Custom Item Type Excel Import

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We have been moving towards CITs as an initial push from our previous Wrike Professional Services contact, so the fact that CITs isn't supported kind of throws a wrench in our wheel as we are trying to find solutions to create bulk items (i.e. through Excel import).

Hi everyone — Sumanyu here, Engineering Manager for Wrike’s Public APIs.

There are two ways to automate this — one no-code (MCP-based) and one script-based (as previously suggested by Anmol).
Both approaches use Wrike’s Public API under the hood to achieve the same outcome.

MCP-Based (No-Code) Approach
Using the Wrike MCP Server, users can convert all imported tasks to a chosen CIT interactively, without writing code.

1. Set up your MCP server using the developer documentation here: https://developers.wrike.com/wrike-mcp/
2. Here’s a short POC video that shows how to convert all Excel-imported tasks via MCP.
3. You can use or adapt the following prompt inside your MCP setup:

name: "Convert All Tasks to Custom Item Type"
description: "Converts every task in a specified folder/project to the given Custom Item Type (CIT) using Wrike MCP tools."

steps:

  - prompt: |
      Please enter the exact name of the Custom Item Type (CIT) you want to apply to all tasks.
      Example: "Creative Brief" or "Bug Fix".
    tool: "Wrike search custom types"
    params:
      title: "${user_input}"
    next: confirm_cit

  - id: confirm_cit
    prompt: |
      Here are the matching Custom Item Types I found:
      | ID | Name | Category |
      |----|------|-----------|
      ${data}
      Please confirm the correct CIT ID you wish to use.
    capture: cit_id

  - prompt: |
      Great. Now please paste the folder or project permalink containing the imported tasks.
    tool: "Wrike search folder project"
    params:
      permalink: "${user_input}"
    next: confirm_folder

  - id: confirm_folder
    prompt: |
      Folder found:
      Name: ${data.name}
      ID: ${data.id}
      Please confirm — should I proceed to convert tasks in this folder to the selected Custom Item Type (yes/no)?
    capture: confirm_continue

  - condition: "${confirm_continue == 'yes'}"
    prompt: |
      Fetching all tasks from the folder. This may take a few seconds...
    tool: "Wrike get tasks"
    params:
      folderId: "${data.id}"
    next: batch_convert

  - id: batch_convert
    loop:
      input: "${data.taskIds}"
      chunk_size: 100
      tool: "Wrike batch update tasks"
      params:
        taskIds: "${chunk}"
        convertToCustomItemType: "${cit_id}"
      progress_message: "Converted ${progress.count} tasks so far..."
    done_message: |
      ✅ All ${total.count} tasks have been successfully converted to the Custom Item Type (${cit_id}).

Script-Based Approach
For those who prefer a programmable route, there are two options:

1. Programmatic import: Read the Excel/CSV via code and create tasks directly in the desired CIT using
   POST /folders/{folderId}/tasks
2. Post-import conversion: Use the standard Excel import, then run a script that calls the
   PUT /tasks/{ids}?convertToCustomItemType={citId} API to update all imported tasks — the same mechanism leveraged by MCP.

To automate the complete process using custom scripts you can also use Wrike Integrate to listen to a Webhook when a new task is created inside a specific folder and then create a recipe to call PUT /tasks/{ids}?convertToCustomItemType={citId} to do the required conversion.

Recommendation:
Start with the MCP approach — it’s easier to maintain, scalable, and doesn’t require coding. I’m happy to share a simple script version if anyone prefers that route.


Sumanyu Soniwal Community Team at Wrike Wrike Product Manager Werden Sie ein Wrike-Experte mit Wrike Discover

Sumanyu Soniwal Wrike Team member Werden Sie ein Wrike-Experte mit Wrike Discover

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unvoating, counting 83, how many votes are needed?