> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://learn.withessential.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://learn.withessential.com/administration/using-the-essential-assistant/ask-the-assistant-for-a-csv-export.md). # Ask the Assistant for a CSV export The Essential Assistant can hand you your business records as a spreadsheet. Ask for a CSV, an export, or a download and it builds the file, attaches it to its reply, and tells you how many rows are in it. > **Where to find it:** Open the Assistant panel and ask in plain language — "export all my active customers to CSV", "give me a spreadsheet of open invoices by customer", "download every visit completed last month". ## Ask for one 1. Open the Assistant panel. 2. Describe the list you want and say you want it as a CSV, spreadsheet, export, or download. Name the columns if you care about them — "customer, property address, balance, days overdue". 3. The Assistant runs the lookup and replies with the file attached to its message. 4. Click the file to open it, then **Download**. The CSV opens as a table in Essential. You can resize columns, sort by a heading, search, and page through the preview before downloading it. Large exports show a partial preview; **Download** always saves the complete original CSV. ## What comes back The file has a header row of readable column names and one row per result at the grouping you asked for — one row per invoice for a plain list, one row per customer for "revenue by customer", one row per month for a monthly total. Money is written as a plain number in your business's currency, so it adds up in a spreadsheet without you stripping symbols out first. The Assistant also tells you in chat what it made: the filename and the row count. If it says 240 rows, the file has 240 rows — it doesn't guess at the count. ## How much it can export A single export holds up to 5,000 rows and up to 5 MB — the same size cap as a spreadsheet you attach yourself. That is far more than the Assistant can show you in a chat answer, which is exactly why exporting is a better way to get a long list. If your request matches more than fits — too many records, or fewer records with very long text in them — the Assistant still gives you the file with as many complete rows as fit and says so plainly, including the exact row count. Narrow it and ask again — a date range, one customer, one property, fewer columns, or active records only. If nothing matches, it doesn't hand you an empty file. It tells you nothing matched and offers to widen the search. ## When to ask for a file instead of an answer Ask in chat for a number, a ranking, or a handful of records: "who's my biggest customer this year", "how many inspections did we complete in July". Ask for an export when you want the whole list, when you want to sort and filter it yourself, or when you're sending it to someone outside Essential — an accountant, a customer, a board pack. ## What it can and can't export It exports business records: customers, properties, contacts, asset groups, visits, jobs, tasks, quotes, invoices, payments, subscriptions, inventory, and pricing, on their own or joined together. The same rules apply as to anything else the Assistant does. It only exports what your role already lets you see, and only from the business you're signed into. Not everything it can tell you about is a business record it can export: things it reads through their own surfaces — timeline comments, your past conversations with it, the contents of an inspection report — stay where they are. And it can't export a document as a spreadsheet — an inspection report or a quote PDF is still emailed or downloaded from the record itself, not rebuilt as rows. ## The file stays in the conversation An export belongs to the chat it was made in, exactly like a file you attached yourself. You can scroll back and download it again later, and the Assistant can re-read it if you ask what was in it. Exports made in one conversation are never visible from another conversation, and never from another business. They aren't emailed anywhere and they aren't saved onto a customer, property, or job record — if the Assistant ever says otherwise, the file is still only in the chat. ## Related guides * [Using the Essential Assistant](/administration/using-the-essential-assistant.md) * [What the Essential Assistant can and can't do](/administration/using-the-essential-assistant/what-the-essential-assistant-can-and-cant-do.md) * [Attaching files to the Assistant](/administration/using-the-essential-assistant/attaching-files-to-the-assistant.md) --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation by asking a question. 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