Data export

Export your financial data from Firefly III for backup, analysis, or migration

Firefly III provides multiple methods to export your financial data for backup, external analysis, or migration to other systems.

Export methods

API export

Programmatic data export via REST API

CSV export

Export transactions and accounts as CSV

Command-line export

Bulk export using artisan commands

Database backup

Complete database backup for disaster recovery

API export

The Firefly III API provides comprehensive endpoints for exporting all your financial data.

Available export endpoints

Transactions

Export transactions with full details:

# Export all transactions for a date range
curl -X GET "https://your-firefly.local/api/v1/transactions?start=2024-01-01&end=2024-12-31&limit=500" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/json"

Includes:

• Transaction details
• Splits
• Categories, budgets, tags
• Foreign amounts
• Notes and attachments

Accounts

Export account information:

# Export all accounts
curl -X GET "https://your-firefly.local/api/v1/accounts?type=asset,expense,revenue" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

Includes:

• Account details
• Balances
• Account roles
• Metadata

Budgets

Export budget data:

# Export budgets with limits
curl -X GET "https://your-firefly.local/api/v1/budgets" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

Includes:

• Budget information
• Budget limits by period
• Auto-budget settings

Other resources

Export additional data:

# Categories
curl -X GET "https://your-firefly.local/api/v1/categories" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

# Tags
curl -X GET "https://your-firefly.local/api/v1/tags" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

# Rules
curl -X GET "https://your-firefly.local/api/v1/rules" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

# Piggy banks
curl -X GET "https://your-firefly.local/api/v1/piggy-banks" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

Pagination

API responses are paginated. To export all data:

#!/bin/bash
page=1
while true; do
  response=$(curl -s "https://your-firefly.local/api/v1/transactions?page=$page" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN")
  
  # Save page data
  echo "$response" >> transactions_page_$page.json
  
  # Check if more pages exist
  if ! echo "$response" | grep -q '"next"'; then
    break
  fi
  
  page=$((page + 1))
done

Set a higher limit parameter (max 500) to reduce the number of requests needed

CSV export

Export transactions and accounts as CSV files for use in Excel, Google Sheets, or other applications.

Transaction CSV export

1. Navigate to transactions

   Go to Transactions > List all transactions

2. Apply filters

   Filter transactions by:

   • Date range
   • Accounts
   • Categories
   • Budgets
   • Tags
3. Export

   Click Export and select CSV format

4. Download

   Your CSV file will be generated and downloaded

CSV format

Exported CSV includes these columns:

Column	Description
ID	Transaction journal ID
Date	Transaction date
Description	Transaction description
Source account	Source account name
Destination account	Destination account name
Amount	Transaction amount
Currency	Currency code
Category	Category name
Budget	Budget name
Tags	Comma-separated tags
Notes	Transaction notes
External ID	External identifier

CSV exports use semicolon (;) as separator by default. Configure in your user preferences.

Command-line export

For bulk exports and automation, use the artisan command:

php artisan firefly-iii:export-data \
  --user=1 \
  --token=your-access-token \
  --start=2024-01-01 \
  --end=2024-12-31 \
  --export_directory=/path/to/export \
  --export-transactions \
  --export-accounts \
  --export-budgets \
  --export-categories \
  --export-tags \
  --export-rules \
  --export-piggies

Command options

--user · integer · default: "1"

User ID to export data for

--token · string · required

User’s access token for authentication

--start · date

Start date for transaction export (YYYY-MM-DD)

--end · date

End date for transaction export (YYYY-MM-DD)

--export_directory · string · default: "./"

