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Version: 2026.8.1

From a spreadsheet or CSV

If you can export a CSV, Cobblr can take it. This is the path for a spreadsheet you keep by hand, or the CSV export from a tool that has no dedicated connector. Two things import from CSV today: inventory items and locations. Each has its own importer with a preview step, and each reads a plain CSV with a header row (one item per row).

Inventory items​

  1. Open Inventory and start an import.
  2. Paste or upload the CSV. Cobblr detects the columns it recognizes: name, quantity, unit, cost, minimum quantity, manufacturer, notes, category, and location. It also reads the fields a Homebox export carries, like serial number, model number, and warranty date.
  3. Pick a default category and location in the import form. A row whose category or location column matches nothing gets these.
  4. Check the preview (the importer's dry-run mode), then confirm. It inserts the items in one batch.
  • Category and location match by name, against what your workspace already has, ignoring case.
  • Import adds new items. It does not update or merge items that already exist, so running the same file twice gives you two copies. Import once, or clear the first attempt before a second.
  • A quantity plus unit column becomes the item's stock and unit.

Locations​

Locations import the same way, with one addition that suits a location tree.

  1. Pick the column to match on (name by default).
  2. Check the preview and confirm. A row whose match value already exists updates that location, and a new value creates one.
  • Known columns map to fields: name, short_name, kind (an area or a container), and parent.
  • Every other column is kept on the record as metadata under its own column name, so a spare "aisle" or "room" column is not lost.
  • The parent column resolves against the same key, so a nested hierarchy imports in a single pass.

Tips​

  • Get names consistent before you import. Names are how categories and locations are matched, and how you will find things afterward.
  • Photos do not travel in a CSV. Bring them in through the Homebox connector if that is your source, or add photos after the import.

When you outgrow a CSV, or you want photos and a live link back to the source, see From another tool.