Migrating from Codex

If your team already has projects in Codex (the older VS Code extension, backed by GitLab), you can bring them into Aquilla.

How the import works

Migration is a one-way, continuous import:

Aquilla connects to your GitLab project, reads its history, and replays it into Aquilla so your cells and their history come across faithfully.
Running it again on the same source safely skips work that’s already been imported, so a re-run won’t create duplicates.
A re-run also cleans up on your side: a cell deleted back in Codex is retracted from Aquilla too, so re-migrating stays in sync in both directions.

What you’ll see while it runs

You can keep the project open while it imports:

New cells appear in real time as they’re brought in.
If the import touches cells you’ve already edited in Aquilla, those particular updates won’t appear live; close and reopen the project to see them, a known limitation for now.

Cells hidden in Codex

A cell hidden in Codex with the eye icon (Source Editing Mode) comes across as a hidden cell in Aquilla. Nothing is dropped: its source text and full translation history are imported, and it is simply parked, so translators do not see it and it stays out of progress, health, and exports. A project lead can bring it back with Show cell; see Hiding a cell. If the cell was hidden and then shown again in Codex, it arrives visible.

Voices after migration

Cell labels that are only verse references (for example GEN 1:1) are not imported as speaker voices. Voices come from real speaker names in the source project, so a migrated Bible project does not end up with one voice per verse.

Projects from a personal GitLab account

If a project lived under your own GitLab account rather than a group, you’ll find it in Aquilla in an organization named after your account, ending in “— Codex personal projects”. You are its Owner. People you shared the project with can open that project, but not the rest of the organization, and keep a matching role: a GitLab Developer becomes a Contributor, a Reporter becomes a Reviewer. If the Aquilla team can’t tell which Aquilla account belongs to someone, they sort it out before the project moves, so nobody gets the wrong access.

Cutover: Aquilla becomes the source of truth

Once a project is imported, Aquilla is the single source of truth for it. GitLab no longer syncs. From cutover onward you translate, review, and collaborate in Aquilla. When you need your work elsewhere, use Export.

Who runs migrations today

For now, the Aquilla team runs migrations on your behalf: they backfill customer projects for you. Self-service migration, where a project maintainer imports their own GitLab project, is planned for a later release.