> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.firstresonance.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Tools Imports

> Create or revise tools from a CSV file, including subtypes and maintenance intervals.

## Overview

The Tools importer bulk-creates or revises tools. In ION, a tool is a part with the **tool** part type, so this importer follows the same revision flow as the [Parts importer](/administration/ion-importers/parts) but exposes a narrower, tool-relevant column set.

Two things are set automatically on every row:

* **Part type** is always `tool`.
* **Tracking type** is always `serial` — tools are serial-tracked. Including a `tracking_type` column in the CSV is rejected.

## Columns

| Column                         | Required | Description                                                                                                                                                              |
| ------------------------------ | -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `part_number`                  | Yes      | The tool's part number.                                                                                                                                                  |
| `revision`                     | No       | The revision. Omit to let ION assign the next revision automatically (or the scheme's initial value if the tool is new).                                                 |
| `revision_scheme`              | No       | Name of the revision scheme to use when creating a brand-new tool. Defaults to the org's default scheme.                                                                 |
| `description`                  | No       | Free-text description.                                                                                                                                                   |
| `export_controlled`            | No       | Whether the tool is export controlled. Boolean field (see [accepted values](/administration/ion-importers#accepted-boolean-values)).                                     |
| `maintenance_interval`         | No       | Maintenance interval as a human-readable duration, e.g. `30d`, `1d 2h 20m`, or a plain integer (seconds). Units: `w`, `d`, `h`, `m`, `s` — each may appear at most once. |
| `maintenance_interval_seconds` | No       | Maintenance interval as a raw number of seconds. Must be non-negative.                                                                                                   |
| `subtypes`                     | No       | Semicolon-delimited list of tool subtype names, e.g. `Torque Wrench;Calibrated`.                                                                                         |

<Warning>
  `maintenance_interval` and `maintenance_interval_seconds` map to the same underlying field — provide one or the other, not both.
</Warning>

## Revisions

Revision behavior mirrors the [Parts importer](/administration/ion-importers/parts#revisions): rows with an explicit revision create or update that exact `(part_number, revision)`, while rows that omit revision either initialize a new tool at the scheme's first value or auto-revise an existing tool from its latest revision.

## Subtypes

The `subtypes` column attaches one or more subtypes to the tool. Subtype names are matched case-insensitively; **names that don't exist yet are created automatically**, so you can bootstrap your subtype list from the same CSV. Associations that already exist are skipped, keeping re-imports idempotent.

## Custom attributes

Any column not in the standard list above is treated as a custom attribute on the tool. Custom attribute columns must match a configured attribute key for your organization; unknown columns cause a validation error.

## Related pages

* [Tool Inventory Imports](/administration/ion-importers/tool-inventory) — import the physical tool instances.
* [Parts Imports](/administration/ion-importers/parts) — full revision-flow details.
* [Importers](/administration/ion-importers) — general import behavior, empty cell handling, and error reporting.