carto-import-export-data

Move data into the warehouse from local files / URLs, pull data out, transfer tables between connections, and prepare tilesets for performant rendering of large geospatial datasets.

Access-path routing. With the CARTO MCP server attached (OAuth session), route interactive moves through import_data, export_data, and transfer_data (each method: submit|status), and materialize tilesets with execute_async_query. Fall back to the carto import / carto sql job CLI for scripted/bulk loads, headless pipelines, or when the server isn't attached — and note that over a token-authenticated MCP session the import/export/transfer tools are hidden (read/discovery subset only), so authoring moves there go via the CLI too. carto activity export (usage data → local disk) is CLI-only, no MCP equivalent. Format, size-limit, and destination-syntax guidance below applies on every path. Detection signals: carto-basics/references/access-paths.md.

When to use this skill

• The user has a CSV / GeoJSON / Shapefile / GeoParquet file and wants it queryable in the warehouse.
• The user wants to refresh an existing table from a remote URL, or copy a table between connections.
• The user wants to render a 10M+-row spatial dataset on a map (needs tileset preparation).
• The user is bulk-exporting CARTO activity data to disk for offline analysis.

To query a file already in the warehouse, jump to carto-query-datawarehouse. To discover what's already there, carto-explore-datawarehouse.

Quick reference

MCP (OAuth session) — submit then poll: