metabase-migration-toolkit 1.0.8

Export and import Metabase content (collections, questions, dashboards) between instances

Metabase Migration Toolkit

This toolkit provides two command-line tools, metabase-export and metabase-import, designed for exporting and importing Metabase content (collections, questions, models, and dashboards) between instances.

It's built to be robust, handling API rate limits, pagination, and providing clear logging and error handling for production use.

Features

• Recursive Export: Traverses the entire collection tree, preserving hierarchy.
• Selective Content: Choose to include dashboards and archived items.
• Model Support: Fully supports Metabase models (cards with dataset=true), preserving their model status during migration.
• Permissions Migration: Export and import permission groups and access control settings.
• Database Remapping: Intelligently remaps questions and cards to new database IDs on the target instance.
• Table & Field ID Remapping: Automatically remaps table IDs and field IDs in card queries (NEW!).
  • Captures table and field metadata during export
  • Builds intelligent mappings between source and target instances
  • Remaps table IDs in card queries and filters
  • Remaps field IDs in filter expressions
• Conflict Resolution: Strategies for handling items that already exist on the target (skip, overwrite, rename).
• Idempotent Import: Re-running an import with skip or overwrite produces a consistent state.
• Dry Run Mode: Preview all import actions without making any changes to the target instance.
• Secure: Handles credentials via environment variables or CLI flags and never logs or exports sensitive information.
• Reliable: Implements exponential backoff and retries for network requests.

Prerequisites

• Python 3.10+
• Access to source and target Metabase instances with appropriate permissions (API access, ideally admin).

Installation

Option 1: Install from PyPI (Recommended)

pip install metabase-migration-toolkit

After installation, the metabase-export and metabase-import commands will be available globally in your environment.

Option 2: Install from TestPyPI (for testing)

pip install --index-url https://test.pypi.org/simple/ \
            --extra-index-url https://pypi.org/simple/ \
            metabase-migration-toolkit

Option 3: Install from Source

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone <your-repo-url>
   cd metabase-migration-toolkit
   

2. Install the package:

   pip install -e .
   

Configuration

1. Configure Environment Variables (Recommended): Copy the example .env file and fill in your credentials. This is the most secure way to provide credentials.

   cp .env.example .env
   # Edit .env with your details
   

2. Create a Database Mapping File: Copy the example db_map.example.json and configure it to map your source database IDs/names to the target database IDs.

   cp db_map.example.json db_map.json
   # Edit db_map.json with your mappings
   

   This is the most critical step for a successful import. You must map every source database ID used by an exported card to a valid target database ID.

Usage

1. Exporting from a Source Metabase

The metabase-export command connects to a source instance and exports its content into a local directory.

Example using .env file (Recommended):

# All credentials are read from .env file
metabase-export \
    --export-dir "./metabase_export" \
    --include-dashboards \
    --include-archived \
    --include-permissions \
    --log-level INFO \
    --root-collections "24"

Example using CLI flags:

metabase-export \
    --source-url "https://your-source-metabase.com/" \
    --source-username "[e-mail]" \
    --source-password "your_password" \
    --export-dir "./metabase_export" \
    --include-dashboards \
    --root-collections "123,456"

Available options:

• --source-url - Source Metabase URL (or use MB_SOURCE_URL in .env)
• --source-username - Username (or use MB_SOURCE_USERNAME in .env)
• --source-password - Password (or use MB_SOURCE_PASSWORD in .env)
• --source-session - Session token (or use MB_SOURCE_SESSION_TOKEN in .env)
• --source-token - Personal API token (or use MB_SOURCE_PERSONAL_TOKEN in .env)
• --export-dir - Directory to save exported files (required)
• --include-dashboards - Include dashboards in export
• --include-archived - Include archived items
• --include-permissions - Include permissions (groups and access control) in export
• --root-collections - Comma-separated collection IDs to export (optional)
• --log-level - Logging level: DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR

2. Importing to a Target Metabase

The metabase-import command reads the export package and recreates the content on a target instance.

Example using .env file (Recommended):

# All credentials are read from .env file
metabase-import \
    --export-dir "./metabase_export" \
    --db-map "./db_map.json" \
    --conflict skip \
    --apply-permissions \
    --log-level INFO

Example using CLI flags:

metabase-import \
    --target-url "https://your-target-metabase.com/" \
    --target-username "[e-mail]" \
    --target-password "your_password" \
    --export-dir "./metabase_export" \
    --db-map "./db_map.json" \
    --conflict overwrite \
    --log-level INFO

Available options:

• --target-url - Target Metabase URL (or use MB_TARGET_URL in .env)
• --target-username - Username (or use MB_TARGET_USERNAME in .env)
• --target-password - Password (or use MB_TARGET_PASSWORD in .env)
• --target-session - Session token (or use MB_TARGET_SESSION_TOKEN in .env)
• --target-token - Personal API token (or use MB_TARGET_PERSONAL_TOKEN in .env)
• --export-dir - Directory with exported files (required)
• --db-map - Path to database mapping JSON file (required)
• --conflict - Conflict resolution: skip, overwrite, or rename (default: skip)
• --dry-run - Preview changes without applying them
• --include-archived - Include archived items in the import
• --apply-permissions - Apply permissions from the export (requires admin privileges)
• --log-level - Logging level: DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR

Table & Field ID Remapping

The toolkit automatically remaps table IDs and field IDs during import, ensuring cards reference the correct tables and fields in the target instance.

Why This Matters

In Metabase, each table and field has an instance-specific ID. When you have the same table name in different databases (e.g., "companies" in both company_service and deal_service), the table IDs will be different. Without proper remapping:

• Cards would reference the wrong table
• Filters with field IDs would break
• Cards would appear to work but show data from the wrong source

How It Works

1. Export Phase: The toolkit captures table and field metadata from the source instance
2. Mapping Phase: During import, it builds intelligent mappings between source and target IDs based on table/field names
3. Remapping Phase: All card queries are updated to use the correct target IDs

Example

Source Instance:
- Database: company_service (ID: 3)
  - Table: companies (ID: 27)
    - Field: company_type (ID: 201)

Target Instance:
- Database: company_service (ID: 4)
  - Table: companies (ID: 42)
    - Field: company_type (ID: 301)

After Import:
- Card database_id: 3 → 4 ✓
- Card table_id: 27 → 42 ✓
- Filter field_id: 201 → 301 ✓

For more details, see Table ID Remapping Guide.

Permissions Migration

The toolkit supports exporting and importing permissions to solve the common "403 Forbidden" errors after migration. See the Permissions Migration Guide for detailed instructions.

Quick example:

# Export with permissions
metabase-export --export-dir "./export" --include-permissions

# Import with permissions
metabase-import --export-dir "./export" --db-map "./db_map.json" --apply-permissions

Samples and Examples

The repository includes a samples/ directory with ready-to-use templates:

• samples/db_map/db_map.single_db.json – minimal single-database mapping example
• samples/db_map/db_map.multi_db.json – example mapping for multiple databases
• samples/flows/export_import_basic.sh – basic end-to-end export/import flow using .env
• samples/flows/export_import_multi_env.sh – example promotion flow between environments
• samples/cicd/github-actions-export-import.yml – minimal GitHub Actions workflow showing export/import in CI

Use these as starting points and adapt them to your own environments and naming conventions.