Import from CSV

The CSV importer lets you bulk-import work items from any CSV (comma-separated values) file. This is the most flexible importer -- it works with data exported from any tool, manually prepared spreadsheets, or custom data pipelines. You upload a file, map columns to SetGet fields, review validation results, and run the import.

File format requirements

Requirement	Detail
Encoding	UTF-8 (BOM is accepted but not required)
Delimiter	Comma (,)
Header row	Required as the first row
Maximum file size	10 MB
Maximum rows	10,000 work items per file
Quoting	Fields containing commas or newlines must be enclosed in double quotes
Line endings	\n (LF) or \r\n (CRLF)

Sample CSV template

Download the sample template from the import page, or use this format:

Title,Description,State,Priority,Assignee,Labels,Due Date,Estimate
"Fix login bug","Users cannot log in when password contains special characters",In Progress,High,alice@example.com,"bug,frontend",2026-04-15,3
"Add dark mode","Implement dark mode toggle in settings",Backlog,Medium,bob@example.com,"feature,ui",2026-05-01,8
"Update API docs","Document the new /v2/projects endpoint",Todo,Low,,"docs",2026-04-20,2

Column descriptions

Column	Required	Format	Notes
Title	Yes	Plain text	Work item title
Description	No	Plain text or Markdown	Work item description
State	No	State name	Must match an existing SetGet state or be mapped
Priority	No	Urgent, High, Medium, Low, or None	Case-insensitive
Assignee	No	Email address	Must match a workspace member's email
Labels	No	Comma-separated list (inside quotes)	Created if they do not exist
Due Date	No	YYYY-MM-DD	ISO 8601 date format
Start Date	No	YYYY-MM-DD	ISO 8601 date format
Estimate	No	Integer	Points or hours depending on project settings
Parent	No	Title of another row	Creates a sub-work-item relationship

Setup steps

Step 1 -- Upload the CSV file

1. Go to Settings > Import.
2. Select CSV.
3. Click Upload File and select your CSV file.
4. SetGet parses the file and shows a preview of the first 10 rows.

Step 2 -- Map columns to fields

SetGet auto-detects common column names. For columns that are not automatically matched, manually select the target field.

CSV column header	Auto-detected SetGet field
Title, Name, Summary	Work item title
Description, Body, Details	Description
State, Status	State
Priority	Priority
Assignee, Assigned To, Owner	Assignee
Labels, Tags	Labels
Due Date, Due, Deadline	Due date
Estimate, Points, Story Points	Estimate

Columns that do not map to any field can be ignored or appended to the description.

Step 3 -- Choose the target project

• Create new project -- enter a project name and identifier.
• Import into existing project -- select an existing project.

Step 4 -- Map state and priority values

If your CSV uses state or priority names that differ from SetGet defaults, map them:

CSV state value	SetGet state
Open	Backlog
Doing	In Progress
Finished	Done

CSV priority value	SetGet priority
P0	Urgent
P1	High
P2	Medium
P3	Low

Step 5 -- Validate

Click Validate to check the data before importing. The validator reports:

Validation check	What it catches
Missing title	Rows without a title value
Invalid date format	Dates not in YYYY-MM-DD format
Unknown state	State values not mapped to a SetGet state
Unknown priority	Priority values not in the mapping
Unmatched assignee	Emails not matching any workspace member
Duplicate titles	Rows with identical titles (warning, not blocking)

Errors are shown per-row with the row number and column. Fix errors in the CSV file and re-upload, or accept warnings and proceed.

TIP

Fix validation errors before importing. While warnings can be accepted, errors will cause those rows to be skipped.

Step 6 -- Start import

Click Start Import. The progress screen shows rows processed and any rows skipped due to errors.

Error handling

Error type	Behavior
Missing required field (title)	Row is skipped
Invalid date	Date field is left empty; row is imported
Unknown state (unmapped)	State defaults to Backlog; row is imported
Unknown priority (unmapped)	Priority defaults to None; row is imported
Unmatched assignee	Assignee is left empty; row is imported

After import, a summary report lists all skipped rows and warnings with row numbers.

Post-import validation

• Compare imported work item count with the CSV row count (minus header, minus skipped rows).
• Spot-check several items for correct field values.
• Verify labels were created.
• Check parent-child relationships if the Parent column was used.

WARNING

The CSV importer does not detect duplicates. Importing the same file twice creates duplicate work items. Delete duplicates manually or clear the project before re-importing.

Preparing data from other tools

If you are importing from a tool that does not have a dedicated importer, export to CSV from that tool and use this importer. Common sources:

Source tool	Export method	Notes
Trello	Menu > More > Print and Export > CSV	Requires a Trello Power-Up or third-party export
Monday.com	Board menu > Export to Excel/CSV	Maps columns to CSV headers
Basecamp	Third-party export tools	No native CSV export
Airtable	View > Download CSV	Each view can be exported separately
Google Sheets	File > Download > CSV	Save as .csv before importing
Excel	File > Save As > CSV	Choose "CSV UTF-8" format

After exporting, review the CSV to ensure it meets the format requirements above, then upload to SetGet.

Advanced: Parent-child relationships

The Parent column creates sub-work-item relationships:

1. Set the Parent column value to the exact title of another row in the CSV.
2. The parent row must also exist in the same CSV file.
3. Nesting is limited to one level (sub-work-items cannot have their own children via CSV import).

Example:

Title,State,Parent
"Authentication module",Backlog,
"Implement login endpoint",Backlog,"Authentication module"
"Implement logout endpoint",Backlog,"Authentication module"

Best practices

• Clean your data before importing. Remove empty rows, fix encoding issues, and standardize state/priority names.
• Use the sample template as a starting point to ensure correct formatting.
• Test with a small file (10-20 rows) before importing a large dataset.
• Standardize email addresses to match workspace members for accurate assignee mapping.
• Check encoding -- if you see garbled characters, ensure the file is saved as UTF-8.
• Remove BOM -- some tools add a BOM (Byte Order Mark) to the beginning of UTF-8 files. SetGet handles BOM gracefully, but removing it avoids potential issues.

Related pages

• Import and export overview
• Import from Jira
• Import from GitHub
• Export data
• Workflow states