Export and restore an inventory

Back up or move an inventory

On mobile, open Inventory Settings → Import and export and select Backup archive under Export. On the web, choose Export archive in inventory settings. Inventory data is always included. Leave Photos and Other files selected for a complete inventory backup, then choose Create archive. The server prepares a ZIP in the background; you can leave the screen and return to download it. Mobile opens the system share sheet so you can save the ZIP to Files or another app.

The ZIP contains a JSON inventory document and the original attachments you selected. Turning off either attachment option makes a partial backup. CSV is for spreadsheets, not backup or restore.

To restore on another Stuff Stash instance, sign in there first. On mobile, choose Import on the Import and export screen. You can also open Restore inventory from the household/inventory switcher, including when the household has no inventory. On the web, open the destination household’s settings. You must have permission to create inventories in that household; it can be empty.

1. Choose the ZIP and select Upload and validate.
2. Choose Review restore to check its contents and any omitted attachments.
3. Enter a name and choose Restore inventory.
4. When it finishes, choose Open inventory.

Restore creates a new inventory with new IDs and reconnects its internal relationships. It never overwrites an existing inventory. Conflicting custom definition keys are renamed and reported in the review. Selecting or validating a file alone does not create an inventory.

On mobile, the activity list shows your archive imports and exports across the current household. Work in progress and archives waiting for review appear first, followed by past jobs. Return to this screen to review, download or open the result; accepted jobs continue even if you leave or restart the app.

Jobs are private to the person who started them. Leaving the screen cancels a local file transfer, but does not cancel work already accepted by the server. Use a job’s Cancel action to cancel server work, or Retry after a failure. Cancellation is no longer available once the restored inventory has been created and its access is being finalized. Open inventory appears when it is ready to use. Download availability expires after 24 hours by default; the job shows its expiry. Restored inventory data remains after the job expires.

An inventory archive is not a server backup. It does not transfer accounts, credentials, sharing access, provider configuration, or audit history. Keep separate database and blob-storage backups for disaster recovery.

Archive uploads default to a 1 GiB limit and a 30-minute transfer timeout. Administrators can configure STUFF_STASH_ARCHIVE_MAX_BYTES and STUFF_STASH_ARCHIVE_TRANSFER_TIMEOUT; reverse-proxy upload limits and timeouts must also allow the configured transfers. The server needs writable temporary disk space for archive preparation and validation.

Download JSON or CSV

On mobile, open Inventory Settings → Import and export, select Export, then choose JSON data or CSV spreadsheet and start the export. On the web, choose Export inventory in inventory settings. Anyone who can view the inventory can export it.

• JSON keeps the complete inventory document, including field definitions and asset types. Choose this when you need structured data for another tool.
• CSV gives you one row per asset for a spreadsheet. Tags, custom fields, checkout details, and attachment metadata appear as JSON inside their cells.

Both formats include active and archived assets, their parent IDs, tags, expiration values, and current checkout details. Archived tags and attachment metadata are included too. Deleted records cannot be recovered through export.

Photo and file contents are not included. Neither are account credentials, sharing tokens, provider settings, or audit history. Keep database and blob-storage backups for a complete server recovery. An export may reflect edits made while it is being prepared; it is not a point-in-time snapshot.

CSV protects against spreadsheet formulas by prefixing formula-like text with a single quote. JSON preserves the original text. Both formats preserve Unicode, commas, quotes, and multiline descriptions.

On mobile, stay on the screen while a JSON or CSV file is prepared, then use the system share sheet to save or send it. These direct downloads do not appear in archive activity; use a backup archive for a saved background job. On iPhone and iPad, Save to Files keeps a copy in your chosen folder. Canceling preparation prevents the share sheet from opening. Once you send a copy to another app, canceling cannot take it back.

If a download fails

The app keeps you on the export screen with an error and a way to try again. If your session has expired, sign in again. If access was removed, ask the inventory owner to restore it. A failed request does not produce a partial inventory file.

The server defaults to 10,000 records per collection and a 64 MiB encoded file. Administrators can change these positive-integer environment settings:

Setting	Default
STUFF_STASH_EXPORT_MAX_RECORDS	10000
STUFF_STASH_EXPORT_MAX_BYTES	67108864

Raise limits only when the server has enough memory and request time to assemble and encode the larger inventory. Attachment metadata shares one collection limit across the whole inventory.

API access

Use your normal authenticated API client to request:

GET /tenants/{tenantId}/inventories/{inventoryId}/export?format=json
GET /tenants/{tenantId}/inventories/{inventoryId}/export?format=csv

The response is the file itself, with an attachment filename and private, no-store cache policy. JSON is the default when format is omitted. The JSON format has schemaVersion: 1; it is not an import or restore protocol.