Unhandled exception error when trying to convert UpNote backup

[benooye]

Describe the bug
First thanks a lot for this wonderfull and amazing tool!
Issue: When trying to convert a UpNote backup, an unhandled exception error is thrown

File "jimmy\formats\upnote.py", line 131, in convert_backup
KeyError: None
[PYI-17216:ERROR] Failed to execute script 'jimmy_cli' due to unhandled exception!_

Any idea on the error issue?

OS
Tried on both Windows 11 24H2 and on Linux TrueNAS Scale 25.04.2.5 : exact same error.

Output log
[10/29/25 11:15:37] INFO Jimmy 1.1.6 (Pandoc 3.8.2)
DEBUG Using pandoc from: C:\Users\xxxxxx\AppData\Local\Temp_MEI88322\bin\pandoc.EXE
DEBUG config=Namespace(interface='cli', input=[WindowsPath('UpNote Backup')], format='upnote', password='', frontmatter=None, template_file=None,
output_folder=WindowsPath('20251029T101526Z - Jimmy Import from upnote'), global_resource_folder=None, local_resource_folder=WindowsPath('.'), local_image_folder=None,
max_name_length=50, print_tree=False, log_file=None, no_stdout_log=False, stdout_log_level='DEBUG', exclude_notes=None, include_notes=None, exclude_notes_with_tags=None,
include_notes_with_tags=None, exclude_tags=None, include_tags=None)
INFO Converting notes from "UpNote Backup"
INFO Start parsing. This may take some time. The extended log can be enabled by "--stdout-log-level DEBUG".
DEBUG Try converting with converter "upnote"
INFO Selected backup file "UpNote Backup\0MNNGUkdFfeYWNoewtYyiWRP1Bf1\data\1761596441198.upnx"
DEBUG Skipping unexpected key "user".
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "jimmy_cli.py", line 179, in
File "jimmy_cli.py", line 175, in main
File "jimmy\main.py", line 122, in run_conversion
File "jimmy\main.py", line 86, in convert_all_inputs
File "jimmy\converter.py", line 75, in convert_multiple
File "jimmy\formats\upnote.py", line 149, in convert
File "jimmy\formats\upnote.py", line 131, in convert_backup
KeyError: None
[PYI-17216:ERROR] Failed to execute script 'jimmy_cli' due to unhandled exception!

[marph91]

Thanks for the report!

It's a bug in Jimmy. I tried a "blind" fix and released a new version 1.1.7. Does it work for you?

[benooye]

Thanks a lot for your amazing reactivity and your "blind" fix!
I understand it is bit difficult without clear data to test...
It is now better, no more "unhandled exception"
but I have now:
INFO Selected backup file "UpNote Backup\0MNNGUkdFfeYWNoewtYyiWRP1Bf1\data\1761596441198.upnx"
DEBUG Skipping unexpected key "user".
DEBUG Skipping unexpected key "files".
DEBUG Skipping unexpected key "files".
DEBUG Skipping unexpected key "files".
DEBUG Skipping unexpected key "files".
DEBUG Skipping unexpected key "files".
DEBUG Skipping unexpected key "files".
...

And then for multiple notes I have:
[10/29/25 22:54:22] WARNING Failed to convert note. Enable the extended log by "--stdout-log-level DEBUG".
DEBUG '0063bee8-d431-40d7-84f9-c4036023a4c2'
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "jimmy\common.py", line 48, in wrapper
File "jimmy\formats\upnote.py", line 83, in convert_note
KeyError: '0063bee8-d431-40d7-84f9-c4036023a4c2'

Any idea?

[marph91]

DEBUG Skipping unexpected key "user".
DEBUG Skipping unexpected key "files".

These messages mean that some data in the backup couldn't be converted (because there is no implementation, yet).

File "jimmy\formats\upnote.py", line 83, in convert_note
KeyError: '0063bee8-d431-40d7-84f9-c4036023a4c2'

This means that the ID of the parent folder is unknown. I added a workaround to simply put the note at the root folder. It will be available at the next release.

To properly fix the issues, I would need an example file. You could send it by email or I can share a Dropbox folder for upload. I can also understand if it's not possible to share because of privacy reasons.

---

Update: I implemented some fixes in release v1.1.8, but I'm not certain if they cover your cases.

[benooye]

Thanks a lot again for your reactivity!
Yes I understand the need for data and indeed a bit difficult to share personal stuff.
I will try your new version soon and check if needed what can be shared

[benooye]

Dear marph91,
I have tested 1.1.8 with my UpNote backup, under Windows
Now it is processing but:

• frequent "WARNING Note ID not found (00806953-b48c-4277-b7e2-2812172ece07). Adding note to root notebook", but not for all notes
• the processing is quite slow, sometimes a few minutes per note
• I don't see the jimmy output folder creation during the process, so I cannot check the output Markdown files (I stopped the process before the end I have about 1450 notes) ; is there like a first pass, then the Markdown files are created in a second pass?

