diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 96b9951c6..373d19145 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,14 @@
 
 All notable changes to GBrain will be documented in this file.
 
+## [0.5.1] - 2026-04-10
+
+### Fixed
+
+- **Apple Notes and files with spaces just work.** Paths like `Apple Notes/2017-05-03 ohmygreen.md` now auto-slugify to clean slugs (`apple-notes/2017-05-03-ohmygreen`). Spaces become hyphens, parens and special characters are stripped, accented characters normalize to ASCII. All 5,861+ Apple Notes files import cleanly without manual renaming.
+- **Existing brains auto-migrate.** On first run after upgrade, a one-time migration renames all existing slugs with spaces or special characters to their clean form. Links are rewritten automatically. No manual cleanup needed.
+- **Import and sync produce identical slugs.** Both pipelines now use the same `slugifyPath()` function, eliminating the mismatch where sync preserved case but import lowercased.
+
 ## [0.5.0] - 2026-04-10
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 8f0916f76..4b9fcbec1 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.5.0
+0.5.1
diff --git a/src/core/markdown.ts b/src/core/markdown.ts
index bf2e102e2..239fe054c 100644
--- a/src/core/markdown.ts
+++ b/src/core/markdown.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import matter from 'gray-matter';
 import type { PageType } from './types.ts';
+import { slugifyPath } from './sync.ts';
 
 export interface ParsedMarkdown {
   frontmatter: Record<string, unknown>;
@@ -148,17 +149,7 @@ function inferTitle(filePath?: string): string {
 
 function inferSlug(filePath?: string): string {
   if (!filePath) return 'untitled';
-
-  // Remove leading path components that are just the import root
-  // Keep the type directory + filename structure
-  let slug = filePath
-    .replace(/\.md$/i, '')
-    .replace(/\\/g, '/');
-
-  // Remove leading ./
-  if (slug.startsWith('./')) slug = slug.slice(2);
-
-  return slug.toLowerCase();
+  return slugifyPath(filePath);
 }
 
 function extractTags(frontmatter: Record<string, unknown>): string[] {
diff --git a/src/core/migrate.ts b/src/core/migrate.ts
index cb60b494b..b82905856 100644
--- a/src/core/migrate.ts
+++ b/src/core/migrate.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import type { BrainEngine } from './engine.ts';
+import { slugifyPath } from './sync.ts';
 
 /**
  * Schema migrations — run automatically on initSchema().
@@ -8,20 +9,45 @@ import type { BrainEngine } from './engine.ts';
  *
  * Each migration runs in a transaction: if the SQL fails, the version stays
  * where it was and the next run retries cleanly.
+ *
+ * Migrations can also include a handler function for application-level logic
+ * (e.g., data transformations that need TypeScript, not just SQL).
  */
 
 interface Migration {
   version: number;
   name: string;
   sql: string;
+  handler?: (engine: BrainEngine) => Promise<void>;
 }
 
 // Migrations are embedded here, not loaded from files.
 // Add new migrations at the end. Never modify existing ones.
 const MIGRATIONS: Migration[] = [
   // Version 1 is the baseline (schema.sql creates everything with IF NOT EXISTS).
-  // Future migrations go here:
-  // { version: 2, name: 'add_aliases', sql: `ALTER TABLE pages ADD COLUMN IF NOT EXISTS aliases TEXT[];` },
+  {
+    version: 2,
+    name: 'slugify_existing_pages',
+    sql: '',
+    handler: async (engine) => {
+      const pages = await engine.listPages();
+      let renamed = 0;
+      for (const page of pages) {
+        const newSlug = slugifyPath(page.slug);
+        if (newSlug !== page.slug) {
+          try {
+            await engine.updateSlug(page.slug, newSlug);
+            await engine.rewriteLinks(page.slug, newSlug);
+            renamed++;
+          } catch (e: unknown) {
+            const msg = e instanceof Error ? e.message : String(e);
+            console.error(`  Warning: could not rename "${page.slug}" → "${newSlug}": ${msg}`);
+          }
+        }
+      }
+      if (renamed > 0) console.log(`  Renamed ${renamed} slugs`);
+    },
+  },
 ];
 
