Import & Export

Foundry provides commands for importing CSV data into database tables and exporting table data or schema definitions back to files.

Import

foundry import reads a CSV file and inserts its rows into a target table.

foundry import [options]

Required Options

Option	Short	Description
--datasource <FILE>	-d	Datasource JSON file
--conn <STRING>	-c	ADO.NET connection string
--db <TYPE>	-b	Database engine type
--schema <NAME>	-s	Target schema name
--table <NAME>	-t	Target table name
--file <FILE>	-f	Path to the CSV file to import

CSV Format Options

Option	Short	Default	Description
--delimiter <CHAR>	-D	,	Field delimiter character
--quote-char <CHAR>	-q	"	Quote character for fields containing the delimiter
--escape-char <CHAR>	-e	\	Escape character within quoted fields
--line-terminator <STRING>		system default	Row terminator string
--no-headers	-H		CSV has no header row

Data Options

Option	Short	Description
--keep-identity	-k	Insert identity/auto-increment values from the file as-is
--no-full-text-update		Skip full-text index update after import
--import-config <FILE>	-i	JSON file with detailed import settings (overrides CSV format flags)

Date & Time Format Options

Option	Default	Description
--date-format <FORMAT>	yyyy-MM-dd	Date format string
--time-format <FORMAT>	HH:mm:ss	Time format string
--interval-format <FORMAT>	c	Interval/TimeSpan format string
--datetime-format <FORMAT>	yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss	DateTime format string
--timestamp-format <FORMAT>	yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss zzz	DateTimeOffset format string

Examples

# Basic import
foundry import \
  --datasource connection.json \
  --schema dbo --table customers \
  --file data/customers.csv

# Semicolon-delimited file with European date format
foundry import \
  --datasource MySql_8.4.json \
  --schema sales --table orders \
  --file data/orders.csv \
  --delimiter ";" \
  --date-format "dd/MM/yyyy"

# Using an import configuration file
foundry import \
  --datasource PostgreSQL_17.6.json \
  --schema public --table events \
  --file data/events.csv \
  --import-config import-config.json

# Inline connection with identity preservation
foundry import \
  --conn "Server=localhost;Database=mydb;User Id=sa;Password=pass" \
  --db SQLServer \
  --schema dbo --table products \
  --file data/products.csv \
  --keep-identity

Note

When --import-config is specified, it takes full precedence over all CSV format flags (--delimiter, --quote-char, etc.).

Import Config File Reference

An import config file (validated against schemas/import-config.schema.json) covers everything the CSV format flags cover, plus two capabilities with no CLI flag equivalent: explicit column mappings and per-column blob handling.

Field	Type	Default	Description
delimiter	string (1 char)	,	Field delimiter
quoteChar	string (1 char)	"	Quote character for fields containing the delimiter
escapeChar	string (1 char)	\	Escape character within quoted fields
lineTerminator	string	system newline	Row terminator string
useColumnHeaders	boolean	true	The first CSV row contains column header names
keepIdentity	boolean	false	Insert identity/auto-increment values from the CSV as-is
updateFullTextIndex	boolean	true	Rebuild full-text indexes on the target table after import
dateFormat	string	yyyy-MM-dd	.NET format string for date-only columns
timeFormat	string	HH:mm:ss	.NET format string for time-only columns
intervalFormat	string	c	.NET format string for interval/TimeSpan columns
dateTimeFormat	string	yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss	.NET format string for DateTime columns
timestampFormat	string	yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss zzz	.NET format string for DateTimeOffset/timestamp columns
blobs	array	—	Per-column blob handling rules (see below)
mappings	array	auto-generated	Explicit CSV-header-to-table-column mappings (see below)

Blob handling. Each entry in blobs needs a column and a handling of base64 (decode the CSV field from Base64) or file (treat the CSV field as a file path and read the blob from disk, using a pattern with {column_name} token substitution):

{
  "blobs": [
    { "column": "photo", "handling": "base64" },
    { "column": "document", "handling": "file", "pattern": "blobs/{document}" }
  ]
}

Column mappings. When mappings is omitted, Foundry auto-generates a mapping from the table definition, assuming the CSV header names match the column names exactly. Use mappings to map differently-named CSV headers to table columns; header defaults to column when omitted:

{
  "mappings": [
    { "header": "Customer Name", "column": "customer_name" },
    { "header": "Order Total", "column": "total" }
  ]
}

Full example:

{
  "$schema": "schemas/import-config.schema.json",
  "delimiter": ";",
  "dateFormat": "dd/MM/yyyy",
  "blobs": [
    { "column": "photo", "handling": "base64" }
  ],
  "mappings": [
    { "header": "Customer Name", "column": "customer_name" }
  ]
}

---

Export

Foundry provides three export commands: exporting raw table data to CSV, exporting a single schema definition to files, and exporting the full database definition to files.

foundry export data

Exports table data to a CSV file.

foundry export data [options]

