Export CSV

Export tabular data as a well-formed CSV file. No installation required — uses write_file only. Output is written to the working directory as <slug>.csv. Always produces a header row and correctly escapes all field values.

When to use this skill

• User asks to export data as CSV, save a table as CSV, or download rows as a CSV file.
• User says "give me a CSV", "export this as CSV", "save this table to a file I can open in Excel".
• The data is tabular and the user doesn't need formatting or formulas — just the data.

When NOT to use this skill

• User needs formulas, multiple sheets, or formatted cells — use export-excel.
• User wants a PDF or HTML report — use make-pdf or make-html-report.
• The data is not tabular (free-form text, nested structures).

CSV escaping rules

Apply these rules to every field before writing:

The first row is always the header row. Headers follow the same escaping rules.

Examples:

name,age,city,notes
Alice,30,New York,"Joined in 2024, active user"
Bob,25,London,"Said ""hello"" on first call"
Carol,28,Paris,

In the above:

• "Joined in 2024, active user" is quoted because it contains a comma.
• "Said ""hello"" on first call" is quoted and the inner quotes are doubled.
• Carol's notes field is empty — just an empty string at end of line.

Workflow

Step 1: Format the data as CSV text

From the user's data:

1. Identify all columns — these become the header row.
2. Apply escaping rules (table above) to every field value.
3. Assemble rows, one per line, fields separated by ,.
4. The first line is always the header.
5. Use \n (LF) as the line terminator. Do not use \r\n unless the user specifically requests Windows line endings.

Step 2: Write to file

Use write_file to write the complete CSV content to a relative path, which resolves inside the working directory:

<slug>.csv

Where <slug> is a lowercase-hyphenated identifier derived from the data or user's request (e.g. user-list-2026-06, product-inventory, q2-transactions).

Write the file as UTF-8. Do not add a BOM unless the user says they will open it in Excel on Windows (Excel sometimes needs a UTF-8 BOM to detect encoding:  prepended to the content).

Step 3: Confirm to the user

Tell the user:

"CSV exported to: <slug>.csv in the working directory — visible in the Documents tab."

If the file has an unusual number of rows or columns, mention the count:

"CSV exported to: <slug>.csv in the working directory — 3 columns, 42 rows (plus header)."

Anti-patterns

• Do not omit the header row — a CSV without headers is not useful to most consumers.
• Do not use single quotes for quoting fields — RFC 4180 specifies double-quotes only.
• Do not write null, undefined, or N/A for empty fields unless the user explicitly asks — use an empty string.
• Do not add trailing commas at the end of rows.
• Do not write a BOM by default — only add it if the user says they need Excel on Windows compatibility.
• Do not add extra whitespace around commas — Alice, 30 is two different values from Alice,30.

Hard rules

• All generated files go to the working directory. Always write a relative path — never write outside the working directory.
• Always tell the user the exact output path after completion.
• The first row must always be the header row.
• Every field containing ,, ", or a newline must be wrapped in double-quotes.
• Every " inside a quoted field must be escaped as "".
• The slug must be lowercase, hyphen-separated, and contain no spaces or special characters.