Strapi Plugin Import Export Entries

Import/Export data from and to your database in just few clicks.

Features

Import

• Import data directly from the Content Manager
• Import data from JSON file or from typing raw text according to user permissions
• Import contents to collection type/single type (components, dynamic zones and media are supported)
• Control which roles can import data from the admin UI.

Export

• Export data directly from the Content Manager
• Export JSON contents according to user permissions
• Download files or copy exported data to clipboard
• Filter & sort data using Content Manager filters & sorting
• Export plugins content types
• Control which roles can export data from the admin UI.

Known Limitations

At the moment, dynamic zones and media are not unit tested. Tests will be implemented in a near future to improve quality and development speed.

Screenshots

Table Of Content

• Requirements
• Feedback
• Contribute
• Installation
• Rebuild The Admin Panel
• Usage
  • Access Control
  • Preferences
  • Config
    • Available Options
    • idField Per Collection
    • Importing Large Files
  • Filtering & Sorting
  • Services
  • Content API
  • Webhook
• Importing Data
  • JSON v2
  • JSON v1 (deprecated)
• Related Plugins
• Author
• Acknowledgments

Requirements

Strapi v4 is required.

Feedback

Access the publicly available product roadmap and suggest features, report bugs or upvote other people suggestions.

Join the Discord Community to give your feedback 📣 and get some help from the community ⛑️

Contribute

See the repo Strapi Contribute.

Installation

1. Download

1
yarn add strapi-plugin-import-export-entries

or

1
npm i strapi-plugin-import-export-entries

2. Enable the plugin

Add in the file config/plugins.js:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
module.exports = ({ env }) => ({
  //...
  'import-export-entries': {
    enabled: true,
    config: {
      // See `Config` section.
    },
  },
  //...
});

Rebuild The Admin Panel

New releases can introduce changes to the administration panel that require a rebuild. Rebuild the admin panel with one of the following commands:

1
yarn build --clean

or

1
npm run build --clean

Usage

Once the plugin is installed and setup, the functionnalities for a collection are accessible on its content management page.

You can also export the whole database from the home page of the plugin.

Access Control

You can define which roles can import and/or export data from the admin UI.

Go to Settings > Roles (under Administration Panel) > Plugins > Import-export-entries.

Admin view.

User view of the plugin home page that can only export data.

User view of the content management page that can only export data.

Preferences

For a quick and convenient use, you can set your preferences from the home page of the plugin.

Once set, they will be used each time you import/export data.

Config

Available Options

In config/plugins.js:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
module.exports = ({ env }) => ({
  //...
  'import-export-entries': {
    enabled: true,
    config: {
      /**
       * Public hostname of the server.
       *
       * If you use the local provider to persist medias,
       * `serverPublicHostname` should be set to properly export media urls.
       */
      serverPublicHostname: 'https://yoga.com', // default: "".
    },
  },
  //...
});

In any collection schema schema.json:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
{
  "collectionName": "my-awesome-collection",
  "info": {
    "displayName": "My Awesome Collection",
  },
  "pluginOptions": {
    "import-export-entries": {
      /**
       * Define the `idField` used to find an entry of the collection
       * when importing data.
       *
       * `idField` must match the name of an attribute.
       * See section _Specifying `idField` Per Collection_ for more details
       */
      "idField": "name"
    }
  },
  "attributes": {
    /**
     * In this example, `name` will be used to find an entry
     * of this collection when importing data.
     */
    "name": {
      "type": "string",
      "unique": true
    },
  }
}

Specifying idField Per Collection

Importing data will either create entries if they don't exist, or update them otherwise.

When transfering data from a database to another, relying on the id of an entry is not reliable. For example, if you are transfering data on hospitals with this schema:

1
2
3
4
5
6
interface Hospital {
  id: number;
  name: string;
  employees: Employee[];
  patients: Patient[];
}

You will have something similar in your source and target databases:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
// data in source database
{
  id: 1,
  name: "Pitié Salpêtrière",
  employees: [2, 3],
  patients: [4, 5],
}

// data in target database
{
  id: 11,
  name: "Pitié Salpêtrière",
  employees: [12, 13],
  patients: [14, 15],
}

Different databases, different ids. 🫠

That's why we need a way to define the field used to find an entry in a collection. This field is called an idField.