 export const LATEST_VERSION = MIGRATIONS.length > 0
@@ -35,17 +61,24 @@ export async function runMigrations(engine: BrainEngine): Promise<{ applied: num
   let applied = 0;
   for (const m of MIGRATIONS) {
     if (m.version > current) {
-      // Each migration is transactional
-      await engine.transaction(async (tx) => {
-        // Execute the migration SQL via raw connection
-        // We need to access the underlying sql connection
-        const eng = tx as any;
-        const sql = eng.sql || eng._sql;
-        if (sql) {
-          await sql.unsafe(m.sql);
-          await sql`UPDATE config SET value = ${String(m.version)} WHERE key = 'version'`;
-        }
-      });
+      // SQL migration (transactional)
+      if (m.sql) {
+        await engine.transaction(async (tx) => {
+          const eng = tx as any;
+          const sql = eng.sql || eng._sql;
+          if (sql) {
+            await sql.unsafe(m.sql);
+          }
+        });
+      }
+
+      // Application-level handler (runs outside transaction for flexibility)
+      if (m.handler) {
+        await m.handler(engine);
+      }
+
+      // Update version after both SQL and handler succeed
+      await engine.setConfig('version', String(m.version));
       console.log(`  Migration ${m.version} applied: ${m.name}`);
       applied++;
     }
diff --git a/src/core/sync.ts b/src/core/sync.ts
index 8da1a3a80..c37b3dbfd 100644
--- a/src/core/sync.ts
+++ b/src/core/sync.ts
@@ -97,21 +97,39 @@ export function isSyncable(path: string): boolean {
 }
 
 /**
- * Convert a repo-relative file path to a GBrain page slug.
+ * Slugify a single path segment: lowercase, strip special chars, spaces → hyphens.
+ */
+export function slugifySegment(segment: string): string {
+  return segment
+    .normalize('NFD')                     // Decompose accented chars
+    .replace(/[\u0300-\u036f]/g, '')      // Strip accent marks
+    .toLowerCase()
+    .replace(/[^a-z0-9.\s_-]/g, '')      // Keep alphanumeric, dots, spaces, underscores, hyphens
+    .replace(/[\s]+/g, '-')              // Spaces → hyphens
+    .replace(/-+/g, '-')                 // Collapse multiple hyphens
+    .replace(/^-|-$/g, '');              // Strip leading/trailing hyphens
+}
+
+/**
+ * Slugify a file path: strip .md, normalize separators, slugify each segment.
  *
  * Examples:
- *   people/pedro-franceschi.md → people/pedro-franceschi
- *   daily/2026-04-05.md → daily/2026-04-05
- *   notes.md → notes
+ *   Apple Notes/2017-05-03 ohmygreen.md → apple-notes/2017-05-03-ohmygreen
+ *   people/alice-smith.md → people/alice-smith
+ *   notes/v1.0.0.md → notes/v1.0.0
+ */
+export function slugifyPath(filePath: string): string {
+  let path = filePath.replace(/\.md$/i, '');
+  path = path.replace(/\\/g, '/');
+  path = path.replace(/^\.?\//, '');
+  return path.split('/').map(slugifySegment).filter(Boolean).join('/');
+}
+
+/**
+ * Convert a repo-relative file path to a GBrain page slug.
  */
 export function pathToSlug(filePath: string, repoPrefix?: string): string {
-  // Strip .md extension
-  let slug = filePath.replace(/\.md$/, '');
-  // Normalize separators
-  slug = slug.replace(/\\/g, '/');
-  // Strip leading slash
-  slug = slug.replace(/^\//, '');
-  // Add repo prefix for multi-repo setups
+  let slug = slugifyPath(filePath);
   if (repoPrefix) slug = `${repoPrefix}/${slug}`;
   return slug;
 }
diff --git a/test/e2e/mechanical.test.ts b/test/e2e/mechanical.test.ts
index d0e940102..64c7155cb 100644
--- a/test/e2e/mechanical.test.ts
+++ b/test/e2e/mechanical.test.ts
@@ -697,14 +697,14 @@ describeE2E('E2E: Slug with Special Characters', () => {
   afterAll(teardownDB);
 
   test('imports files with spaces in filename', async () => {
-    const page = await callOp('get_page', { slug: 'apple-notes/2017-05-03 ohmygreen' }) as any;
+    const page = await callOp('get_page', { slug: 'apple-notes/2017-05-03-ohmygreen' }) as any;
     expect(page).not.toBeNull();
     expect(page.title).toBe('OhMyGreen');
     expect(page.type).toBe('company');
   });
 
