There is no shared export format across ATS platforms, and what you get depends on which export you run. Workable and Ashby build the file from columns you pick. Greenhouse's Essential candidate report is a fixed list of roughly 50 fields, capped at 1,000 applications and delivered as XLS by email. Lever's complete bundle is the only one of the four that includes resume files, but it is an account-termination or paid export, only a Super Admin can download it, and the link lasts 14 days. Every fact below links to the vendor's own documentation, checked in September 2026.
Comparing ATS exports sounds like a solved problem. It isn't, because no vendor publishes a side-by-side, and each one means something different by "export". Assumptions carried over from one platform are how data goes missing on another.
The Four Exports at a Glance
| Platform and export | Choose columns? | Resume files? | Feedback and notes? | Limits | Who can run it | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashby, custom list report | Yes. You add the fields | No. Bulk resume export goes through Ashby support | Not in the report. Per candidate, from the profile | None published | Analytics Admin licence, on Plus or Enterprise plans | Ashby |
| Greenhouse, Essential candidate report | No. Fixed field list. Custom fields appear only in the emailed file | No | Not among the listed fields | 1,000 applications per report. XLS by email, no CSV option | Job Admins who can view and edit candidates | Greenhouse |
| Lever, account-termination or paid data export | No. Fixed bundle | Yes, in their original format | Feedback and interview events as CSV. Profile notes as JSON only. Offers excluded | Link valid 14 days. Candidates, postings and interview files available for 7 | Super Admins only | Lever |
| Workable, Candidate details report | Yes. Tick and reorder columns | No | Not mentioned in the documentation | None published. CSV arrives by email | All Recruiting plans, including Free | Workable |
"Not mentioned" and "none published" mean exactly that: the vendor's page doesn't say, so we don't either.
What Each Platform's Documentation Says
Ashby: you build the file, so it varies
Ashby's export runs through Reports, Build, Custom list, with Candidates as the subject. You add fields and filters, then export CSV from the results. Two exports from the same account can legitimately contain different columns, so "what does Ashby give you" has no answer independent of who built the report.
Two limits are easy to miss. Building a report needs an Analytics Admin licence, and custom reports sit on the Plus and Enterprise plans, so not everyone on the team can pull this file. And resumes can't be bulk exported at all: Ashby's page sends you to their support team. Interview feedback does export, but one candidate at a time, from the candidate's profile.
Greenhouse: a fixed report with a hard cap, and a second route
The Essential candidate report gives you two choices: view it in the app, or have it emailed as XLS. There is no CSV option, and the emailed version is the only one that carries custom candidate fields and rejection questions. Each report stops at 1,000 candidate applications, so a larger pipeline means several filtered reports rather than one.
The field list is fixed, but Greenhouse isn't fixed-format everywhere. Report Builder has an Add Column control and saves an .xlsx file straight to your computer. Resumes are a third route: Site Admins can bulk download them from the Candidates page, delivered by email.
Lever: the complete bundle is not a self-serve export
Lever's bundle is the most complete of the four. It carries candidates, interview calibration, interview events, all feedback and job postings as CSV, profile notes (secret notes included) as JSON, and every profile file in its original format. Offers are not in it.
The catch is what kind of export this is. Lever's documentation describes it as an account-termination or paid data export: one complimentary export per account when you leave, further ones arranged with your account team. Only a Super Admin can open the link, which is valid for 14 days, and the candidates, postings and interview files inside it are available for seven. For accounts that are closing, Lever says the data is gone 90 days after shut-off.
The everyday route is Visual Insights, where Super Admins, Admins and Team Members with permission to view reports can download dashboard and chart data as CSV. That gives you report data, not the file bundle.
Workable: easy to get, and no files
The Candidate details report is on every Recruiting plan, including Free. You tick the columns you want, drag them into order, and click Download CSV. The file arrives by email a few moments later.
Workable says plainly that files and resumes are not part of that export. For those, its export guide points to a full export arranged through their support team, or to the API. Running only the self-serve CSV and assuming it is complete is the most common way this gap gets missed.