To define the idField of a collection, add it in the pluginOptions of the collection, under the property import-export-entries. Using the example above, this is how we would define the idField of the collection hospital:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
{
  "collectionName": "hospitals",
  "info": {
    "displayName": "Hospital",
  },
  "options": {},
  /**
   * In the property `pluginOptions`, define the `idField` under the property `import-export-entries`.
   *
   * `idField` must match the name of an attribute.
   */
  "pluginOptions": {
    "import-export-entries": {
      "idField": "name"
    }
  },
  "attributes": {
    "name": { // 👈 `name` will be used to find a hospital when importing data.
      "type": "string",
      "unique": true
    },
    "employees": {
      "type": "relation",
      "relation": "oneToMany",
      "target": "api::employees.employees"
    },
    "patients": {
      "type": "relation",
      "relation": "oneToMany",
      "target": "api::patients.patients"
    },
  }
}

For each collection of your application, you can define a different idField. For example, you can set the name attribute as the idField of the collection hospital, and for the collection patients use the attribute ssn (I really hope you're not storing uncyphered SSNs in your database 😬).

How does the search behave if I don't define explicitly the idField of a collection?

By default, the idField of a collection is the id attribute. We can imagine in a near future to automatically detect unique scalar fields of a collection and use them by default, but it's not the case at the moment.

How does the search behave when I specify the idField from the strapi admin UI?

The idField specified from the import modal of the admin UI takes precedence over the one defined in the pluginOptions of the collection.

This default behavior could change in the future if user feedback shows it's cumbersome to set it manually on each import. You tell me.

Importing Large Files

When importing data, imported file size may exceed the file size limit of the server. To lift up the limit, configure the Strapi middleware body:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
// ./config/middlewares.js

module.exports = {
  // ...
  {
    name: 'strapi::body',
    config: {
      jsonLimit: '10mb',
    },
  },
  // ...
}

Filtering and Sorting

The filtering and sorting mechanism relies on Strapi filtering and sorting feature:

1. Connect to the content manager page of the model you want to export, and filter and sort the data as you want it to be exported.

2. Open the export modal and check the option Apply filters and sort to exported data.

3. Click on Fetch Data.

The exported data is filtered and sorted as expected.

Services

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
/*****************************
 * Service "import".
 ****************************/

/**
 * Get the service.
 */
const service = strapi.plugin("import-export-entries").service("import");

/**
 * Method importData.
 */
await service.importData(
  /**
   * Data to import.
   * Expected type depends on the specified format:
   * - csv: string
   * - jso: object | object[]
   * - json: string
   */
  dataRaw: object | object[] | string,
  options: {
    /**
     * Slug of the imported model.
     * - "media" is a custom slug to specifically import media. See section Importing Data > Media below.
     */
    slug: "media" | string;
    /**
     * Format of the imported data.
     * - csv
     * - jso: javascript object
     * - json: javascript object notation
     */
    format: "csv" | "jso" | "json";
    /** User importing data. */
    user: object;
  }
) : Promise<{
  failures: {
    /** Error raised. */
    error: Error;
    /** Data for which import failed. */
    data: object;
  }[]
}>;

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
/*****************************
 * Service "export".
 ****************************/

/**
 * Get the service.
 */
const service = strapi.plugin("import-export-entries").service("export");

/**
 * Method exportData.
 */
await service.exportData(
  options: {
    /**
     * Slug of the model to export.
     * - "media" is a custom slug to specifically export media.
     */
    slug: "media" | string;
    /**
     * Export format.
     * - csv
     * - json: javascript object notation
     */
    exportFormat: "csv" | "json";
    /** Search query used to select the entries to export. The package `qs` is used to parse the query. */
    search?: string;
    /** Whether to apply the search query. */
    applySearch?: boolean;
    /** Whether to export relations as id instead of plain objects. */
    relationsAsId?: boolean;
    /** Deepness of the exported data. */
    deepness?: number;
  }
) : Promise<string>;

Content API

Data can be imported/exported through the content api. Endpoints have to be enabled in Settings > Users & Permissions plugin > Roles.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
/*****************************
 * Import data
 *
 * POST /api/import-export-entries/content/import
 ****************************/

type RouteParams = {
  /** Slug of the model to export. */
  slug: string;
  /**
   * Data to import.
   * if `format` is "csv", data must be a string.
   * if `format` is "json", data must be an object or an array of objects.
   * */
  data: string | Object | Object[];
  /** Format of the passed data to import. */
  format: 'csv' | 'json';
  /** Name of the field to use as a unique identifier for entries. Default: "id" */
  idField?: string;
};

type RouteReturn = {
  /** Array of failed imports. */
  failures: {
    /** Error raised during import. */
    error: string;
    /** Data for which the import failed. */
    data: Object;
  }[];
};