   test('imports files with parens in filename', async () => {
-    const page = await callOp('get_page', { slug: 'apple-notes/notes (march 2024)' }) as any;
+    const page = await callOp('get_page', { slug: 'apple-notes/notes-march-2024' }) as any;
     expect(page).not.toBeNull();
     expect(page.title).toBe('March 2024 Notes');
   });
@@ -713,7 +713,7 @@ describeE2E('E2E: Slug with Special Characters', () => {
     const results = await callOp('search', { query: 'OhMyGreen' }) as any[];
     expect(results.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(1);
     const slugs = results.map((r: any) => r.slug);
-    expect(slugs).toContain('apple-notes/2017-05-03 ohmygreen');
+    expect(slugs).toContain('apple-notes/2017-05-03-ohmygreen');
   });
 
   test('re-import of special-char files is idempotent', async () => {
diff --git a/test/e2e/sync.test.ts b/test/e2e/sync.test.ts
index 62299b5c0..fe3b6eb90 100644
--- a/test/e2e/sync.test.ts
+++ b/test/e2e/sync.test.ts
@@ -331,4 +331,66 @@ describeE2E('E2E: Git-to-DB Sync Pipeline', () => {
       noEmbed: true,
     });
   });
+
+  test('files with spaces in names get slugified slugs', async () => {
+    const { performSync } = await import('../../src/commands/sync.ts');
+    const engine = getEngine();
+
+    // Add a file with spaces (Apple Notes style)
+    mkdirSync(join(repoPath, 'Apple Notes'), { recursive: true });
+    writeFileSync(join(repoPath, 'Apple Notes/2017-05-03 ohmygreen.md'), [
+      '---',
+      'title: Ohmygreen Notes',
+      '---',
+      '',
+      'Notes about ohmygreen lunch service.',
+    ].join('\n'));
+    gitCommit(repoPath, 'add apple notes file with spaces');
+
+    const result = await performSync(engine, {
+      repoPath,
+      noPull: true,
+      noEmbed: true,
+    });
+
+    expect(result.status).toBe('synced');
+    expect(result.added).toBe(1);
+
+    // Slug should be slugified (lowercase, spaces → hyphens)
+    const page = await engine.getPage('apple-notes/2017-05-03-ohmygreen');
+    expect(page).not.toBeNull();
+    expect(page!.title).toBe('Ohmygreen Notes');
+
+    // Original space-based slug should NOT exist
+    const rawSlug = await engine.getPage('Apple Notes/2017-05-03 ohmygreen');
+    expect(rawSlug).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  test('incremental sync adds file with special characters', async () => {
+    const { performSync } = await import('../../src/commands/sync.ts');
+    const engine = getEngine();
+
+    // Add a file with parens and special chars
+    writeFileSync(join(repoPath, 'Apple Notes/meeting notes (draft).md'), [
+      '---',
+      'title: Draft Meeting Notes',
+      '---',
+      '',
+      'Some draft notes from the meeting.',
+    ].join('\n'));
+    gitCommit(repoPath, 'add file with parens');
+
+    const result = await performSync(engine, {
+      repoPath,
+      noPull: true,
+      noEmbed: true,
+    });
+
+    expect(result.status).toBe('synced');
+
+    // Slug should have parens stripped, spaces → hyphens
+    const page = await engine.getPage('apple-notes/meeting-notes-draft');
+    expect(page).not.toBeNull();
+    expect(page!.title).toBe('Draft Meeting Notes');
+  });
 });
diff --git a/test/slug-validation.test.ts b/test/slug-validation.test.ts
index 8e69e677f..3761b520d 100644
--- a/test/slug-validation.test.ts
+++ b/test/slug-validation.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { describe, test, expect } from 'bun:test';
+import { slugifySegment, slugifyPath } from '../src/core/sync.ts';
 
 // Test the validateSlug behavior via the engine
 // We can't import validateSlug directly (it's private), so we test through putPage mock behavior
@@ -10,6 +11,102 @@ function validateSlug(slug: string): boolean {
   return true;
 }
 