Required Options

Option	Short	Description
--datasource <FILE>	-d	Datasource JSON file
--conn <STRING>	-c	ADO.NET connection string
--db <TYPE>	-b	Database engine type
--schema <NAME>	-s	Source schema name
--table <NAME>	-t	Source table name
--out <FILE>	-o	Output CSV file path

CSV Format Options

Option	Short	Default	Description
--delimiter <CHAR>	-D	,	Field delimiter character
--quote-char <CHAR>	-q	"	Quote character
--escape-char <STRING>		\\	Escape string within quoted fields
--line-terminator <STRING>		system default	Row terminator string
--force-qualifier			Always quote all field values
--no-headers	-H		Omit column header row
--no-trim			Preserve leading and trailing whitespace
--export-config <FILE>	-e		JSON file with export format settings

Date & Time Format Options

Option	Default	Description
--date-format <FORMAT>	yyyy-MM-dd	Date format string
--time-format <FORMAT>	HH:mm:ss	Time format string
--interval-format <FORMAT>	c	Interval/TimeSpan format string
--datetime-format <FORMAT>	yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss	DateTime format string
--timestamp-format <FORMAT>	yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss zzz	DateTimeOffset format string

Examples

# Export a table to CSV
foundry export data \
  --datasource connection.json \
  --schema public --table orders \
  --out exports/orders.csv

# Semicolon delimiter
foundry export data \
  --datasource MySql_8.4.json \
  --schema sales --table orders \
  --out exports/orders.csv \
  --delimiter ";"

# Inline connection string
foundry export data \
  --conn "Server=localhost;Database=mydb;User Id=sa;Password=pass" \
  --db SQLServer \
  --schema dbo --table customers \
  --out exports/customers.csv

Export Config File Reference

An export config file (validated against schemas/export-config.schema.json) covers everything the CSV format flags cover, plus per-column blob handling with no CLI flag equivalent.

Field	Type	Default	Description
delimiter	string (1 char)	,	Field delimiter
quoteChar	string (1 char)	"	Quote character for fields containing the delimiter
escapeChar	string	\\	Escape string within quoted fields
lineTerminator	string	system newline	Row terminator string
forceQualifier	boolean	false	Always quote every field value, even when not strictly required
writeHeaders	boolean	true	Write a column header row as the first output line
trimChars	boolean	true	Trim leading and trailing whitespace from string values
dateFormat	string	yyyy-MM-dd	.NET format string for date-only columns
timeFormat	string	HH:mm:ss	.NET format string for time-only columns
intervalFormat	string	c	.NET format string for interval/TimeSpan columns
dateTimeFormat	string	yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss	.NET format string for DateTime columns
timestampFormat	string	yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss zzz	.NET format string for DateTimeOffset/timestamp columns
blobs	array	—	Per-column blob handling rules (see below)

Blob handling. Each entry needs a column and a handling of base64 (encode the blob as Base64 inline in the CSV) or file (write the blob to an external file and emit the file path, using a pattern with {column_name} token substitution). Rules can be scoped globally, to a table, or to a schema + table, and are evaluated in that order — the first match wins:

{
  "blobs": [
    { "column": "thumbnail", "handling": "base64" },
    { "column": "document", "handling": "file", "pattern": "exports/blobs/{document}", "table": "contracts" },
    { "column": "scan", "handling": "file", "pattern": "exports/blobs/{scan}", "schema": "archive", "table": "records" }
  ]
}

Full example:

{
  "$schema": "schemas/export-config.schema.json",
  "delimiter": ";",
  "forceQualifier": true,
  "blobs": [
    { "column": "thumbnail", "handling": "base64" }
  ]
}

---

foundry export schema

Exports a schema definition from a connected database to one or more files.

foundry export schema [options]

Option	Short	Description
--datasource <FILE>	-d	Datasource JSON file
--conn <STRING>	-c	ADO.NET connection string
--db <TYPE>	-b	Database engine type
--target <SCHEMA>	-t	Name of the schema to export (required)
--out <PATH>	-o	Output directory path (required)
--format <FORMAT>	-F	Output format: Xml, Json, Yaml (default: Xml)
--data		Include table data in the export

foundry export schema \
  --datasource connection.json \
  --target dbo --out exports/ --format Json

foundry export schema \
  --datasource PostgreSQL_17.6.json \
  --target public --out exports/ --data

---

foundry export database

Exports the full database definition from a connected database. Optionally scoped to specific schemas.

foundry export database [options]

Option	Short	Description
--datasource <FILE>	-d	Datasource JSON file
--conn <STRING>	-c	ADO.NET connection string
--db <TYPE>	-b	Database engine type
--target <SCHEMAS>	-t	Comma-separated schema names to include (all if omitted)
--out <PATH>	-o	Output directory path (required)
--format <FORMAT>	-F	Output format: Xml, Json, Yaml (default: Xml)
--data		Include table data in the export

foundry export database \
  --datasource connection.json \
  --out exports/

# Export only specific schemas in YAML format
foundry export database \
  --datasource SqlServer_17.0.json \
  --target dbo,audit --out exports/ --format Yaml