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Collection Exports

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Setting up collection exports can be useful for a number of different scenarios - a business continuity plan being one of them! This guide will walk you through how to set up a collection export process that backs up your data, and allows you to take action with it through iPaaS solutions such as Zapier or Workato.

1. Capture a List of Your Collections

Using your User Token, make a GET request to our Collections API endpoint. This will give you a list of the collections that you have access to. Remember, depending on how many collections you have access to, you may have to paginate through the results.

curl --location --request GET 'https://api.getguru.com/api/v1/collections' \
--header 'Authorization: Basic {insert hashed email|token}'

2. Configure a Trigger in Your Workflow

There are many ways to do this step - the screenshots below show you how to do this through Zapier or Workato.

Zapier Instructions
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Choose the "Webhooks by Zapier" Trigger, and select "Catch Hook" as the Event.

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In the "Test trigger" section, you'll see a webhook URL that Zapier generates for you. You will need this later on.

Workato Instructions
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Choose "Trigger from a Webhook" as your starting point then click "Start building".

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Once you're in your Recipe, click "Start guided setup" on the right hand side.

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Fill in the "event name" field, and you'll see a webhook URL that Workato generates for you. You will need this later on.

3. Initiate Your Collection Export(s)

Now that you have a list of the Collections you have access to, loop through that list and make a POST call to Guru's Collection Export API endpoint.

curl --location --request POST 'https://api.getguru.com/api/v1/collections/{collectionId}/export/advanced' \
--header 'Authorization: Basic {insert hashed email|token}' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data-raw '{
    "notificationEndpoint": "{insert your webhook URL}",
    "type": "export-collection"
}'

This API call kicks off a job that exports the Collection into a .zip file. When the job is complete, we will notify the webhook URL you specified in the body of the request. This is what the payload looks like:

{
    "exportUrl":"https://content.api.getguru.com/files/dn/600f7a86-ea60-4580-b0ff-ce46c457e780",
    "status":"EXPORTCOMPLETE",
    "collection": {
        "name":"Customer Support",
        "id":"6990ea4d-9c40-449b-8666-0eaf41d225df",
        "color":"#FF8A65",
        "assistEnabled":"false",
        "description":"Knowledge support agents need to be helpful resolving issues, managed by the Support Leadership team.",
        "collectionType":"INTERNAL",
        "dateCreated":"2022-02-09T22:02:00.599+0000",
        "collectionTypeDetail":"FRAMEWORK",
        "slug":"vrl13/Customer-Support",
        "roiEnabled":"false",
        "publicCardsEnabled":"true"
    },
    "jobId":"97c9da7f-fa42-427c-b6c7-307b1f3f5981",
    "querystring":null
}

4. Download the Exported Collection

The exported collection is stored at the "exportUrl". You can call this endpoint to download the .zip file. You will need to authenticate with the same credentials you use for any other Guru API endpoint.

Once you have the .zip file, you can do anything you'd like with it - such as upload it to a folder on Google Drive, publish it's content to an external site, etc.

Here is the structure of the contents within the .zip file:

Directory Structure

/
  cards/
    card1.yaml
    card1.md
    card2.yaml
    card2.html
  boards/
    board1.yaml
  board-groups/
    board-group1.yaml
    board-group2.yaml
  resources/
    Image1.png
    mycoolsalesdeck.pdf
  collection.yaml

Root Directory

The root directory contains all of the content for the Collection.

A collection.yaml file in the root directory is used to summarize the tag/tag category information in the import. A sample collection.yaml file is below

collection.yaml:

Tags:
- Tag1
- Category:Tag2

Cards

Individual cards are saved in the cards directory with a unique file name. For each card, there is a metadata file and a content file which should have the same file name part with different file extensions. The metadata file is stored in yaml format and contains the card’s title and any tags that should be on the card. The content file can either be markdown (using the .md file extension) or html (.html file extension).

A sample card metadata and content is below:

card1.yaml:

Title: Card Title
Tags: 
    - Category:Tag1
    - Tag2
    - Tag3

card1.md:

# Markdown header

And whatever content you want
This is read
In
Raw
So all
Newlines
Are preserved

Referencing Other Cards, Boards, Board Groups, and Resources

Board Groups, Boards, Resources and other Cards are referenced in card markdown/html content by utilizing the regular link syntax, but using the appropriate directory name and card/board/board group/resource ID as the actual link.

For example:
cards/card1 references card1
boards/board1 links to board1
board-groups/boardGroup1 links to boardGroup1
resources/image1.png links to image1.png

# Markdown

This is a [card link](cards/card1) and this is a [board link](boards/board1)

This is an image:

![Alt Text](resources/image1.png)

This is a PDF link
[PDF link](resources/mycoolsalesdeck.pdf)

Boards

Title: Board Title
Description: |
  Multi line
  Description
  here
Items:
- ID: "card1"
  Type: "card"
- Type: "section"
  Title: "My Section"
  Items:
  - ID: "card2"
    Type: "card"

Board Groups

Title: Board Group Title
Description: |
  Multiple lines
  Are allowed
Boards:
- board1
- board2
- board3

Updated 12 months ago