Export Your Data
Converge Team
Part of the Kayako migration guide
Learn how to export your customer data, conversation history, and contacts from Kayako before migrating to a new platform.
How to Export Your Data from Kayako
Kayako has no native CSV export in its UI. You cannot bulk-export conversations, contacts, or cases from the Kayako dashboard. Instead, you need a combination of a support-requested MySQL dump and REST API calls to retrieve your data.
Step 1: Request a Full Data Dump from Kayako
Submit a request through the "Contact Us" form on help.kayako.com. Provide your instance name (e.g., yourcompany.kayako.com) and billing email address. You can request database only, attachments only, or both. The dump is delivered in MySQL format only — CSV is not available. Kayako's Infrastructure team processes the request and sends download links that expire within 1–7 days. Plan for 1–3 business days for processing. Download immediately once links arrive.
Step 2: Retrieve Conversations and Cases via API
Kayako's REST API provides two key endpoints for conversation data. GET /api/v1/cases.json retrieves cases with full metadata — this endpoint is restricted to staff accounts only. GET /api/v1/conversations.json retrieves conversation details and is accessible to customer accounts as well. Both endpoints use Basic Auth. Results are paginated at 10 per page by default — add ?limit=100 for up to 100 results per request. Critically, add &archived=1 to include cases closed 30+ days ago — without this flag, archived cases are silently excluded and you'll miss a large portion of historical data.
Step 3: Export Users and Organizations
Retrieve user data with GET /api/v1/users?include=*&fields=full_name,role,emails,organization.json — the include=* parameter expands related objects and fields lets you select specific attributes. For organization data, use GET /api/v1/organizations.json. Both endpoints return JSON and support the same pagination (?limit=100) and Basic Auth as other endpoints. Map users to their organizations before importing into your new platform to preserve team structure.
Step 4: Export Help Center Articles and Custom Reports
Knowledge base articles are retrievable via the API in JSON format — there is no UI export option. Document the article category hierarchy so you can recreate the structure in your new platform. For tabular data exports, use Custom Reports: navigate to the agent area > Insights > Custom Reports > New Report, configure your filter criteria, and export as CSV. This requires the "Can access insights" permission on your agent role.
Step 5: Document What You Cannot Export
The following are not included in any export method — neither the MySQL dump request nor the API: automation rules, SLA configurations, conversation views, email routing rules, and canned responses. Screenshot your automation workflows, copy canned response text manually, and document your department routing logic and SLA thresholds per priority level. These must be recreated from scratch in your new platform.
Tip: Start the data dump request early — it depends on Kayako's support team availability and can take several business days. Run the API export in parallel so you can cross-reference both sources and verify completeness before canceling your Kayako account.
Need the full migration guide?
This page covers export your data specifically. For the complete step-by-step migration process:
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