Glossary

Hey, so I was trying to get Live Glossary working last night...

You know how we're always digging through documentation trying to remember what specific terms mean across different projects? Yeah. So I found this macOS app called Live Glossary that's supposed to create a searchable, living dictionary of terms across your whole team. Sounded perfect. But of course, getting it to actually sync with our team's shared glossary was a whole thing.

The "sync just spins forever" wall

So I downloaded it, installed it, launched it. Created a new glossary, added a few terms manually – worked fine. Then I tried to connect it to our shared glossary stored in Notion (because that's where we keep everything, obviously). Added the Notion integration, authorized it, picked the database... and then just infinite spinner. Left it running while I made coffee. Came back. Still spinning.

First dumb move: I assumed it was a network thing. Checked firewall, checked VPN, even tried on a different network. Same result. Tried exporting the glossary to a local file and importing – worked instantly. So the app itself was fine, but something about the Notion connection was broken.

What I didn't realize is that Live Glossary is really picky about the structure of the Notion database. It expects very specific property names and types, and ours were... creative.

What actually fixed it

Turns out, Live Glossary needs these exact properties in your Notion database:

• Term (title type)
• Definition (rich text type)
• Category (select type) – optional but recommended
• Last Updated (date type) – so it knows what changed

Our database had "Term Name" instead of "Term", "Description" instead of "Definition", and no date field at all. The app was probably trying to map fields and just... giving up silently.

Here's what finally worked:

1. Created a new Notion database with the exact property names Live Glossary expects
2. Exported our old glossary to CSV, cleaned up the column headers to match
3. Imported the CSV into the new Notion database
4. In Live Glossary, removed the broken connection and re-authenticated, pointing to the new database

Instant sync. Like magic.

I found this Live Glossary setup guide that explained the Notion integration requirements, and the official Notion API docs helped me understand why property names matter so much. Also this article on database schema design had good tips on structuring terms for team use.

For next time (the "check this first" list)

If you ever try Live Glossary with Notion (or honestly any app that syncs with Notion), here's what I wish I'd checked first:

• Property names must match exactly: "Term" not "Term Name", "Definition" not "Description". Case sensitive, spaces matter.
• Property types matter: Title field must actually be title type, not text. Date field must be date type, not just a text field with dates in it.
• Check permissions: The integration needs write access to the database, not just read. In Notion's share settings, make sure the connection has "can edit" permissions.
• Start fresh: If you're migrating an existing glossary, it's often easier to create a new database with the right schema and import data, rather than trying to rename/retype existing properties.

Once I got the sync working, Live Glossary is actually really useful. Everyone on the team can add terms, definitions auto-update across all our Macs, and there's even a menubar quick-lookup so you don't have to switch apps. The Live Glossary site has templates for different use cases, and there's a Slack integration that lets you look up terms directly from chat.

Anyway, if you're tired of digging through Notion for that one definition you know exists somewhere, Live Glossary is worth the schema fuss. Let me know if you try it and need the exact property list.