Import workflow runs from a spreadsheet

When you need to start a batch of runs at once, one per site, per client, per case, importing them from a spreadsheet beats creating them by hand. The import can cover more than one workflow in a single file.

What you can set per run

Each row in the spreadsheet becomes a run, and a row can carry:

the workflow to use, so one file can start runs across several workflows
the run name
the participants
the start date, so runs can be dated into the future
the due date

That combination is what makes the import worth the setup: a quarter of scheduled site visits, each with the right team and the right dates, created in one action.

Spreadsheet columns

The first row of the sheet holds the column titles, exactly as written below. The Import Runs page has a Copy column titles button that puts this row on your clipboard. Column order does not matter, and you can leave out any column you do not need except workflow_id. Save the sheet as CSV before uploading it.

Column	What it holds
`workflow_id`	Required. The workflow's ID number. The Import Runs page shows it for the workflow you came from, and the Integration info page under Rules & automation shows it for any workflow. You must be able to start that workflow, and one file can mix several workflows.
`checklist_run_name`	The run's name. If it is blank the run is named from its start date.
`start_date`	When the run starts, in the date format you pick on the upload page: DD/MM/YYYY, MM/DD/YYYY or DD-MMM-YY. Dashes, slashes and dots all work as separators, and YYYY-MM-DD is always recognised. A date in the past starts the run a few minutes after the import; a future date schedules it.
`due_date`	The run's due date, in the same format as `start_date`. Leave it blank to use the workflow's expected duration.
`external_id`	Free text, such as a job number or a record ID from another system. Shown on the run.
`participants`	Email addresses of people to add to the run, separated by commas. They must already be users in the workflow's department. An address that is not a valid email rejects the row; an address that is valid but matches nobody is skipped with a warning you see on the review page.
`guests`	Names, separated by commas. A guest user is created for each name and added to the run.
`tags`	Tags for the run, separated by commas. Tags that do not exist yet are created.
`slack_channel`	The Slack channel the run should post to, for accounts with Slack connected.

Role assignments. To fill a role on each run, add a column titled with the role's name followed by the word Role, for example Inspector Role, and put the person's email in it. The role must exist in the workflow's department, or the row is rejected.

Rows with a problem are listed on the review page before anything is created, with the column and the reason, so you can fix the sheet and upload it again.

Before you import

Get the workflow right first. Imported runs are copies of the workflow as it stands, so fix the workflow before importing a hundred runs from it, not after.
Check participant names or emails match people in the account, or those runs arrive without the people on them.
Try a short file first. Import two rows, look at the result, then import the rest. Undoing a bad import means archiving runs one at a time.

When to use something else

If the runs repeat on a calendar, use a schedule instead. If another system already knows when a run should exist, create runs from it through Zapier or the API rather than exporting a spreadsheet by hand each time. See Does Manifestly integrate with other services?.

Video walkthrough

This video walks through importing runs from a spreadsheet.