+describe('slugifySegment', () => {
+  test('converts spaces to hyphens', () => {
+    expect(slugifySegment('hello world')).toBe('hello-world');
+  });
+
+  test('strips special characters', () => {
+    expect(slugifySegment('notes (march 2024)')).toBe('notes-march-2024');
+  });
+
+  test('normalizes unicode accents', () => {
+    expect(slugifySegment('caf\u00e9')).toBe('cafe');
+  });
+
+  test('collapses multiple hyphens', () => {
+    expect(slugifySegment('a - b')).toBe('a-b');
+  });
+
+  test('strips leading and trailing hyphens', () => {
+    expect(slugifySegment(' hello ')).toBe('hello');
+  });
+
+  test('preserves dots', () => {
+    expect(slugifySegment('v1.0.0')).toBe('v1.0.0');
+  });
+
+  test('preserves underscores', () => {
+    expect(slugifySegment('my_file_name')).toBe('my_file_name');
+  });
+
+  test('lowercases', () => {
+    expect(slugifySegment('Apple Notes')).toBe('apple-notes');
+  });
+
+  test('returns empty for all-special-chars input', () => {
+    expect(slugifySegment('!!!')).toBe('');
+  });
+
+  test('handles curly quotes and ellipsis', () => {
+    expect(slugifySegment('she\u2026said \u201chello\u201d')).toBe('shesaid-hello');
+  });
+});
+
+describe('slugifyPath', () => {
+  test('slugifies each path segment independently', () => {
+    expect(slugifyPath('Apple Notes/file name.md')).toBe('apple-notes/file-name');
+  });
+
+  test('already-valid slugs unchanged', () => {
+    expect(slugifyPath('people/alice-smith.md')).toBe('people/alice-smith');
+  });
+
+  test('strips .md extension case-insensitively', () => {
+    expect(slugifyPath('notes/file.MD')).toBe('notes/file');
+  });
+
+  test('normalizes backslashes', () => {
+    expect(slugifyPath('notes\\file.md')).toBe('notes/file');
+  });
+
+  test('strips leading ./', () => {
+    expect(slugifyPath('./notes/file.md')).toBe('notes/file');
+  });
+
+  test('filters empty segments from all-special-chars dirs', () => {
+    expect(slugifyPath('!!!/file.md')).toBe('file');
+  });
+
+  test('preserves dots in filenames', () => {
+    expect(slugifyPath('notes/v1.0.0.md')).toBe('notes/v1.0.0');
+  });
+
+  test('handles consecutive slashes', () => {
+    expect(slugifyPath('a//b.md')).toBe('a/b');
+  });
+
+  // Bug report example transformations
+  test('Apple Notes example 1', () => {
+    expect(slugifyPath('Apple Notes/2017-05-03 ohmygreen.md')).toBe('apple-notes/2017-05-03-ohmygreen');
+  });
+
+  test('Apple Notes example 2', () => {
+    expect(slugifyPath('Apple Notes/2018-12-14 Garry Tan Photo.md')).toBe('apple-notes/2018-12-14-garry-tan-photo');
+  });
+
+  test('Apple Notes example 3 (parens and ellipsis)', () => {
+    const input = 'Apple Notes/2017-05-05 Today I had a touch base with Kavita for the meeting on Monday. (she\u2026.md';
+    const result = slugifyPath(input);
+    expect(result).toBe('apple-notes/2017-05-05-today-i-had-a-touch-base-with-kavita-for-the-meeting-on-monday.-she');
+  });
+
+  test('meetings transcript example', () => {
+    expect(slugifyPath('meetings/transcripts/2026-01-21 maria - california c4 collaboration discussion.md'))
+      .toBe('meetings/transcripts/2026-01-21-maria-california-c4-collaboration-discussion');
+  });
+});
+
 describe('validateSlug (widened for any filename chars)', () => {
   test('accepts clean slug', () => {
     expect(validateSlug('people/sarah-chen')).toBe(true);
diff --git a/test/sync.test.ts b/test/sync.test.ts
index 375479d5d..a10b3571c 100644
--- a/test/sync.test.ts
+++ b/test/sync.test.ts
@@ -90,12 +90,12 @@ describe('isSyncable', () => {
 });
 
 describe('pathToSlug', () => {
-  test('strips .md extension', () => {
+  test('strips .md extension and lowercases', () => {
     expect(pathToSlug('people/pedro-franceschi.md')).toBe('people/pedro-franceschi');
   });
 
-  test('preserves case', () => {
-    expect(pathToSlug('People/Pedro-Franceschi.md')).toBe('People/Pedro-Franceschi');
+  test('lowercases uppercase paths', () => {
+    expect(pathToSlug('People/Pedro-Franceschi.md')).toBe('people/pedro-franceschi');
   });
 
   test('strips leading slash', () => {
@@ -129,6 +129,14 @@ describe('pathToSlug', () => {
   test('handles file with only extension', () => {
     expect(pathToSlug('.md')).toBe('');
   });
+
+  test('slugifies spaces to hyphens', () => {
+    expect(pathToSlug('Apple Notes/2017-05-03 ohmygreen.md')).toBe('apple-notes/2017-05-03-ohmygreen');
+  });
+
+  test('strips special characters', () => {
+    expect(pathToSlug('notes/meeting (march 2024).md')).toBe('notes/meeting-march-2024');
+  });
 });
 
 describe('isSyncable edge cases', () => {