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
/*****************************
 * Export data
 *
 * POST /api/import-export-entries/content/export/contentTypes
 ****************************/

type RouteParams = {
  /** Slug of the model to export. */
  slug: string;
  /** Format to use to export the data. */
  exportFormat: 'csv' | 'json';
  /** Search query used to select the entries to export. The package `qs` is used to parse the query. Default: "" */
  search?: string;
  /** Whether to apply the search query. Default: false */
  applySearch?: boolean;
  /** Whether to export relations as id instead of plain objects. Default: false */
  relationsAsId?: boolean;
  /** Deepness of the exported data. Default: 5 */
  deepness?: number;
};

type RouteReturn = {
  /** Exported data. */
  data: string;
};

Webhook

At the moment, the webhook is triggered only for media creation, update and deletion. It is not triggered for other data.

Importing Data

JSON v2

JSON v2 introduces a new supported file structure. Data is flattened and dependencies only relies on ids (objects are not supported in this new version). Collection types, single types, media and components are all treated the same for ease of use.

Here is an example:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
{
  "version": 2, // required for the import to work properly.
  "data": {
    // Each collection has a dedicated key in the `data` property.
    "api::collection-name.collection-name": {
      // Sub keys are `id`s of imported entries and values hold the data of the entries to import.
      "1": {
        "id": 1
        //...
      },
      "2": {
        "id": 2
        //...
      }
    },
    "api::other-collection-name.other-collection-name": {
      "1": {
        "id": 1,
        // Relations are specified by `id`s.
        "collectionAbove": [1]
        //...
      },
      "2": {
        "id": 2,
        "collectionAbove": [1, 2]
        //...
      }
    },
    // Import medias.
    "plugin::upload.file": {
      "1": {
        "id": 1
        //...
      },
      "2": {
        "id": 2
        //...
      }
    },
    // Import components.
    "my.component": {
      "1": {
        "id": 1
        //...
      },
      "2": {
        "id": 2
        //...
      }
    }
  }
}

JSON v1 (deprecated)

The expected import data structure:

Relation:

object

the relation is searched in db by id. If an entry is found, it is updated with the provided data. Otherwise, it is created.

number

The relation is treated as an id.

Media:

object

the media must have an id, hash, name or url property. First the media is searched by id, then by hash, then by name and finally imported from url if not found previously.

When imported by url, the hash and name of the file are deduced from the url (the hash is also deduced because Strapi exports files with their hash in the url instead of the name). The hash and name are used to find the media in db. First the media is searched by hash, then by name and used if found. Otherwise, the media is uploaded to the db by downloading the file from the url.

⚠️ Check the server has access to the url.

When imported by url, extra data can be provided to enhance the created file:

• id (defaults to an auto generated id)
• name (defaults to the name deduced from the url)
• caption (defaults to "")
• alternativeText (defaults to "")

Examples

• { id: 1 }
• { hash: "alpaga.jpg" }
• { name: "alpaga.jpg" }
• { url: "https://www.thetimes.co.uk/imageserver/image/alpaga.jpg" } (Deduced file hash is alpaga and deduced name is imageserver-image-alpaga.jpg)
• { url: "http://localhost:1337/alpaga.jpg" } (Deduced file hash is alpaga and deduced name is alpaga.jpg)
• { id: 734, url: "http://localhost:1337/alpaga.jpg", name: "Alpacool", caption: "Alpacool In Da Hood", alternativeText: "Alpacool in da hood" }

string

Same as above, except the media provided is treated as a url.

• "https://www.thetimes.co.uk/imageserver/image/alpaga.jpg" (Deduced file hash is alpaga and deduced name is imageserver-image-alpaga.jpg)
• "http://localhost:1337/alpaga.jpg" (Deduced file hash is alpaga and deduced name is alpaga.jpg)

number

The media is treated as an id.

• 7

Related Plugins

• Strapi Plugin Request Id: Add a unique id to each request made to your server and track your users' activity in the logs

Author

Baboo - @Baboo7

Acknowledgments

This plugin (and especially this README) took strong inspiration from the strapi-plugin-import-export-content from EdisonPeM.