_id"
data_source_idstring (UUIDv4)The ID of the data source that this page belongs to."1a44be12-0953-4631-b498-9e5817518db8"
database_idstring (UUIDv4)The ID of the database that the data source belongs to, provided in the API response for convenience."b8595b75-abd1-4cad-8dfe-f935a8ef57cb"
{
  "type": "data_source_id",
  "data_source_id": "1a44be12-0953-4631-b498-9e5817518db8",
  "database_id": "d9824bdc-8445-4327-be8b-5b47500af6ce"
}

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Page parent

PropertyTypeDescriptionExample values
typestringAlways "page_id"."page_id"
page_idstring (UUIDv4)The ID of the page that this page belongs to."59833787-2cf9-4fdf-8782-e53db20768a5"
{
  "type": "page_id",
  "page_id": "59833787-2cf9-4fdf-8782-e53db20768a5"
}

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Workspace parent

A page or database with a workspace parent is a top-level page within a Notion workspace. Team-level pages are also currently represented as having a workspace parent in the API. The workspace parent object contains the following keys:
PropertyTypeDescriptionExample values
typetypeAlways "workspace"."workspace"
workspacebooleanAlways true.true
{
  "type": "workspace",
  "workspace": true
}

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Block parent

A page may have a block parent if it is created inline in a chunk of text, or is located beneath another block like a toggle or bullet block. The parent property is an object containing the following keys:
PropertyTypeDescriptionExample values
typetypeAlways "block_id"."block_id"
block_idstring (UUIDv4)The ID of the page that this page belongs to."ea29285f-7282-4b00-b80c-32bdbab50261"
{
  "type": "block_id",
  "block_id": "7d50a184-5bbe-4d90-8f29-6bec57ed817b"
}

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Agent parent

Agent parents show up on agent instruction pages and the blocks that make them up, where the parent is the agent the instructions belong to. Most pages and blocks do not have agent parents.
PropertyTypeDescriptionExample values
typetypeAlways "agent_id"."agent_id"
agent_idstring (UUIDv4)The ID of the agent that owns this instruction page or block."7d50a184-5bbe-4d90-8f29-6bec57ed817b"
{
  "type": "agent_id",
  "agent_id": "7d50a184-5bbe-4d90-8f29-6bec57ed817b"
}