Import KoBoToolbox Data to Google Sheets

In this guide, we’ll walk through how to pull Kobo API data directly into Google Sheets, using the API Connector add-on for Sheets. We’ll first get an API key from Kobo, and then set up a request to pull in data to your spreadsheet.

Contents

• Before You Begin
• Part 1: Get your Kobo API Key
• Part 2: Create your API Request URL
• Part 3: Pull Kobo API Data into Sheets
• Part 4: More Example API URLs
• Part 5: API Documentation & Information

Before You Begin

Click here to install the API Connector add-on from the Google Marketplace.

Part 1: Get your Kobo API Key

1. While logged in to your Kobo account, check the domain in the address bar. For most people, this will be either kf.kobotoolbox.org or kobo.humanitarianresponse.info (this article describes the difference).
   
2. Now navigate to https://YOUR_DOMAIN/token, i.e. https://kf.kobotoolbox.org/token/ or http://kobo.humanitarianresponse.info/token. Copy the token that you see there. That’s it, you can now access Kobo’s API.
   

Part 2: Create your Kobo API Request URL

We’ll first get a list of your assets.

• API root: https://YOUR_DOMAIN/api/v2/ (https://kf.kobotoolbox.org/api/v2/ or kobo.humanitarianresponse.info/api/v2/)
• Endpoint: /assets.json

Putting it all together, we get the full API Request URL:

https://kf.kobotoolbox.org/api/v2/assets.json

Part 3: Pull Kobo API Data into Sheets

We can now enter our values into API Connector.

1. Open up Google Sheets and click Extensions > API Connector > Open.
2. In the Create screen, enter the Request URL we just created
   
   
3. Under Headers, enter two sets of key-value pair like this:
   

   Authorization	Token YOUR_API_TOKEN
   Accept	application/json

   Replace YOUR_API_TOKEN with the token you got in the first part.

   
4. We don’t need OAuth2 authentication so just leave that set to None.
5. Create a new tab and click Set current to use that tab as your data destination.
6. Name your request and click Run. A moment later you’ll see a list of your Kobo assets (forms/projects, questions, blocks, templates, collections) populate your sheet.
   
   

Part 4: More Example API URLs

You can try the following URLs:

• View all public collections
  https://YOUR_DOMAIN/api/v2/collections/?all_public=true
• View private collections
  https://YOUR_DOMAIN/api/v2/collections
• View user metadata
  https://YOUR_DOMAIN/api/v2/users/{username}
• View permissions
  https://YOUR_DOMAIN/api/v2/permissions
• View details of a specific survey
  https://YOUR_DOMAIN/api/v2/assets/{asset uid} (get the uid from the /assets endpoint)
• View submitted data
  https://YOUR_DOMAIN/api/v2/{asset_uid}/data/
• Create or view data exports
  https:/YOUR_DOMAIN/exports/ 

Part 5: API Documentation & Information

Kobo hasn’t provided much documentation, but here are a few links for more information:

• Official API documentation: https://support.kobotoolbox.org/api.html
• Kobo’s API community forum: https://community.kobotoolbox.org/c/kobo-users/api/24 (especially this post)