How AFFiNE Editors Work: Page, Edgeless, and Blocks

Updated July 19, 2026.

The original version of this article introduced AFFiNE's early A0, A1, A2, and A3 editor taxonomy. That framing was useful historically, but it is not the clearest way to explain AFFiNE to a 2026 reader. AFFiNE is better understood through the surfaces people actually use today: Page, Edgeless, blocks, and databases.

For a broader set of current product articles, use the AFFiNE Blog. This page focuses specifically on how AFFiNE's editor model works and why it differs from a conventional document editor.

The short version

AFFiNE is not just a text editor and not just a whiteboard. It combines:

• Page, a structured document surface for writing and organizing information.
• Edgeless, an infinite canvas for spatial thinking, diagrams, and visual planning.
• Blocks, reusable content units that can support text, lists, embeds, databases, and richer objects.
• Databases, structured views that help pages, tasks, and records become sortable working sets.

This matters because many productivity tools force a choice. A document tool is good for writing but weak for visual exploration. A whiteboard is good for mapping ideas but weak for maintaining durable knowledge. A database tool is good for tracking information but often awkward for thinking through context. AFFiNE's editor model tries to keep those modes connected.

Why the old A0-A3 framing changed

The old A0-A3 language was an internal way to compare editor generations. It described a movement from plain text to block editors, then toward more flexible and visual workspaces. The problem is that most readers do not choose tools by abstract editor generations. They choose tools by whether a workflow survives contact with real work.

So the better question is practical: can you write a decision record, map the surrounding context, attach tasks, and come back later without losing the relationship between them?

AFFiNE's current answer is Page plus Edgeless. Page handles linear structure. Edgeless handles spatial structure. Blocks are the shared material that lets information move between those modes.

Page: the document surface

Page is where AFFiNE behaves most like a modern document workspace. Use it for meeting notes, specs, research notes, journals, project docs, and long-form explanations. A page gives information a stable path and a readable order.

Page is best when the reader needs sequence. A project brief needs a problem statement before constraints. A meeting note needs decisions before action items. A research summary needs sources before conclusions. Page makes those relationships explicit.

In practice, Page is the right default for knowledge that must be read by someone else later. It supports the habit most teams need: write the context once, link the supporting material, and make the next action obvious.

Edgeless: the visual thinking surface

Edgeless is for the moments when a linear document becomes too narrow. Use it for diagrams, flow maps, brainstorming, workshop synthesis, product planning, architecture sketches, and any situation where position helps meaning.

The difference from a separate whiteboard tool is continuity. Visual thinking should not become a screenshot pasted into a doc and forgotten. The value comes from keeping the visual plan near the notes, decisions, and database records that explain it.

For example, a product team can map user journeys on Edgeless, then link those frames back to requirement pages and task collections. A researcher can cluster notes visually, then turn a cluster into a structured summary. A founder can use Edgeless to explore strategy without losing the written plan.

Blocks: the shared unit

Blocks are the reason AFFiNE can move between modes. A paragraph, heading, checklist, table, database view, embed, or canvas object can be treated as a unit of work rather than a static line in a file.

This block model is important for reuse. A note can become part of a page, a database can summarize related records, and visual context can live beside structured writing. The goal is not novelty; it is reducing the friction of moving information between tools.

Databases: structure without leaving the workspace

Databases give teams a way to organize repeated information: tasks, content plans, reading lists, user interviews, CRM notes, bug triage, or lightweight project tracking. They are not a replacement for every specialized system, but they are valuable when structure belongs next to the thinking that created it.

A database inside a workspace is especially useful for personal knowledge management and small-team planning. You can keep a reading database next to research notes, or a project database next to strategy pages and Edgeless maps.

Practical examples

Use Page when you need durable explanation: a product requirement document, support runbook, customer research summary, or meeting recap.

Use Edgeless when you need spatial reasoning: a system diagram, workshop canvas, concept map, roadmap discussion, or planning board.

Use databases when the same kind of item repeats: tasks, sources, features, interviews, ideas, vendors, or documents.

Use all three together when the work is complex enough that a single surface loses context. A planning workspace might include a Page for strategy, an Edgeless map for options, and a database for decisions or next actions.

How this differs from a Notion-like editor

Calling AFFiNE a Notion-like editor hides the most important distinction. A Notion-style block editor is strong for structured documents and databases. AFFiNE adds a first-class canvas so visual context can be part of the same workspace rather than a separate board.

That difference is not only visual. It changes how teams externalize thinking. A spec can link to the map that shaped it. A meeting note can connect to a planning canvas. A research database can sit next to the clusters that produced it.

What to read next

If you are evaluating AFFiNE today, pair this article with the AFFiNE app overview, the one-year open-source update, and the open-source Notion alternative guide. Together they explain the product surface, history, and comparison context more clearly than the old editor taxonomy alone.