How to Migrate from Dovetail to Deck
Last updated: · By Matt Teixeira, Founder and CEO
To migrate from Dovetail to Deck, download each project's data and highlights as CSV, re-upload key interview recordings or transcripts, upload the CSVs to Deck, and connect Granola, Gong, Intercom, Zendesk, and Slack directly to Deck. Feedback and interview content carry over. Tags, docs, reels, and formatting do not.
Key Takeaways
- Dovetail exports per project, not per workspace: CSV for raw data, highlights, tags, and docs; PDF for notes and docs; VTT for transcripts; MP4 for clips (Dovetail Help).
- Known gap: "Spreadsheet export does not preserve formatting, layout, highlights, and tags," and there is no one-click bulk export (Dovetail Help).
- API option: the Dovetail API and MCP server can list highlights and data by project (developer docs).
- Deck re-analyzes the content, so you do not need to port tags.
- Credits: about 17 per 30-minute interview and about 3 per CSV row (Deck pricing).
What Carries Over from Dovetail to Deck?
| Dovetail data | How to export it | Where it goes in Deck | Carries over? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raw data entries (notes, transcripts as text) | Project CSV download (data) | Feedback or User Interview CSV | Yes |
| Highlights | Project CSV download (highlights) | Feedback CSV, one row per highlight | Yes |
| Tags | Project CSV download (tags) | Not imported; Deck themes automatically | Archive only |
| Recordings and transcripts | VTT transcripts; original files | Re-upload recordings or transcripts | Yes (re-analyzed) |
| Docs and reels | PDF and MP4 | No equivalent | Archive only |
| Contacts | — | Unified Contacts via CSV email fields or CRM sync | Partly |
| Channels (continuous feedback) | Reconnect sources instead | Deck integrations | Re-synced from the source |
How Do You Migrate from Dovetail to Deck, Step by Step?
- Inventory your Dovetail projects. List the projects and channels with feedback worth moving, and note which contain recordings.
- Create a Deck workspace. Sign up at getdeck.io and choose your hosting region during setup.
- Export data and highlights per project. In each project, open the menu in the top right, choose the object type (data, highlights, tags, or docs), and press Download to get a CSV.
- Export transcripts or recordings for key interviews. Download transcripts as VTT or keep the original recordings so Deck can re-analyze full interviews.
- Prepare the CSV. Put each highlight or data entry's text in the content column, and map participant email, name, and date to Deck's optional fields.
- Upload to Deck. Upload highlights as a Feedback CSV and transcripts as User Interview CSVs or recordings; test 20 to 50 rows first.
- Connect live sources. Connect Intercom, Zendesk, Gong, Granola, and Slack directly to Deck.
- Review the Opportunity Backlog. Check that the main themes from your Dovetail projects appear and promote the top ones to initiatives.
How Do You Check the Migration Worked?
- Each exported project's highlight count is reflected in Deck rows, minus exact duplicates.
- Your main research themes appear in Deck's themes and Opportunity Backlog.
- New interviews from Granola or Gong appear without manual upload.
Plan for about 2 hours of hands-on work for a handful of projects.
If a Dovetail Enterprise subscription is ending, note that after cancellation the workspace moves into a 30-day read-only window for export before deletion (Dovetail pricing).
Frequently Asked Questions
Sources
- Deck pricing (updated 2026-10-21): https://getdeck.io/pricing
- Deck docs (How Deck works, MCP, Projects, Opportunity Backlog, CSV import): https://docs.getdeck.io
- Deck MCP server: https://getdeck.io/product/mcp-server
- Dovetail pricing: https://dovetail.com/pricing/
- Dovetail MCP server (help): https://docs.dovetail.com/integrations/mcp-server
- Dovetail MCP server (developers): https://developers.dovetail.com/docs/mcp
- Dovetail download project data: https://docs.dovetail.com/help/projects/download-project-data
- G2 Dovetail reviews: https://www.g2.com/products/dovetail-research-pty-ltd-dovetail/reviews
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