ClickUp Migration Deep Dive

Overview

Migrate project data to ClickUp from external tools or between ClickUp workspaces using API v2. Covers data mapping, batch creation, custom field migration, and validation.

Migration Types

Source	Complexity	Key Challenge
Trello	Low	Board -> List mapping, labels -> tags
Asana	Medium	Sections -> statuses, custom fields
Jira	High	Epics/stories/subtasks, custom fields, workflows
Another ClickUp workspace	Medium	Custom field UUIDs differ per workspace

ClickUp Hierarchy Mapping

External Concept        ClickUp API v2 Target
─────────────────       ──────────────────────
Project/Board       →   Space   (POST /team/{team_id}/space)
Epic/Section        →   Folder  (POST /space/{space_id}/folder)
Sprint/Column       →   List    (POST /folder/{folder_id}/list)
Issue/Card/Task     →   Task    (POST /list/{list_id}/task)
Subtask             →   Task with parent  (parent field)
Label/Tag           →   Tag     (POST /task/{task_id}/tag/{tag_name})
Custom Field        →   Custom Field (POST /task/{task_id}/field/{field_id})
Comment             →   Comment (POST /task/{task_id}/comment)
Attachment          →   Attachment (POST /task/{task_id}/attachment)

Migration Script

// src/migrate-to-clickup.ts
interface MigrationItem {
  externalId: string;
  name: string;
  description: string;
  status: string;
  priority?: 'urgent' | 'high' | 'normal' | 'low';
  assigneeEmail?: string;
  dueDate?: string;
  labels?: string[];
  subtasks?: MigrationItem[];
}

const PRIORITY_MAP: Record<string, number> = {
  urgent: 1, high: 2, normal: 3, low: 4,
};

const STATUS_MAP: Record<string, string> = {
  'To Do': 'to do',
  'In Progress': 'in progress',
  'Done': 'complete',
  'Backlog': 'to do',
  // Add your status mappings here
};

async function migrateItems(
  items: MigrationItem[],
  listId: string,
  memberEmails: Map<string, number>, // email -> ClickUp user ID
): Promise<{ migrated: number; errors: Array<{ item: string; error: string }> }> {
  let migrated = 0;
  const errors: Array<{ item: string; error: string }> = [];

  for (const item of items) {
    try {
      const assignees = item.assigneeEmail && memberEmails.has(item.assigneeEmail)
        ? [memberEmails.get(item.assigneeEmail)!]
        : [];

      const task = await clickupRequest(`/list/${listId}/task`, {
        method: 'POST',
        body: JSON.stringify({
          name: item.name,
          markdown_description: item.description,
          status: STATUS_MAP[item.status] ?? 'to do',
          priority: item.priority ? PRIORITY_MAP[item.priority] : null,
          assignees,
          due_date: item.dueDate ? new Date(item.dueDate).getTime() : undefined,
          due_date_time: !!item.dueDate,
          tags: item.labels ?? [],
        }),
      });

      // Migrate subtasks
      if (item.subtasks?.length) {
        for (const subtask of item.subtasks) {
          await clickupRequest(`/list/${listId}/task`, {
            method: 'POST',
            body: JSON.stringify({
              name: subtask.name,
              markdown_description: subtask.description,
              parent: task.id,
              status: STATUS_MAP[subtask.status] ?? 'to do',
            }),
          });
        }
      }

      migrated++;
      console.log(`Migrated: ${item.name} -> ${task.id}`);

      // Rate limit: stay under 100 req/min
      await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 700));
    } catch (error) {
      errors.push({ item: item.name, error: String(error) });
    }
  }

  return { migrated, errors };
}

Build Member Lookup

// Map external emails to ClickUp user IDs
async function buildMemberLookup(teamId: string): Promise<Map<string, number>> {
  const data = await clickupRequest(`/team/${teamId}`);
  const lookup = new Map<string, number>();

  for (const member of data.team.members) {
    lookup.set(member.user.email, member.user.id);
  }

  return lookup;
}

Workspace-to-Workspace Migration

async function cloneListBetweenWorkspaces(
  sourceToken: string,
  sourceListId: string,
  destToken: string,
  destListId: string,
) {
  // Fetch all tasks from source
  const sourceTasks = [];
  let page = 0;
  let hasMore = true;

  while (hasMore) {
    const data = await fetch(
      `https://api.clickup.com/api/v2/list/${sourceListId}/task?page=${page}&subtasks=true&include_closed=true`,
      { headers: { 'Authorization': sourceToken } }
    ).then(r => r.json());

    sourceTasks.push(...data.tasks);
    hasMore = data.tasks.length === 100;
    page++;
  }

  console.log(`Fetched ${sourceTasks.length} tasks from source`);

  // Create tasks in destination
  for (const task of sourceTasks) {
    if (task.parent) continue; // Handle subtasks separately

    const created = await fetch(
      `https://api.clickup.com/api/v2/list/${destListId}/task`,
      {
        method: 'POST',
        headers: { 'Authorization': destToken, 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
        body: JSON.stringify({
          name: task.name,
          markdown_description: task.description,
          priority: task.priority?.id ? parseInt(task.priority.id) : null,
          tags: task.tags.map((t: any) => t.name),
        }),
      }
    ).then(r => r.json());

    console.log(`Cloned: ${task.name} -> ${created.id}`);
    await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 700)); // Rate limit
  }
}

Validation

async function validateMigration(
  sourceItems: MigrationItem[],
  listId: string,
): Promise<{ match: number; missing: string[] }> {
  const tasks = await clickupRequest(`/list/${listId}/task?include_closed=true`);
  const taskNames = new Set(tasks.tasks.map((t: any) => t.name));

  const missing = sourceItems
    .filter(item => !taskNames.has(item.name))
    .map(item => item.name);

  return {
    match: sourceItems.length - missing.length,
    missing,
  };
}

Error Handling

Issue	Cause	Solution
Rate limited during migration	Too many creates	Add 700ms delay between requests
Status not found	Status name mismatch	Map source statuses to ClickUp statuses
Assignee not found	Email not in workspace	Invite user first or skip assignment
Custom field UUID mismatch	Different workspace	Re-fetch field UUIDs via `/list/{id}/field`

Resources

Next Steps

For advanced troubleshooting during migration, see clickup-debug-bundle.

clickup-migration-deep-dive