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Export conversations

Written by Joseph Russo, Principal Architect, Networks and Tech, AskVault · Reviewed by Allison Chan
Last updated: · 3 min read

What you can export today

There is one conversation export: Export all (CSV) in the Help Desk inbox. It downloads a single CSV file that holds every message in the current workspace, oldest first.

Each export covers exactly 1 workspace, the one you have open, and its whole history. There is no date window such as 30 days or 90 days: the file reaches back as far as your conversation history goes. It covers the whole workspace every time:

  • Filters are not applied. The status, channel, priority and "Needs review" filters change what the inbox shows, not what the file contains. The button says "Export all" for this reason.
  • No selection. You can't export a hand-picked set of conversations, and the bulk actions bar has no export action.
  • No single-conversation export. A conversation's own view has no export button.

How to export

  1. Open the Help Desk inbox.
  2. Click Filters, then Export all (CSV).
  3. Wait while the button shows Preparing.... The file then downloads as conversations_<first 8 characters of your workspace ID>.csv.

The file is built in one go while you wait. There is no background job, no email when it's ready and no download link to come back to. On a workspace with a long history it can take a while, so keep the tab open until the download starts.

Who can export

  • Plan. Growth and above. On Free and Starter the button shows a lock and a Growth badge, and clicking it offers the upgrade. See plans and billing.
  • Team access. Anyone who can open the workspace's inbox can export it, including teammates with view-only access. The file is not narrowed to a teammate's own conversations, so treat it as workspace-wide data.

What the file contains

Each row is one message. The file has these 8 columns:

timestamp, conversation_id, session_id, role, content, channel_type, tokens_used, feedback
  • timestamp. When the message was saved, in UTC (ISO 8601).
  • conversation_id and session_id. Group rows into conversations.
  • role. Who wrote the message: user (your customer), assistant (your AI agent), agent (a teammate's reply) or note (an internal note).
  • content. The message text. Cells a spreadsheet could read as a formula are made safe before they are written.
  • channel_type. The channel the message came through, such as the web widget or WhatsApp.
  • tokens_used. Model tokens used for an AI answer, 0 for other rows.
  • feedback. A visitor's thumbs up or down on an AI answer (positive or negative), blank otherwise.

Two things to know before you share the file:

  • Internal notes are included. They carry the note role. Remove those rows before you send the file to a customer.
  • Scheduled replies are included before they send. A reply scheduled for later appears as an agent row as soon as it's scheduled.

The file does not include tags, priority, assignee, status, contact details, CSAT ratings, sources or the conversation's history of status changes. For those, use the inbox itself or the analytics CSV export (Business and above).

Time zone

Timestamps are in UTC today. We are rolling out a workspace time zone (not yet switched on). Once it is on for your workspace, each timestamp is written in your time zone with its UTC offset, for example 2026-03-09T00:30:00-04:00 for a workspace 4 hours behind UTC. You set it in Settings → General.

Answering a customer's data request

There is no one-click export for a single customer. To answer a right-of-access request (GDPR Article 15), search the inbox by the customer's email or name to find their conversations, or export the workspace CSV and keep only that customer's conversations. See GDPR at AskVault for how requests are handled.

What isn't available

So you don't go looking for it:

  • Other formats. No PDF transcript and no JSON export.
  • Size options. No per-export cap to set and no split files. The export is always the whole workspace in one file.
  • Automation. No scheduled exports and no export through the public API with an API key.
  • Voice audio. Call recordings are not part of the export.
  • Export history. Conversation exports are not recorded in an export log.

Common pitfalls

The file has more conversations than my inbox showed. Expected. The export ignores inbox filters. Filter by conversation_id, channel_type or timestamp in your spreadsheet tool.

Commas or line breaks in messages break the columns. Open the file with your spreadsheet tool's CSV import rather than pasting it, so quoted cells stay intact.

The button shows a lock. Your plan is below Growth. Upgrade to export.

FAQ

Can I export only what my filters show?

No. Export all (CSV) always contains every message in the workspace.

Can I export as PDF or JSON?

Not today. CSV is the only format.

Can I schedule exports or use the API?

No. Exports are started by hand from the Help Desk inbox.

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