Imports

OverviewEndpoints

Use the imports API to import CRM records and activities into your HubSpot account, such as contacts, companies, and notes. Once imported, you can access and update records and activities through the various CRM API endpoints, including the contacts API, associations API, and engagements APIs. You can also import records and activities using the guided import tool in HubSpot.

Before starting your import, learn more about the objects and activities that can be imported, as well as file and property requirements.

Start an import

You can start an import by making a POST request to /crm/v3/imports with a request body that specifies how to map the columns of your import file to the associated CRM properties in HubSpot.

API imports are sent as form-data type requests, with the request body containing following fields:

  • importRequest: a text field that contains the request JSON.
  • files: a file field that contains the import file.

For the request header, add a Content-Type header with a value of multipart/form-data.

The screenshot below shows what your request might look like when using an application like Postman:

postman-import-request-no-response0

Format the importRequest data

In the request JSON, define the import file details, including mapping the spreadsheet's columns to HubSpot data. Your request JSON should include the following fields:

  • name: the name of the import. In HubSpot, this is the name displayed in the imports tool, as well as the name that you can reference in other tools, such as lists.
  • importOperations: an optional field used to indicate whether the import should create and update, only create, or only update records for a certain object or activity. Include the objectTypeId for the object/activity and whether you want to UPSERT (create and update), CREATE, or UPDATE records. For example, the field would look like this in your request: "importOperations": {"0-1": "CREATE"}.
  • dateFormat: the format for dates included in the file. By default, this is set to MONTH_DAY_YEAR, but you can also use DAY_MONTH_YEAR or YEAR_MONTH_DAY.
  • marketableContactImport: the marketing status of contacts in your import file. This is used only when importing contacts into accounts that have access to marketing contacts. To set the contacts in the file as marketing, use the value true. To set the contacts in the file as non-marketing, use the value false. 
  • files: an array that contains your import file information.
    • fileName: the name of the import file.
    • fileFormat: the import file's format. For CSV files, use a value of CSV. For Excel files, use a value of SPREADSHEET.
    • fileImportPage: contains the columnMappings array required to map data from your import file to HubSpot data. Learn more about column mapping below.

Map file columns to HubSpot properties

Within the columnMappings array, include an entry for each column in your import file, matching the order of your spreadsheet. For each column, include the following fields:

  • columnObjectTypeId: the name or objectTypeId value of the object or activity to which the data belongs. Refer to this article for a full list of objectTypeId values.
  • columnName: the name of the column header.
  • propertyName: the internal name of the HubSpot property that the data will map to.
  • columnType: used to specify that a column contains a unique identifier property. Depending on the property, use one of the following values:
    • HUBSPOT_OBJECT_ID: the ID of a record. For example, your contact import file might contain a Record ID column that stores the ID of the company you want to associate the contacts with.
    • HUBSPOT_ALTERNATE_ID: a unique identifier other than the record ID. For example, your contact import file might contain an Email column that stores the contacts' email addresses.

Below is an example request body of importing to create contacts:

