Request a complete organization export

Request a complete export when you need an archive of your organization's data and files. The archive holds every file your organization uploaded, a Word copy of every proposal, and every record as JSON and CSV.

Request the export

Only an administrator of your organization can request or download a complete export. Requesting one needs a recent multi-factor verification. If ProposalForge asks you to verify again, do so and select Request complete export again.

1. Open Settings, then Data export.
2. Select Request complete export.
3. Complete two-step verification if prompted.
4. Wait for the job to move from Queued and building to Ready.

Only one complete export can be built at a time for your organization. If verification is cancelled, no new export is requested.

Download and inspect

Under Recent complete exports, select Download on a Ready job. Each Download creates a new link that works for one hour. The archive itself is kept for 7 days. After that, the job shows Expired and you need a new export.

A completed job can still report items that could not be included. ProposalForge staff are notified of those items. Store the downloaded archive with access controls appropriate to its contents.

What is in the archive

• README.md describes the archive in English and French.
• manifest.json describes every file, proposal and table, with row counts, primary keys and the links between tables.
• files/ holds every uploaded file in its original format, under the record it belongs to. A file that no record points to, such as a support attachment, is under files/{bucket}/other/.
• proposals/ holds a Word copy of each proposal.
• data/ holds a JSON file and a CSV file for every table.

Each Word file is an archive copy of the proposal as it stands when you request the export. Its page header says it is a ProposalForge archive copy and gives the proposal status. It is not a submission: submission checks are not applied, and a section with no content yet says so.

Extract the archive on Windows

Extract the archive into a folder with a short path, for example C:\export. Windows limits a file path to 260 characters, and some paths inside the archive are long enough to pass that limit if you extract into a deep folder. When that happens, the affected files fail to extract while the rest of the archive extracts normally.

Large exports

Archives up to 200 MB are built in the product. If your organization's data is larger, ProposalForge staff are notified and deliver the archive to you within 5 business days.

What is not included, and why

The README lists every table and column that is left out, with the reason:

• credentials and security secrets, such as API tokens and invitations;
• job queues and processing state, which describe work in progress rather than your data;
• derived indexes and caches, which are rebuilt from the records that are included;
• temporary interface state, such as who is viewing a proposal right now, and your notifications;
• usage metering;
• your correspondence with ProposalForge support, which is available on request;
• private AI assistant data, which only its author can see;
• feedback on help articles;
• public government budget data that ProposalForge staff load, which is not your organization's record.

Account billing details and account security settings, such as multi-factor settings, are also left out.

If an export fails

A Failed job means the export could not be completed. ProposalForge staff are notified automatically. The administrator who requested the export also receives an email that carries only a link to the Data export settings and a short notice; for your security, it contains no details of your data. Staff follow up with you within 2 business days. In Settings you can see the status and request a new export. If the list or a download fails, refresh the page, then open a support ticket with the job details rather than assuming the archive is empty.

Scheduled delivery to SharePoint or OneDrive

ProposalForge can send a complete export to a SharePoint site or a OneDrive folder that your organization controls, every week or every month. The archive is sent from ProposalForge's Canadian servers through Microsoft Graph to your Microsoft 365 tenant. Where your tenant stores files is set by your organization.

Open Settings, then Data export, and select Set up scheduled delivery. Each change needs a recent multi-factor verification. Enter the Microsoft 365 tenant ID, the SharePoint site address and a Folder. Choose every week or every month and a time, in Eastern time. Then complete three steps:

1. A Global Administrator or Privileged Role Administrator of your tenant selects Open the approval link and approves ProposalForge. Microsoft asks only for "Access selected site collections" (Sites.Selected). This approval alone gives ProposalForge access to nothing.
2. Your SharePoint Administrator gives ProposalForge write access to that one site. Settings shows two commands for this, with your site address and the ProposalForge application ID already filled in. Before running them, replace {site-id} with the id the first request returns, and <your PnP app id> with the client ID of your organization's own app registration. ProposalForge can then write only to that site.
3. Select Test connection. ProposalForge writes a file named README-ProposalForge.txt into the folder. It explains what the folder is for, and each test replaces it.

After a successful test, turn on Deliver on schedule. Deliver now starts one delivery within 15 minutes, without waiting for the schedule, which is a good way to check the first delivery with your IT team.

We recommend a SharePoint site rather than a personal OneDrive: a OneDrive belongs to one person and is deleted when that person leaves your organization.

Each delivery is one ZIP file named proposalforge-complete-export-{date}-{id}.zip, with the same contents as a complete export. ProposalForge never changes or removes a delivered file; how long you keep earlier deliveries is up to your organization.

If a delivery fails

ProposalForge makes up to three attempts at each delivery. If the delivery still does not complete, each person who can request a complete export receives an email that carries only a link to the Data export settings and a short notice; for your security, it contains no details of your data. ProposalForge staff are alerted at the same time and follow up with you within 2 business days. Settings shows the result and the reason.

Turn it off and remove access

Turn off Deliver on schedule, or select Remove scheduled delivery. Files already delivered stay in your folder. To remove ProposalForge's access in Microsoft 365, your SharePoint Administrator removes the site permission, or a Global Administrator removes "ProposalForge Data Delivery" under Enterprise applications, which removes it for every site at once.