Some of the logs:
[11/01/25 09:51:10] INFO Jimmy 1.1.8 (Pandoc 3.8.2)
DEBUG Using pandoc from: C:\Users\xxxxx\AppData\Local\Temp_MEI190962\bin\pandoc.EXE
DEBUG config=Namespace(interface='cli', input=[WindowsPath('UpNote Backup')], format='upnote',
password='', frontmatter=None, template_file=None,
output_folder=WindowsPath('20251101T085102Z - Jimmy Import from upnote'),
global_resource_folder=None, local_resource_folder=WindowsPath('.'),
local_image_folder=None, max_name_length=50, print_tree=False, log_file=None,
no_stdout_log=False, stdout_log_level='DEBUG', exclude_notes=None, include_notes=None,
exclude_notes_with_tags=None, include_notes_with_tags=None, exclude_tags=None,
include_tags=None)
INFO Converting notes from "UpNote Backup"
INFO Start parsing. This may take some time. The extended log can be enabled by
"--stdout-log-level DEBUG".
DEBUG Try converting with converter "upnote"
INFO Selected backup file "UpNote Backup\0MNNGUkdFfeYWNoewtYyiWRP1Bf1\data\1761986694733.upnx"
DEBUG Skipping unexpected key "user".
DEBUG Converting note "Ainavi autoradio pour Toyota Auris 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Corolla Altis
hybride Carplay Android Auto lecteur multimédia stéréo 4G - AliExpress"
[11/01/25 09:51:14] WARNING Note ID not found (0063bee8-d431-40d7-84f9-c4036023a4c2). Adding note to root notebook.
DEBUG Converting note "2024_01_09 xxxxxx"
[11/01/25 09:51:17] WARNING Note ID not found (00806953-b48c-4277-b7e2-2812172ece07). Adding note to root notebook.
DEBUG Converting note "2020-11-18 xxxxxx"
[11/01/25 09:51:21] DEBUG Converting note "Les nouveaux flux xxxxx"
[11/01/25 09:51:23] WARNING Note ID not found (00d23668-2caa-4f2c-ba4a-f91445563407). Adding note to root notebook.
DEBUG Converting note "2024_03_10 xxxxx"
[11/01/25 09:51:34] WARNING Note ID not found (00f2d901-7416-40f2-8df3-7f29d969db4b). Adding note to root notebook.
DEBUG Converting note "Recette boeuf bourguignon"
[11/01/25 09:51:36] DEBUG Converting note "2023_12_03 xxxxx"
[11/01/25 09:51:37] DEBUG Converting note "YouTube"
[11/01/25 09:51:40] WARNING Note ID not found (0118bd49-c791-4523-bb83-b0f22c4540f6). Adding note to root notebook.
DEBUG Converting note "Escapade au départ de xxxxxx"
[11/01/25 09:51:43] WARNING Note ID not found (01337cf5-89fe-4e2f-98b0-bff392cd70e6). Adding note to root notebook.
DEBUG Converting note "2025_03_30 xxxxx"
[11/01/25 09:51:45] WARNING Note ID not found (017c3579-9f1b-43d5-8a80-95ef714dc580). Adding note to root notebook.
DEBUG Converting note ""
[11/01/25 09:51:46] WARNING Note ID not found (019a0562-428e-7a1a-b7de-4253d81ad6ae). Adding note to root notebook.
DEBUG Converting note "2025_10_21"
[11/01/25 09:51:48] WARNING Note ID not found (019a057b-4052-7905-a8c6-af085f9584f7). Adding note to root notebook.
DEBUG Converting note "2025_10_21 PKMS Update"
[11/01/25 09:52:50] WARNING Note ID not found (019a0742-57d5-72a9-b3b2-b42425d2fac4). Adding note to root notebook.
DEBUG Converting note ""
[11/01/25 09:52:53] WARNING Note ID not found (019a0f9d-b5c0-7dba-8048-7a69323bc104). Adding note to root notebook.
DEBUG Converting note "[APP][4.0+] xxxxxx"
[11/01/25 09:52:57] WARNING Note ID not found (019a0fb7-0c3e-7eb7-aa91-3185bc486339). Adding note to root notebook.
DEBUG Converting note "xxxxxx""
[11/01/25 09:53:01] WARNING Note ID not found (019a0fb7-87a4-720d-be7e-16e760c85f93). Adding note to root notebook.
DEBUG Converting note "2025_10_23 xxxxx"
[11/01/25 09:53:03] WARNING Note ID not found (019a0fec-ca16-78fb-be7e-2afb16249ffe). Adding note to root notebook.
DEBUG Converting note "2025_10_23 F-Droid's list of popular apps"
[11/01/25 09:54:35] WARNING Note ID not found (019a1177-f334-720d-bd02-da8f369d65db). Adding note to root notebook.
DEBUG Converting note "2025_10_23 xxxxxx"
[11/01/25 09:54:39] WARNING Note ID not found (019a1182-44a5-744f-ac8d-04d7dbe95746). Adding note to root notebook.
DEBUG Converting note "Jimmy - xxxxxxx"
[11/01/25 09:54:44] WARNING Note ID not found (019a1887-618a-7bde-81d3-b46a0bc00e04). Adding note to root notebook.
DEBUG Converting note "xxxx"
...