// Example POST to https://api.hubspot.com/crm/v3/imports // Content-Type header set to multipart/form-data { "name": "November Marketing Event Leads", "importOperations": { "0-1": "CREATE" }, "dateFormat": "DAY_MONTH_YEAR", "files": [ { "fileName": "Nov-event-leads.csv", "fileFormat": "CSV", "fileImportPage": { "hasHeader": true, "columnMappings": [ { "columnObjectTypeId": "0-1", "columnName": "First Name", "propertyName": "firstname" }, { "columnObjectTypeId": "0-1", "columnName": "Last Name", "propertyName": "lastname" }, { "columnObjectTypeId": "0-1", "columnName": "Email", "propertyName": "email", "columnType": "HUBSPOT_ALTERNATE_ID" } ] } } ] }# This example a local file named 'test_import.csv' # This file contains a list of contact records to import. import requests import json import os url = "https://api.hubapi.com/crm/v3/imports" YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN = 'xxxxxxx'; # Content-Type header will be set automatically by the requests library headers = { 'authorization': 'Bearer %s' % YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN } data = { "name": "November Marketing Event Leads", "importOperations": { "0-1": "CREATE" }, "dateFormat": "DAY_MONTH_YEAR", "files": [ { "fileName": "Nov-event-leads.csv", "fileFormat": "CSV", "fileImportPage": { "hasHeader": True, "columnMappings": [ { "columnObjectTypeId": "0-1", "columnName": "First Name", "propertyName": "firstname" }, { "columnObjectTypeId": "0-1", "columnName": "Last Name", "propertyName": "lastname" }, { "columnObjectTypeId": "0-1", "columnName": "Email", "propertyName": "email", "columnType": "HUBSPOT_ALTERNATE_ID" } ] } } ] } datastring = json.dumps(data) payload = {"importRequest": datastring} current_dir = os.path.dirname(__file__) relative_path = "./test_import.csv" absolute_file_path = os.path.join(current_dir, relative_path) files = [ ('files', open(absolute_file_path, 'rb')) ] print(files) response = requests.request("POST", url, data=payload, files=files, headers=headers) print(response.text.encode('utf8')) print(response.status_code) # Using this endpoint requires using sending multi-part form encoded data. Here is an example curl request: # importing a file named import_file.csv # create a variable for the importRequest JSON myJSON=$(cat <<EOF { "name": "November Marketing Event Leads", "importOperations": { "0-1": "CREATE" }, "dateFormat": "DAY_MONTH_YEAR", "files": [ { "fileName": "import_file.csv", "fileFormat": "CSV", "fileImportPage": { "hasHeader": true, "columnMappings": [ { "columnObjectTypeId": "0-1", "columnName": "First Name", "propertyName": "firstname" }, { "columnObjectTypeId": "0-1", "columnName": "Last Name", "propertyName": "lastname" }, { "columnObjectTypeId": "0-1", "columnName": "Email", "propertyName": "email", "columnType": "HUBSPOT_ALTERNATE_ID" } ] } } ] } EOF ) YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN="xxx-xxx-xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx" curl -v \ -F "files=@import_file.csv;type=text/csv" \ -F "importRequest=$myJSON;type=application/json" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN" \ https://api.hubapi.com/crm/v3/imports

On a successful request, the response will include an importId which you can use to retrieve or cancel the import. 

Get previous imports

To retrieve all imports from your HubSpot account, make a GET request to /crm/v3/imports/. To retrieve information for a specific import, make a GET request to /crm/v3/imports/{importId}.

When you retrieve imports, information will be returned including the import's name, source, file format, language, date format, and column mappings. The import's state will also be returned, which can be any of the following:

  • STARTED: HubSpot recognizes that the import exists, but the import hasn't started processing yet.
  • PROCESSING: The import is actively being processed.
  • DONE: The import is complete. All the objects, activities, or associations have been updated or created.
  • FAILED: There was an error that was not detected when the import was started. The import was not completed.
  • CANCELED: User cancelled the export while it was in any of the STARTED, PROCESSING, or DEFERRED states.
  • DEFERRED: The maximum number of imports (three) are processing at the same time. The import will start once one of the other imports finishes processing.

Learn more about paging and limiting results in the Endpoints tab at the top of this article.

Please note: when retrieving imports using a private app access token, the response will only include imports performed by that private app. Imports completed in HubSpot or via another private app will not be returned.

Cancel an import

To cancel an active import, make a POST request to /crm/v3/imports/{importId}/cancel. 

View and troubleshoot import errors

To view errors for a specific import, make a GET request to /crm/v3/imports/{importId}/errors. Learn more about common import errors and how to resolve them.

For more general errors, such as Unable to parse JSON or 404 text/html is not accepted:

  • Ensure that there is a column header for each column in your file, and that the request body contains a columnMapping entry for each column. The column order in the request body and import file should match, and every column needs to be mapped.
  • Ensure that the file's name and the fileName field in your request JSON match, and that you've included the file extension in the fileName field. For example, import_name.csv.
  • Ensure that your header includes Content-Type with a value of multipart/form-data.

Please note: if you receive an error, check if there are any duplicate headers, such as Content-Type. This may occur if you're using Postman or if it's included in the header of your Python script. Remove the duplicate before completing the request. 

Limits

When using the imports API, you can import up to 80,000,000 rows per day. However,  individual import files are limited to 1,048,576 rows or 512 MB, whichever is reached first.

If your request exceeds either the row or size limit, HubSpot will respond with a 429 HTTP error. When approaching these limits, it's recommended to split your import into multiple requests.  

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