diff --git a/packages/database/src/crossAppContracts.ts b/packages/database/src/crossAppContracts.ts
index 55633fa96..c996332c3 100644
--- a/packages/database/src/crossAppContracts.ts
+++ b/packages/database/src/crossAppContracts.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import type { ContentType } from "@repo/content-model";
 import { Enums } from "./dbTypes";
 
-type LocalRef = {
+export type LocalRef = {
   // This localId is expected to be unique within the current space
   localId: string;
 };
@@ -12,24 +12,24 @@ type DbRef = {
 };
 
 // Generalized reference
-type Ref = LocalRef | DbRef;
+export type Ref = LocalRef | DbRef;
 
 // Common attributes for most types
-type CrossAppBase = LocalRef & {
+export type CrossAppBase = LocalRef & {
   createdAt: Date;
   modifiedAt?: Date;
   author: Ref;
 };
 
 // An inline vector semantic embedding
-type CrossAppEmbedding = {
+export type CrossAppEmbedding = {
   value: number[];
   embedding?: Enums<"EmbeddingName">;
 };
 
 // A Content object. It can be put inline inside a concept.
 // Missing CrossAppBase attributes are inferred from enclosing object.
-type InlineCrossAppContent = Partial<CrossAppBase> & {
+export type InlineCrossAppContent = Partial<CrossAppBase> & {
   value: string;
   embedding?: CrossAppEmbedding;
   scale?: Enums<"Scale">;
diff --git a/packages/database/src/lib/crossAppConverters.ts b/packages/database/src/lib/crossAppConverters.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b6fa56494
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/database/src/lib/crossAppConverters.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+import {
+  LocalRef,
+  Ref,
+  CrossAppEmbedding,
+  InlineCrossAppContent,
+  CrossAppBase,
+  CrossAppNode,
+} from "../crossAppContracts";
+import { LocalContentDataInput } from "../inputTypes";
+import { Enums, CompositeTypes } from "../dbTypes";
+
+type InlineEmbeddingInput = CompositeTypes<"inline_embedding_input">;
+type InlineAbstractBase = Partial<CrossAppBase>;
+
+const decodeLocalRef = <LocalVarName extends string>(
+  ref: LocalRef | InlineAbstractBase | undefined,
+  localVarName: LocalVarName,
+): Record<LocalVarName, string> | Record<string, never> => {
+  if (ref === undefined) return {};
+  if ("localId" in ref) {
+    return {
+      [localVarName]: ref.localId,
+    } as Record<LocalVarName, string>;
+  }
+  return {};
+};
+
+const decodeRef = <DbVarName extends string, LocalVarName extends string>(
+  ref: Ref | undefined,
+  dbVarName: DbVarName,
+  localVarName: LocalVarName,
+):
+  | Record<DbVarName, number>
+  | Record<LocalVarName, string>
+  | Record<string, never> => {
+  if (ref === undefined) return {};
+  if ("dbId" in ref)
+    return { [dbVarName]: ref.dbId } as Record<DbVarName, number>;
+  return decodeLocalRef(ref, localVarName);
+};
+
+const crossAppEmbeddingToDbEmbedding = (
+  embedding: CrossAppEmbedding | undefined,
+): InlineEmbeddingInput | undefined =>
+  embedding === undefined
+    ? undefined
+    : {
+        vector: embedding.value,
+        model: embedding.embedding || "openai_text_embedding_3_small_1536",
+      };
+
+const filterUndefined = <T extends Record<string, unknown>>(data: T): T => {
+  return Object.fromEntries(
+    Object.entries(data).filter(([, v]) => v !== undefined),
+  ) as T;
+};
+
+const inlineCrossAppContentToDbContent = (
+  content: InlineCrossAppContent | undefined,
+  variant: Enums<"ContentVariant">,
+): LocalContentDataInput | undefined => {
+  if (content === undefined) return undefined;
+  return filterUndefined<LocalContentDataInput>({
+    ...decodeLocalRef(content, "source_local_id"),
+    text: content.value,
+    scale: content.scale || "document",
+    content_type: content.contentType || "text/plain",
+    variant,
+    created: content.createdAt?.toISOString(),
+    last_modified: content.modifiedAt?.toISOString(),
+    ...decodeRef(content.author, "author_id", "author_local_id"),
+    embedding_inline: crossAppEmbeddingToDbEmbedding(content.embedding),
+  });
+};
+
+export const crossAppNodeToDbContent = (
+  node: CrossAppNode | undefined,
+  variant: "full" | "direct",
+): LocalContentDataInput | undefined => {
+  if (node === undefined) return undefined;
+  const content = node.content[variant];
+  return inlineCrossAppContentToDbContent(
+    {
+      ...content,
+      createdAt: content.createdAt || node.createdAt,
+      modifiedAt: content.modifiedAt || node.modifiedAt,
+      author: content.author || node.author,
+    },
+    variant,
+  );
+};