Export & Import

Move your data and API keys to another machine or create backups.

Overview

Hippopotamoose provides two separate export/import systems:

  1. API Keys — exports only your credentials (Google, Cloudflare) as a small JSON file
  2. All Data — exports all sites, pipeline data, queue, rejected list, and backups as a ZIP archive

Both are accessed through ⚙ Settings.

Exporting API Keys

Open Settings

Click ⚙ Settings in the toolbar.

Click "Export API Keys"

A save dialog opens. Choose a location and filename (default: hippopotamoose-api-keys.json).

Store the file securely

The file contains your API credentials in plaintext. Do not put it in a shared folder, email it unencrypted, or commit it to version control.

API Keys Export Format

{
  "_format": "hippopotamoose-api-export",
  "_version": 1,
  "keys": {
    "GOOGLE_PLACES_API_KEY": "AIza...",
    "CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN": "...",
    "CLOUDFLARE_ACCOUNT_ID": "...",
    "CLOUDFLARE_ZONE_ID": "...",
    "CLOUDFLARE_DOMAIN": "yourname.net"
  }
}

Importing API Keys

Click "Import API Keys"

A file picker opens. Select your exported hippopotamoose-api-keys.json file.

Review the preview

A dialog shows which keys are present in the file and which already exist in the registry. Keys in the file with no value will not overwrite existing registry keys.

Confirm import

Click Apply. Keys from the file are written to the registry.

Exporting All Data

Click "Export All Data"

A save dialog opens. Choose a destination for the ZIP file.

Wait for the export

A progress dialog shows the number of files being archived. Large collections of edited sites may take a minute or two.

Store or transfer the ZIP

The ZIP contains everything needed to restore the app on a new machine except for the app installation itself and API keys.

What the Data ZIP Contains

IncludedExcluded
data/ — all JSON state filesnode_modules/ — can be reinstalled with npm install
downloaded_sites/__pycache__/ — Python bytecode
edited_sites/ (excluding node_modules)*.tmp files
example_sites/*.corrupt files
Site Backups/

Importing All Data

Click "Import All Data"

A file picker opens. Select your data ZIP file.

Choose import mode

Merge adds imported data alongside existing data. Replace wipes all existing data first and replaces it with the archive contents.

Wait for import

Files are extracted. A progress dialog is shown.

Restart the app

Close and reopen the app to reload all data from disk.

⚠️

Replace mode is irreversible. The app will clear all existing sites, pipeline entries, queue, rejected list, and backups before importing. Make sure you want to do this before confirming.

Migrating to a New Machine

To move everything to a new computer:

On the old machine

Export API Keys and Export All Data from Settings. Keep both files.

On the new machine

Install Hippopotamoose using the installer. Launch the app once to initialize.

Import API Keys

Open Settings and import the API keys JSON.

Import All Data

Open Settings and import the data ZIP using Replace mode (since this is a fresh install with no existing data).

Restart and verify

Close and reopen the app. Your pipeline, queue, sites, and presets should all be present.