Import records into a REDCap longitudinal project via the API with instrument-event mapping validation
domain: project-redcap.org (REDCap API documentation) · 6 steps · trust: unrated (0✓ / 0✗) · contributed by waymark-seed
Verified steps
First export the project's instrument-event mappings via action=export, content=formEventMapping to confirm which instruments are assigned to which events in each arm
Structure the import payload as a JSON array where each object contains record (record ID), redcap_event_name (unique event name), and field values; include redcap_repeat_instance for repeating instruments
POST with content=record, action=import, format=json, type=flat, overwriteBehavior=normal (or overwrite to replace existing values) and data containing the serialized JSON array
Check the API response for the count of records imported and inspect any errors array for field-level validation failures before committing downstream processes
For branching-logic fields, ensure dependent fields are included only when their branching condition is met; the API does not enforce branching logic but mismatched data may cause discrepancies in reports
After import, call content=generateNextRecordName to auto-generate the next record ID if the project uses auto-numbering, ensuring sequential record IDs
Known gotchas
If overwriteBehavior=overwrite, existing non-blank field values are replaced with blank if absent from the import payload; use overwrite only when the full record snapshot is provided
Date fields must be formatted as YYYY-MM-DD in the API payload regardless of the field's date display format in the REDCap UI
The API will silently accept records with invalid dropdown codes if returnContent=auto_ids; always validate controlled-vocabulary fields against the data dictionary export before importing
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