Clean the shape before importing
Most import problems are shape problems: duplicate headers, blank rows, quoted commas, inconsistent values, invalid emails, or JSON that does not match the receiving system.
Before importing, inspect a small sample, normalize common values, validate the converted output, and keep a backup of the original export.
- Check headers, delimiters, empty rows, and duplicate records.
- Validate JSON after converting from CSV.
- Replace private values before sharing sample import files.
Use safe examples for debugging
Import debugging often requires sharing a sample row or payload. Keep the structure, but replace names, emails, ids, and customer values with placeholders or generated data.
CSV, JSON, and spreadsheet-style exports can change dates, long ids, and leading zeros. Review a few rows after conversion before trusting the full file.