Migrating from Legacy Exports to Export Pipelines

Widget Exports are deprecated. Existing widget exports keep running for now, but don't set up new ones: use Export Pipelines instead. To move an existing widget export, see Migrating from Legacy Exports to Export Pipelines.

Data Exporters and Widget Exports are being retired and replaced by Export Pipelines. This guide walks you through moving your existing exports, running old and new side by side, and switching over without a gap in your data. You set up the new pipelines yourself in Clarisights. Switching off the legacy exports at the end still goes through us.

Before you start: You need the Admin or Data Manager role to see Export pipelines in the left sidebar. Read Getting Started with Export Pipelines for an overview of pipelines, extracts, versions, destinations, and schedules.

Step 1: List Your Current Exports

Write down every legacy export you receive and who uses it:

• Data Exporters: one per channel. Note the channel, the bucket and path, and which file types you use (core_, stats_, conversions_, breakdowns_) at which levels.

• Widget Exports: one per widget. Note the widget, the date range, the schedule, the bucket and path, and the file name.

• Consumers: the scripts, warehouse jobs, or dashboards that read these files.

Your Clarisights team can send you the list of legacy exports set up for your company.

Step 2: Create the Pipeline and Its Extracts

In an Export Pipeline, each file you receive is an extract: a list of dimensions, metrics, and optional filters. One pipeline can combine several channels in the same file.

1. Click Export pipelines in the left sidebar, then New pipeline.

2. On the Sources step, enter a Pipeline name and pick the data sources your legacy export covers. Click Continue.

3. On the Extracts step, build one extract per file you need (see the table below). Give each one an Extract ID, which becomes part of its file path.

4. Click Run preview to check the rows, then Save to draft.

For a widget export, you don't need to rebuild the widget by hand. In the extract editor, paste the widget's link or ID into Prefill from a report widget and click Prefill form. Clarisights copies the widget's dimensions, metrics and filters, and lists any field it had to skip because the pipeline's data sources don't provide it. Metric conditions and filters on dates aren't copied, so add those back as filters if you need them. Later changes to the widget don't change the extract.

If you use	Create
A widget export	One extract, prefilled from the widget. Choose the widget's channels as the pipeline's data sources. You pick the date range on the schedule in step 4.
Data Exporter stats_ and core_ files for a level	One extract per level you use, with the time dimension you need (for example Date), the dimensions of that level (for example Campaign), and the metrics you use. Dimensions and metrics come in the same file, so you no longer need to join two files.
Data Exporter conversions_ files	Add the conversion metrics you need to the same extract, or create a separate extract for them.
Data Exporter breakdowns_ files	An extract that adds the breakdown dimension (for example Age or Country) to the level's dimensions, where that dimension is available for your data sources. Ask us if you are not sure.

Only include the columns your consumers actually read. You can add more later in a new draft. How extracts, drafts and versions work is in Extracts, Drafts & Versions in Export Pipelines.

Step 3: Set Up the Destination

You can use the same bucket as your legacy exports, but use a different Path prefix (for example clarisights/pipelines) so the new files don't mix with the old ones.

Create the destination from the Destinations tab (Add destination), or from the schedule in step 4 (+ Create new destination…). Then click Test connection to check that Clarisights can read, write and overwrite files there. If your legacy exports already write to the bucket, the permissions are usually in place. See Configuring Export Pipeline Destinations & Permissions for every provider and sign-in option.

Step 4: Add the Schedule and Publish

On the Schedule step of the wizard (or later with New schedule on the pipeline), pick the Destination, the Cadence, the Timezone and the Date range per run. Use this table to match your legacy export:

Legacy behaviour	Export Pipeline schedule
Data Exporter daily run	Daily at the time you need, with the same number of days, such as the Last 30 Days preset
Data Exporter extra run for the last 3 days	A second schedule, Daily at a different time, with Custom range…: Start of window -2d and End of window +0d (the last 3 days, including today)
Widget export every 24 hours	Daily at the widget export's hour
Widget export every 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 or 12 hours	Every N hours, with First run at set so that one of the runs falls at the widget export's hour
Widget export every hour	Hourly
Widget export at any other interval	Custom cron… (for example 0 */5 * * * for every 5 hours)
Widget export date range	The matching Preset, or Custom range…

Important: A new schedule starts as Hourly with Last 7 Days. Change the cadence to match your legacy export before you save, or the pipeline exports every hour.

Legacy exports use your company's timezone, which is the Company default option. Keep it unless your consumers expect another timezone. More on cadences and timezones is in Export Scheduling & Timing Guide.

Then, on Review & publish, click Publish draft… and confirm. The pipeline goes live as version 1. Because it has a schedule, the first export usually starts right away. If it doesn't, it runs at the next scheduled time.

Step 5: Load Past Dates

If you need history in the new format, export it once with Run now:

1. Open the pipeline and go to the Schedules tab.

2. Click Run now on the schedule.

3. Choose Pick dates and set the Start date and End date. The earliest start is 1 January two years back (for example 1 January 2024 in 2026), and the latest end is today in the schedule's timezone.

4. Click Run export, then follow the run on the Runs tab.

The whole range arrives as one file per extract, not one file per day. Clicking Run export twice starts two runs and sends the files twice, so check the Runs tab before running again.

Step 6: Update Your Consumers

The new files are laid out differently. Update the scripts or jobs that read them:

Item	Legacy exports	Export Pipelines
Path	from_clarisights/<company>/<channel>/v<version>/... (Data Exporters) or a fixed path and file name (Widget Exports)	{path_prefix}/{pipeline_name}/v{manifest_version}/{extract_id}/{epoch_time}_{start_date}_{end_date}.csv.gz by default, adjustable with the file name template
Files per run	Several files per channel and level, possibly split into parts	One data file per extract, never split, plus a .meta.json file
Column names	Fixed per channel	Dimension names as shown in Clarisights, and metric keys. The .meta.json file maps each column to its name in Clarisights.
Export time column	created_at (Data Exporters)	_extracted_at
Compression	gzip, or as configured for widget exports	gzip by default, or none

Step 7: Run Both Side by Side

Keep the legacy export running while the new pipeline delivers files. For a week or two, compare the two for the same dates and timezone, for example total spend per day and per channel. Small differences can come from rounding. Larger ones usually come from a different date range, timezone, or filter.

Step 8: Switch Off the Legacy Export

When your consumers read only the new files and the numbers match, tell us which legacy exports to switch off. Legacy exports can't be switched off in the app. Files that were already delivered stay in your bucket.

If you have questions, click ? at the bottom right of Clarisights and choose Send us a message, or email support@clarisights.com.