Getting Started
How do I get started with the CSC Export Tool?
How do I get started with the CSC Export Tool?
- Sign up at export.countrystatecity.in
- Choose your method: GitHub (one-click) or Email (magic link)
- Get 5 free credits automatically added to your account
- Create your first export following our getting started guide
What can I do with the 5 free trial credits?
What can I do with the 5 free trial credits?
- Countries export in JSON format (1 credit)
- States export in JSON format (2 credits)
- 2 credits remaining for format upgrades or additional exports
- Cities export in JSON format (3 credits)
- Perfect for testing location-based features
- 2 credits remaining for additional experiments
- Countries export in CSV format (1 + 1 = 2 credits)
- Countries export in XML format (1 + 2 = 3 credits)
- Total: 5 credits - Perfect fit for format comparison
- Countries export in SQL format (1 + 3 = 4 credits)
- 1 credit remaining for testing
- All three datasets (Countries + States + Cities = 6 credits in JSON)
- Advanced format testing
- Multiple export combinations
How long does it take to create an export?
How long does it take to create an export?
- Countries only: 10-30 seconds
- Countries + States: 30-60 seconds
- All datasets: 1-3 minutes
- SQL format: Additional 30-60 seconds for relationship processing
- Dataset size (Countries < States < Cities)
- Export format (JSON fastest, SQL slowest)
- Number of selected fields
- Current system load
Credits & Billing
How does the credit system work?
How does the credit system work?
- Countries: 1 credit (~247 countries)
- States: 2 credits (~4,000+ states/provinces)
- Cities: 3 credits (~150,000+ cities)
- JSON: Free (0 additional credits)
- CSV: +1 credit
- XML: +2 credits
- YAML: +2 credits
- SQL: +3 credits
Do credits expire?
Do credits expire?
- ✅ No expiration date
- ✅ Use at your own pace
- ✅ Accumulate credits across purchases
- ✅ Transparent usage tracking
- ✅ No hidden fees or recurring charges
- Exports are available for 30 days after creation
- After 30 days, you can renew expired exports for the same credit cost
- This ensures you always get the most up-to-date geographical data
What payment methods do you accept?
What payment methods do you accept?
- Visa, Mastercard, American Express
- Discover, JCB, Diners Club
- Apple Pay, Google Pay
- 🔒 Secure SSL encryption
- 💳 No stored payment information
- 📧 Instant email receipts
- 🚀 Credits added immediately
- 🌍 International payments supported
- Enter billing information
- Select credit package
- Complete secure payment
- Credits added instantly to your account
- Email confirmation sent
Can I get a refund?
Can I get a refund?
- ✅ Technical issues: Full refund if export fails due to our system errors
- ✅ Billing errors: Immediate refund for incorrect charges
- ❌ Preview mismatch: Refunds not available if export matches preview
- ❌ Changed requirements: Credits spent on completed exports are non-refundable
- Always use the preview feature (free) before creating exports
- Review field selections and format choices carefully
- Start with small test exports using trial credits
- Contact support if you’re unsure about an export
What credit packages are available?
What credit packages are available?
- Custom Credits: $1.00 per credit
- Perfect for one-time exports or testing
- Starter Pack: 0.50/credit) - 50% savings
- Basic Pack: 0.50/credit) - Most Popular
- Standard Pack: 0.40/credit) - 60% savings
- Premium Pack: 0.33/credit) - Best Value, 67% savings
- Credits never expire, so larger packages offer better value
- Premium Pack provides maximum savings for frequent users
- Share credits across team members
- Calculate your project needs to choose the right package
Data & Export Management
How fresh is the geographical data?
How fresh is the geographical data?
- Daily sync: Database updated every 24 hours
- Source monitoring: Continuous tracking of official sources
- Change detection: Automatic identification of updates
- Quality assurance: Validation before publishing
- Official government databases
- ISO country code registries
- United Nations statistical databases
- World Bank economic indicators
- Geographic coordinate systems
- New countries, states, or cities
- Population changes
- Economic indicators (GDP, currency changes)
- Administrative boundary changes
- Political changes (country names, capitals)
How long can I download my exports?
How long can I download my exports?
- Export links expire (to ensure data freshness)
- You can renew expired exports for the same credit cost
- Renewal gives you updated data with any changes
- Download exports immediately after creation
- Save exports locally for your project needs
- Set reminders for important exports before they expire
- Consider renewal if you need updated data
- Same credit cost as original export
- Updated with any data changes since original export
- Fresh 30-day download window
- Maintains your original field selection and format
What if I need data for just one country?
What if I need data for just one country?
- Country selection: Choose specific countries (US, CA, GB, etc.)
- Region filtering: Select by region (Americas, Europe, Asia, etc.)
