Migrate Content Between Stacks Using the CLI
This document guides you through the process of migrating content from one Contentstack stack to another manually.
Warning The export writes content flat into the folder you name. It does not create a <branch-uid>/ subfolder, even when you pass --branch. Use the same path for the export and the import, and use a separate --data-dir per branch, because exporting a second branch into the same folder overwrites the first with no error.
If you are importing an export produced by CLI V1, that layout did nest content under a branch subfolder. Point --data-dir at the subfolder itself, for example ./export/main, because the automatic branch detection that V1 relied on has been removed.
Prerequisites
- Contentstack account
- Contentstack CLI installed and configured
- CLI authenticated
- Access to both source and target stacks
- An empty target stack
Steps for Execution
To migrate all content from one stack to another quickly, follow the steps below:
- Export from source stack:
csdx cm:stacks:export -k <source_stack_api_key> --data-dir ./export --branch main
- Audit the exported content (recommended):
csdx cm:stacks:audit --data-dir ./export
Note The audit process runs automatically during import to validate and fix any issues.
- Import to target stack:
csdx cm:stacks:import -k <target_stack_api_key> --data-dir ./export
Behaviour to Check Before You Rely on the Result
- Only the main branch is exported by default. If you omit --branch, the export covers the branch named main and nothing else, and it fails when no such branch exists. Pass --branch once per branch to move a multi-branch stack.
- Global fields from a V1 export are skipped silently. If the folder you import came from CLI V1, every global field is skipped with no error and no warning, because V1 wrote them to a single aggregate file and the current importer reads one file per UID. The step reports success having created nothing. Re-export the source stack with the current CLI before importing.