Bubble's data import and export tools have a few formatting inconsistencies that can catch you off guard — especially when you're exporting data and trying to re-import it, or when piping data into another tool. Here's what to watch out for.
CSV exports don't re-import correctly
There's a formatting mismatch between how Bubble exports data as CSV and what it expects on import. List fields are the most common example: Bubble exports them as "x , y , z" but requires "[x , y , z]" on import. Date ranges and some other field types may also be affected.
What you might notice:
A CSV exported from Bubble fails or imports incorrectly when re-uploaded
List fields come through as plain text on import instead of being recognized as lists
Date range fields don't round-trip cleanly through export and re-import
Workaround: Before re-importing a Bubble CSV export, manually update the list formatting in your spreadsheet tool — change "x , y , z" to "[x , y , z]" for any list fields. For other field types that don't import cleanly, reformat them to match Bubble's expected import structure.
Lists of dates are parsed incorrectly on import
When importing a CSV that contains a list of dates using a comma delimiter, Bubble can incorrectly split individual dates at their internal commas. For example, "Jul 13, 2022 11:30 AM" contains a comma after the day — when a comma is also the list delimiter, each date gets split into fragments instead of being treated as a single value.
What you might notice:
A list of dates imports with more entries than expected — each date is split into multiple fragments
Dates in the imported data are malformed or show only a month and day without the year or time
The issue is most visible when exporting and re-importing the same data, since Bubble's export uses commas within date values
Workaround: When importing, specify a non-comma delimiter for the list — for example, a pipe (|) or semicolon (;). Alternatively, use a date format in your CSV that doesn't contain commas so values don't conflict with the list separator.
JSON exports use CSV-style formatting instead of proper JSON
When you export app data as JSON from the App Data tab, list fields and number fields are formatted the same way as a CSV export rather than using standard JSON formatting. Lists export as comma-separated strings instead of arrays, and numbers are wrapped in quotes instead of being plain numeric values.
What you might notice:
A list field exports as "uid1, uid2" instead of ["uid1", "uid2"]
Number fields export wrapped in quotes (e.g. "42") instead of as plain numbers
The exported JSON doesn't match the format returned by the Data API
Workaround: If you need properly structured JSON with arrays and typed numbers, use the Data API to retrieve your data instead of the App Data tab's export function. The Data API returns correctly formatted JSON.