Directory to save export files

--export-transactions · boolean

Export transactions

--export-accounts · boolean

Export accounts

--export-budgets · boolean

Export budgets

--export-categories · boolean

Export categories

--export-tags · boolean

Export tags

--export-recurring · boolean

Export recurring transactions

--export-rules · boolean

Export rules

--export-subscriptions · boolean

Export bills/subscriptions

--export-piggies · boolean

Export piggy banks

--force · boolean

Overwrite existing export files

Output format

The command creates CSV files:

export_directory/
├── transactions_2024-01-01_2024-12-31.csv
├── accounts.csv
├── budgets.csv
├── categories.csv
├── tags.csv
├── rules.csv
├── recurring.csv
├── subscriptions.csv
└── piggy_banks.csv

Automated exports

Schedule regular exports using cron:

# Add to crontab (crontab -e)
# Export data monthly
0 0 1 * * cd /var/www/firefly-iii && php artisan firefly-iii:export-data --user=1 --token=YOUR_TOKEN --export-transactions --export-accounts --export_directory=/backups/monthly/$(date +\%Y-\%m)

Store access tokens securely. Consider using environment variables or secret management systems.

Export for analysis

Export data for analysis in external tools:

Excel/Google Sheets

1. Export transactions as CSV
2. Open in Excel/Sheets
3. Use pivot tables and charts for analysis
4. Create custom reports

Python/R analysis

import requests
import pandas as pd

# Fetch data via API
headers = {'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_TOKEN'}
response = requests.get(
    'https://your-firefly.local/api/v1/transactions',
    headers=headers,
    params={'start': '2024-01-01', 'end': '2024-12-31', 'limit': 500}
)

# Convert to DataFrame
data = response.json()['data']
transactions = pd.json_normalize(data)

# Analyze
print(transactions.groupby('attributes.category_name')['attributes.amount'].sum())

Business Intelligence tools

Connect BI tools directly to Firefly III:

1. Power BI: Use API connector
2. Tableau: Connect via API or database
3. Metabase: Connect to PostgreSQL/MySQL database
4. Grafana: Create custom dashboards with database queries

For direct database access, ensure you have read-only credentials and understand the database schema

Migration exports

Export data for migration to another system:

Complete export

For full data portability:

# Export everything
php artisan firefly-iii:export-data \
  --user=1 \
  --token=YOUR_TOKEN \
  --export-transactions \
  --export-accounts \
  --export-budgets \
  --export-categories \
  --export-tags \
  --export-recurring \
  --export-rules \
  --export-subscriptions \
  --export-piggies

# Also backup attachments
tar -czf attachments.tar.gz storage/upload

# Backup database
pg_dump firefly > firefly_backup.sql
# or for MySQL:
mysqldump firefly > firefly_backup.sql

To other Firefly III instance

Use the Data Importer:

1. Export from source using command above
2. Configure Data Importer with source Firefly III URL
3. Authenticate and import data
4. Verify imported data

Best practices

Regular backups

Schedule automated exports:

• Weekly transaction exports
• Monthly complete exports
• Store in multiple locations
• Test restoration periodically

Secure export files

Protect exported data:

• Encrypt sensitive exports
• Use secure storage locations
• Implement access controls
• Delete old exports securely

Verify exports

After exporting:

• Check file sizes are reasonable
• Verify data completeness
• Test import/restore process
• Keep export logs

Document export procedures

Maintain documentation:

• Export schedule
• Storage locations
• Retention policies
• Recovery procedures

Troubleshooting

Export timeout

Problem: Large exports timing out

Solutions:

• Export in smaller date ranges
• Increase PHP max_execution_time
• Use command-line instead of web interface
• Increase API pagination limit

Missing data in export

Problem: Exported data incomplete

Solutions:

• Check date range filters
• Verify account filters
• Ensure all export flags are enabled
• Check user permissions
• Review export logs for errors

CSV encoding issues

Problem: Special characters corrupted in CSV

Solutions:

• Ensure UTF-8 encoding
• Check CSV separator settings
• Try different CSV reader (Excel, LibreOffice)
• Export via API as JSON instead

Related documentation

Backup & restore

Complete backup procedures

Data import

Import data into Firefly III

API reference

API documentation for exports

Data operations

Bulk data operations via API