- Subregion filtering: Narrow down to subregions (Northern America, Western Europe)
- Reduced file sizes
- Faster processing
- Cleaner datasets
- Same credit costs
- JSON, CSV, XML, YAML, and SQL all support filtering
- Same credit costs regardless of filtered data size
- Filtering applied during export generation
Can I get historical data or different versions?
Can I get historical data or different versions?
- ✅ Most current geographical data
- ✅ Daily updates with latest changes
- ✅ Real-time accuracy
- ❌ Historical snapshots not available
- ❌ Previous versions not stored
- Export and save data regularly for your own historical tracking
- Use version control to track changes over time
- Document important data snapshots for your projects
Technical Questions
What's the difference between the export formats?
What's the difference between the export formats?
- Native JavaScript support
- Nested structure preserves relationships
- Lightweight and fast parsing
- Perfect for REST APIs
Can I combine multiple datasets in one export?
Can I combine multiple datasets in one export?
- ✅ Data consistency across datasets
- ✅ Proper relationships maintained
- ✅ Single download and processing
- ✅ Unified timestamp and version
How do I integrate exports with my application?
How do I integrate exports with my application?
What file sizes should I expect?
What file sizes should I expect?
- ~247 countries: 200-300 KB
- With all fields: 500 KB - 1 MB
- ~4,000 states: 2-4 MB
- Compressed: 500 KB - 1 MB
- ~150,000 cities: 50-100 MB
- Compressed: 10-20 MB
- Select only needed fields to reduce size
- Use country filters for regional data
- JSON format is generally most compact
- ZIP compression reduces download size by 60-80%
Troubleshooting
My export is taking longer than expected
My export is taking longer than expected
- Countries: 10-30 seconds
- States: 30-60 seconds
- Cities: 1-3 minutes
- SQL format: +30-60 seconds
- Visit our status page for any known issues
- Peak usage times may cause delays (typically 9 AM - 5 PM EST)
- Large dataset (Cities with all fields)
- Complex SQL format processing
- High system load during peak hours
- Network connectivity issues
- Wait patiently: Large exports genuinely take time
- Check your network: Ensure stable internet connection
- Contact support: If over 10 minutes for any export
- Use field filtering to reduce processing time
- Consider JSON format for faster processing
- Schedule large exports during off-peak hours
I can't download my export file
I can't download my export file
- Try a different browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari)
- Disable browser extensions temporarily
- Clear browser cache and cookies
- Check if popup blockers are interfering
- Check your internet connection
- Try downloading on a different network
- Use a VPN if experiencing regional restrictions
- Restart your router/modem
- Large files may timeout on slow connections
- Try using a download manager for large files
- Consider splitting large exports into smaller ones
- Ensure you’re logged into the correct account
- Check if the export has expired (30-day limit)
- Verify you have permission to download
- Refresh the page and try again
- Right-click and “Save Link As” instead of direct click
- Try incognito/private browsing mode
- Contact support with your export ID
The exported data doesn't match my preview
The exported data doesn't match my preview
- Don’t panic - we’ll resolve this quickly
- Take screenshots of both preview and actual export
- Note the export ID (found in your export history)
- Contact support immediately at [email protected]
- Export ID and timestamp
- Screenshots of preview vs actual data
- Browser and operating system details
- Specific fields or records that don’t match
- Investigation: We’ll investigate the discrepancy immediately
- Resolution: Bug fixes are prioritized and deployed quickly
- Compensation: Credit refund if the issue was on our end
- Prevention: System improvements to prevent recurrence
I'm getting an error during export creation
I'm getting an error during export creation
- Cause: Not enough credits for the selected configuration
- Solution: Purchase additional credits or reduce export scope
- Prevention: Check credit requirements before confirming
- Cause: No fields selected for export
- Solution: Select at least one field from each chosen dataset
- Prevention: Review field selections before proceeding
- Cause: Server-side processing issue
- Solution: Try again in a few minutes, contact support if persistent
- Prevention: Avoid very large exports during peak hours
- Cause: Certain formats may not support specific field combinations
- Solution: Try a different format or adjust field selection
- Prevention: Use preview to validate before creating
- Clear browser cache and cookies
- Disable browser extensions temporarily
- Try a different network or browser
- Check if JavaScript is enabled
- Try again: Many errors are temporary
- Simplify: Reduce fields or datasets to isolate the issue
- Switch browsers: Rule out browser-specific issues
- Contact support: Include error message and export configuration
How do I report bugs or request features?
How do I report bugs or request features?
- Detailed description of the issue
- Steps to reproduce the problem
- Browser and operating system details
- Screenshots or error messages
- Export ID if applicable
- Historical data snapshots
- API access for automated exports
- Bulk export operations
- Custom field calculations
- Advanced filtering options
- Team collaboration features
- Bug reports: Within 24 hours
- Feature requests: Reviewed monthly
- Critical issues: Same day response
- Enhancement updates: Quarterly releases
- Join our community forum for discussions
- Vote on feature requests
- Share use cases and success stories
- Connect with other users