[marph91]

• frequent "WARNING Note ID not found (00806953-b48c-4277-b7e2-2812172ece07). Adding note to root notebook", but not for all notes
• the processing is quite slow, sometimes a few minutes per note

I guess I can only fix these points with the original backup file. With my local backup files, I can't reproduce it unfortunately.

In general, you might try at a Linux machine to get a little speedup. In the tests, the Linux runner is three times faster than the Windows runner.

• I don't see the jimmy output folder creation during the process, so I cannot check the output Markdown files (I stopped the process before the end I have about 1450 notes) ; is there like a first pass, then the Markdown files are created in a second pass?

You are right. The error occurs at the first "parsing" step. All files need to be parsed first, as any file could potentially be linked to any other file, and the link text would then need to be updated. The files are written at the "writing" step afterwards.

[benooye]

Thanks for the feedback, I will launch jimmy for full note processing on my server and see the result

I'm wandering if I could try to install compile and debug suite to try to extract some data and traces? any good advice?

[marph91]

I'm wandering if I could try to install compile and debug suite to try to extract some data and traces? any good advice?

I'm not sure what that means. It's not possible to extract data in the parsing step. The data is only available during/after the writing step.

[benooye]

Ok I have performed the conversion under Linux, indeed, very fast compared to Windows! All notes performed.
I could send you the log output generated, but I would like to do it privately, any way to send you private data by mail or whatsapp or matrix?

Globally a lot of notes have been transfered and looks quite nice!

Few comments:

• Notes in the trash bin are converted as normal notes -> maybe to create a specific folder or to be removed/not processed?
• There are some error on some of the additionnal files in some Notes. It looks like the corresponding note associated to the file is not created (At least I have seen one note with a screen snaphsot where the snapshot is created in the jimmy folder but not the note...)
  As an exemple:
  WARNING Failed to convert note. Enable the extended log by "--stdout-log-level DEBUG".
  DEBUG [Errno 1] Operation not permitted: '/mnt/HDD_storage/backup/2025 - UpNote/20251102T200804Z - Jimmy Import from upnote/Journal/e52e174d-1740-47c7-b522-11f8970f0530.jpg'
  Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "jimmy/common.py", line 48, in wrapper
  File "jimmy/writer.py", line 246, in write_note
  File "jimmy/writer.py", line 203, in write_resource
  File "shutil.py", line 490, in copy
  File "shutil.py", line 379, in copymode
  PermissionError: [Errno 1] Operation not permitted: '/mnt/HDD_storage/backup/2025 - UpNote/20251102T200804Z - Jimmy Import from upnote/Journal/e52e174d-1740-47c7-b522-11f8970f0530.jpg'

[marph91]

Ok I have performed the conversion under Linux, indeed, very fast compared to Windows! All notes performed.

That's good news :)

I could send you the log output generated, but I would like to do it privately, any way to send you private data by mail or whatsapp or matrix?

I added my mail address here.

Notes in the trash bin are converted as normal notes -> maybe to create a specific folder or to be removed/not processed?

Good idea. They are skipped in the next release (likely tomorrow).

PermissionError: [Errno 1] Operation not permitted: '/mnt/HDD_storage/backup/2025 - UpNote/20251102T200804Z - Jimmy Import from upnote/Journal/e52e174d-1740-47c7-b522-11f8970f0530.jpg'

According to https://stackoverflow.com/a/11835950/7410886, this occurs when the file is created by a different user (with more permissions). I'm not sure how this can happen in Jimmy. But maybe its sufficient to omit writing the permissions and just write the file content. I will need to test if this breaks some other conversion.

[benooye]

Thanks again for your feedback, I launched jimmy with root privileges and the app is able to create Markdown file and Ressource file.
Maybe I have some strange right access issue since I'm running it on TrueNas. I will check in a different folder to check if it solves the issue.

[marph91]

Release v1.1.9 will skip the notes in trash and (hopefully) applies a workaround for the permission error.

[benooye]

Thanks! I will check asap