What The File Itself Contains
Only two of the four publish a field list. For Ashby the answer is whatever you added. Lever's page names Profile ID, Candidate Name and Email, then stops at "etc."
| Data | Greenhouse Essential candidate report | Workable Candidate details report |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Two columns: First name, Last name | One column: Candidate name |
| Three columns: home, work, other | Candidate email | |
| Phone | Five columns: home, work, mobile, Skype, other | Candidate phone number |
| Job applied to | Applied for, Requisition ID, Opening ID | No job column in the documented list |
| Stage | Stage, Status | Candidate job stage, Candidate reporting stage |
| Source | Source, Sourcing strategy, Credited to | Candidate source, Candidate source category |
| Applied date | Application date | No applied-date column listed. Candidate creation date is the closest |
| Custom fields | Emailed XLS only | Yes, as selectable columns |
| Resume file | No | No |
The shape matters more than it looks. A Greenhouse file has no single name column and three possible emails, so any import that wants one of each needs a decision from you before upload. For Workable, check that your file identifies the job. If it doesn't, run the report one job at a time and fill that column in yourself.
Is There a Standard Export Format?
There is a standard. Nobody exports to it. The HR Open Standards Consortium publishes free JSON and XML schemas for recruiting, including a Candidate schema. None of the four vendors above documents an export in that format, which is why every migration starts with a spreadsheet and a column-renaming exercise.
Getting Any of These Into HyreTech
HyreTech works with your ATS by CSV import, not by connecting to it. Nothing is written back. The import takes three files: a roles CSV, an applicants CSV and a ZIP of resumes. Four points matter when the source is one of the exports above.
- The column no export has. external_role_id ties each applicant to a row in your roles file. No ATS emits it. You create it by renaming whichever column identifies the job (Requisition ID works well from Greenhouse) and using the same values in the roles file. The applicants file also needs name, email and cv_filename. Unknown columns are ignored, not rejected, so there's no need to strip the export down first. The full column list covers the optional ones.
- CSV only. Greenhouse's emailed XLS and Report Builder's .xlsx both need a Save As to CSV first.
- Resumes are PDF only, 10 MB each. Lever's "original format" means some files will be Word documents. Convert them, or those rows are skipped and listed with the reason.
- 200 applicants per import. A full 1,000-application Greenhouse report is five batches. Re-uploading is safe: applicants match on email and roles on their ID, so nothing is duplicated.
For a handful of candidates on a single role, skip the CSV entirely and upload up to 10 PDF resumes straight onto the role.
What to export from your ATS has the click-by-click version for each platform, and what the CSV needs walks through all three files.
Why The Timing Matters As Much As The Format
Scorecards, interview feedback and internal notes are the first casualties of any export, and getting them often means a request to the vendor, not a checkbox in a report.
Confirm that before a contract is cancelled, not after. Lever makes it concrete: the complete bundle is tied to leaving, its link lasts 14 days, and some of its files last seven. A migration that stalls for three weeks can outlive its own export.
This is the same failure mode as the CSV columns an ATS import silently drops: the export looks complete, and the gap isn't found until someone goes looking for the missing piece.
If you're moving off Greenhouse specifically, the full migration walkthrough covers field mapping and verification.
Ready To See What Actually Carries Over?
If you want to see the scoring before you export anything: run one resume and one job description through the free resume screener. It takes two minutes and needs no account.
If you want to test an export directly: Start free and run a real import from whichever platform you're on.
If you're planning a larger migration and want to map the gaps first: Book a demo and we'll go through your platform's export with you.
FAQ
What does a Greenhouse, Lever, Workable or Ashby CSV export actually contain?
It depends on the platform and on which export you run. Ashby and Workable build the file from columns you choose. Greenhouse's Essential candidate report is a fixed list of roughly 50 fields, capped at 1,000 applications and emailed as XLS. Lever's complete bundle includes resumes and feedback, but it is an account-termination or paid export that only a Super Admin can download.
Our Lever export link has expired. Do we have to start over?
For that export, yes. The link is valid for 14 days, and the candidates, postings and interview files inside it for seven. Lever provides one complimentary export when an account is closing, so ask your account team about another one, and time the request for when the migration is ready to use it.
Do resumes come with a standard ATS export?
Only from Lever, whose bundle includes every profile file in its original format. Greenhouse's report, Workable's Candidate details report and Ashby's custom reports are spreadsheets without files. Greenhouse has a separate bulk resume download for Site Admins, Workable points to its support team or the API, and Ashby asks you to contact support.
Is there a standard export format across ATS platforms?
A standard exists, but no export uses it. The HR Open Standards Consortium publishes a free Candidate schema in JSON and XML. None of these four vendors documents an export in that format, so the practical answer is a CSV with renamed columns.
What column do I have to add that no ATS export includes?
For HyreTech it is external_role_id, which ties each applicant to a row in your roles file. No ATS produces a column with that name. Create it by renaming the column that identifies the job or requisition, and use the same values in the roles file.