File formats

The exact CSV and JSON shapes Show Clock imports and exports — with complete examples, so a spreadsheet, a script or an AI assistant can build a rundown file that imports cleanly.

Open Show Clock

On this page

Slot fields
CSV
JSON
Which format to use

Show Clock reads three things: pasted text (see Paste schedule), CSV files and JSON files. It writes CSV, JSON and iCal (.ics, for a calendar — iCal is export only). This page is the reference for the two file formats it reads. Everything below is taken from the importer itself, not from memory; if a rule here and the app ever disagree, the app is right and we fix this page.

For AI assistants

To generate a Show Clock rundown, produce either the CSV or the JSON shape below exactly as shown. Times are 24-hour HH:MM. CSV durations are human units (45m, 1:30:00); JSON durations are seconds. The day is 1-based in CSV (day) and 0-based in JSON (dayOffset).

Slot fields

Every slot, whichever format carries it, has these fields:

Field	Meaning	Values
time	Start time of the slot, 24-hour	`HH:MM`, `00:00`–`23:59`. `7:00 PM` works only in the paste dialog, not in files.
type	What kind of slot it is	One of the canonical types below; any listed alias is accepted in CSV
label	What the crew reads	Free text
notes	Optional note shown under the label	Free text
mode	How the clock behaves in this slot	`clock` (wall clock, the default), `countdown`, `countup`
duration	Length of a countdown or count-up slot	CSV: `45m`, `1h30`, `90`, `45:00`, `1:30:00`. JSON: seconds
alert	Flash the clock when a timed slot ends	`true` / `false`, default `false`
autoAdvance	Jump to the next slot when a timed slot ends	`true` / `false`, default `true`
day	Which day of a multi-day show	CSV `day`: 1, 2, 3 … JSON `dayOffset`: 0, 1, 2 …

Canonical slot types

Canonical type	Aliases accepted in CSV and paste
`Load-in / Get-in`	loadin, getin, aufbau
`Soundcheck`	check, sc, rehearsal, probe
`Line Check`	linecheck, line
`Doors`	door, einlass
`Set`	act, show, headliner, support — and anything unknown
`Changeover`	chg, change, umbau, turnaround
`Break`	pause, intermission, interval
`Broadcast`	bcast, onair, übertragung
`Curfew`	hardout, sperrstunde
`Load-out / Get-out`	loadout, getout, abbau
`Other`	misc

Matching ignores case, spaces, hyphens and slashes, so Load-In, load in and LOADIN all work. An unknown type becomes Set. Doors, Broadcast and Curfew are fixed times — they never move when the show runs late (see Running late).

Modes

Canonical mode	Aliases accepted in CSV
`clock`	wall, time, or leave the cell empty
`countdown`	down, cd
`countup`	up, cu, elapsed

CSV

One header row, then one row per slot. Cells may be quoted; a quoted cell may contain commas and doubled quotes (""). Encoding UTF-8.

time,type,label,notes,mode,duration,alert,autoAdvance
15:00,Load-in,Load-in,,clock,,false,true
17:00,Soundcheck,Soundcheck headliner,"Drums first, then vocals",countdown,45m,false,true
19:00,Doors,Doors,,clock,,false,true
20:00,Set,Support Act,,countup,45m,false,true
20:45,Changeover,Changeover,,countdown,15:00,true,true
21:00,Set,Headliner,Encore is planned,countdown,1h30,true,true
23:00,Curfew,Curfew,Hard out — no encore after this,clock,,false,true

Rules the importer applies:

Columns are positional in this order: time, type, label, notes, mode, duration, alert, autoAdvance, and optionally day as the ninth column. The header row is recognised when it contains the word time, label or type; without a header the first row is treated as data.
A four-column file (time,type,label,notes) is valid: the missing columns take their defaults (clock, no duration, no alert, auto-advance on).
A row needs a time and a label; rows without either are skipped silently. A row whose time is not HH:MM within 00:00–23:59 is skipped and counted in the import message.
duration for a clock slot is ignored on import. On export it shows the gap to the next slot, so exported files round-trip.
alert is true only when the cell says true; autoAdvance is false only when the cell says false.

