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Export your data — messages, list definitions, list rows, and follows — from the Exports page. Exporting is free for everyone. Reach the page via Dashboard → Exports, or the Data Management section on the Dashboard.
All exports download as CSV files you can open in any spreadsheet application or process with a script. Each export type has its own card showing the current record count; files are produced on demand and download directly to your browser.
Looking for the exact column names? They live in one place: the Exports API reference, which lists the precise header row each export emits. This page describes what each export is for. The reference is generated against the code and checked by a test on every build, so where the two ever seem to disagree, the reference is right.
| Export | What it contains | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Messages | Every message you have posted, including its tags and — for replies — the ID of the message it replies to. | Backup, migration, analysing your own posting history. |
| Lists | Your list definitions: title, description, visibility, and the parent list if it sits in a hierarchy. Not the rows. | Recreating your list structure elsewhere. |
| List Data Rows | Every row from all of your lists, in one flat file. | Working with the actual data you have collected. |
| Follows | Your follow relationships in both directions, with each account's username and display name. | Reviewing or migrating your social graph. |
Column headers are human-readable, with spaces and capitals — Publicly Visible, not publiclyVisible. If you are writing a script, copy the header strings from the reference rather than guessing them from field names you have seen in the app.
Booleans export as Yes / No, not true / false.
Timestamps are ISO 8601 UTC.
List rows are not split into per-field columns. Because every list has its own schema, each row's values arrive as a single JSON object in one column. Parse that column to get individual fields.
Multi-value fields are pipe-separated. A message's tags arrive as research|weeknotes|lists in one column, so a comma inside the data can never be mistaken for a new column.
Lists and list rows can follow your access, not just your ownership. Each of those two cards has an Include selector: Mine (the default), Shared with me, or Everything I can read. A list someone shared with you — as a watcher, collaborator, or manager — exports under either of the last two. An Access column says how you reach each row, so a combined export is still self-describing.
The record count on the card updates with the selector, and always matches what the file will contain.
Messages and follows are your own account only. Those two cards have no selector. Documents shared with you are not exportable yet.
It used to. Both sides of every relationship carried an address, which meant downloading your follow graph handed you the email address of everyone who follows you — something none of them agreed to, and something the app shows nowhere else. Those two columns have been removed. Use the username as the stable handle for an account.