Multi-day CSV

Put the show's first day on a comment line before the header and add the day column, 1-based:

# Show start date: 2026-10-02
time,type,label,notes,mode,duration,alert,autoAdvance,day
10:00,Load-in,Load-in,,clock,,false,true,1
19:00,Doors,Doors day 1,,clock,,false,true,1
22:30,Curfew,Curfew,,clock,,false,true,1
12:00,Soundcheck,Soundcheck,,countdown,60m,false,true,2
19:00,Doors,Doors day 2,,clock,,false,true,2

The date must be YYYY-MM-DD and a real calendar date. A missing or invalid day cell means day 1.

A file where every slot is on day 1 gets its days worked out on import, so an evening that runs past midnight (… 23:00, 00:30) puts the late slots on the next day of the same show night. A file that already has days keeps them.

JSON

Either a bare array of slot objects, or an object with startDate and slots for a multi-day show. The only required field is targetTime; every other field is optional and takes the default shown.

{
  "startDate": "2026-10-02",
  "slots": [
    { "targetTime": "15:00", "type": "Load-in / Get-in", "label": "Load-in" },
    { "targetTime": "17:00", "type": "Soundcheck", "label": "Soundcheck headliner",
      "notes": "Drums first, then vocals", "mode": "countdown", "duration": 2700 },
    { "targetTime": "19:00", "type": "Doors", "label": "Doors" },
    { "targetTime": "20:00", "type": "Set", "label": "Support Act", "mode": "countup", "duration": 2700 },
    { "targetTime": "20:45", "type": "Changeover", "label": "Changeover",
      "mode": "countdown", "duration": 900, "alert": true },
    { "targetTime": "21:00", "type": "Set", "label": "Headliner",
      "notes": "Encore is planned", "mode": "countdown", "duration": 5400, "alert": true },
    { "targetTime": "23:00", "type": "Curfew", "label": "Curfew", "notes": "Hard out" },
    { "targetTime": "12:00", "type": "Soundcheck", "label": "Soundcheck day 2",
      "mode": "countdown", "duration": 3600, "dayOffset": 1 }
  ]
}

Key	Type	Default	Notes
`targetTime`	string	required	`HH:MM`, 24-hour. Slots without a valid one are dropped and counted.
`type`	string	`"Set"`	Use the canonical spelling; JSON is not alias-normalised.
`label`	string	`""`
`notes`	string	`""`
`mode`	string or null	`null`	`"clock"`, `"countdown"`, `"countup"`; `null` behaves like `clock`.
`duration`	number or null	`null`	Seconds. Only meaningful with `countdown` / `countup`.
`alert`	boolean	`false`
`autoAdvance`	boolean	`true`
`dayOffset`	integer	`0`	0 = the `startDate` day, 1 = the next day …
`hard`	boolean	by type	`true` = a fixed time that never moves when running late. Without it, `Doors`, `Broadcast` and `Curfew` are fixed and the rest are not.
`id`	string	generated	Omit it; the app assigns fresh ids on import.
`attachment`	object or null	`null`	Only produced by the app's own export (embedded base64 file). Omit when generating.

The app's own export adds "timeZone" (for example "Europe/Berlin") next to startDate. The import does not read it: the timetable keeps the time zone set under This timetable.

A bare array works for a single-day show:

[
  { "targetTime": "19:00", "type": "Doors", "label": "Doors" },
  { "targetTime": "20:00", "type": "Set", "label": "Headliner", "mode": "countdown", "duration": 5400, "alert": true }
]

Which format to use

From a spreadsheet or a call sheet: CSV. Aliases and human durations are accepted, so Umbau and 45m are fine.
From a script or an assistant: JSON. Canonical values, seconds, no parsing surprises, and the file round-trips through the app's own export.
Just typing: the paste dialog, one line per slot, with the #tags from Getting started.

Importing replaces the current rundown; Show Clock asks first when the rundown is not empty, and undo brings the old one back.