Export or PDF problems

Summary#

Every tool result can leave Metric Vault as a PDF, an Excel workbook, a CSV, a JSON file or a public share link. Exports are built in your browser from the result that is on screen, which explains almost every failure: if the result is not finished, or is not the one you think you are looking at, the export cannot succeed. This page maps each message you can see to its cause and its fix.

Symptoms#

• Clicking an export button does nothing at all.
• The export buttons are greyed out and hovering shows Run the analysis first.
• A dialog appears reading Nothing to export / Run the tool first, then export the result.
• An alert reads Run the tool first — there is no result to export yet.
• A message reads PDF engine is still loading. Try again in a moment. or Excel engine is still loading. Try again in a moment.
• A CSV or Excel export reports No table in this result to export as CSV. or No table in this result to export to Excel.
• A JSON export reports Run the tool first — no data to export yet.
• A dialog reads Export failed / Please try again.
• The PDF downloads but charts are blank rectangles.
• The exported file has your Metric Vault branding, not your own.
• A share link fails with Couldn't create the link, or with Report too large — max 2MB.
• Opening someone's share link shows Report expired or Report not found.

Diagnosis#

1. Is the result actually finished?

An export reads the rendered result. While a tool is running, the result area holds only a loading block, and there is nothing to read. Wait for the result to render fully before exporting. On Keyword Overview the export buttons enforce this for you: they stay disabled, at reduced opacity, with the tooltip Run the analysis first, until a real result exists, and they disable again the moment you start a new run. Other tools do not gate their buttons, so there you will see the Nothing to export dialog instead.

2. Which format did you press?

The export row offers five actions, in this order:

The format is decided by which button you pressed, not by its label text, so exports behave identically in every interface language. See Some text is still in English.

3. Did the file engines finish loading?

PDF and Excel exports use libraries that load after the page. On a slow connection you can reach the export button before they arrive, which produces PDF engine is still loading. Try again in a moment. or the Excel equivalent. Waiting a few seconds and clicking again is the whole fix.

4. Does the result contain what that format needs?

CSV and the fallback Excel path read tables. A result made only of cards, charts and prose has no table to write, which is why you can get a good PDF and an empty CSV from the same screen. JSON reads the raw data the tool returned, so it is empty if the current view has not run in this browser session, for example after a reload where the result was replayed from your saved work.

5. Are you exporting from the Dashboard overview?

The Overview screen has its own export row, separate from the per-tool one. Report History has an Export All button which opens your browser's print dialog rather than writing a CSV or JSON file. That is what the button does today, despite the description on the screen.

Resolution#

Nothing happens, or you get an "export first" message

1. Run the tool and wait for the result to finish rendering.
2. Click the export button again.
3. If you reloaded the page and the result was restored from Saved Work, run it again, or open the saved result and use its own Download JSON button. Reopening saved work costs nothing. See Saved Work.

The PDF has blank charts

Charts are live drawings, and they are converted to images at the moment you export. Blank rectangles mean the chart had not painted when the capture ran. Scroll the chart into view, let it animate to completion, then export again. Charts that are still empty are dropped from the export along with their heading rather than shipped blank.

The export is missing sections you can see on screen

Export builds from the visible result plus the underlying data, so a section that is collapsed behind a category tab is still included. If something is genuinely absent, note the tool name and the missing section heading and report it. See Contacting support.

The export does not carry your branding

White-label branding is applied to exported PDFs and to public share pages, and it requires the Pro plan or above. Set it up at Dashboard → Account & Team → Integrations → White-label Branding, then export again. Two validation limits apply when saving:

See White-label reports and Custom branding.

Share link problems

Share pages strip the interactive parts of the screen: inputs, buttons, dropdowns, the export row itself and any sample banner. Charts become images. Anyone with the URL can read the page without signing in, so treat a share link as public. See Sharing a result by link.

An export is missing sections you expected

Exports follow the view you are on. On a tabbed result, exporting from the Summary tab gives you the summary only; the file name carries the tab's name (for example -summary) so you can tell. Press View Full Report, right after the tabs, and export again to get everything. See Exporting results.

"View Full Report" problems

View Full Report reveals every section in place and builds a share page that opens in a new tab. The share page needs a signed-in session and a finished result, and it can report:

If nothing opens at all, your browser blocked the new tab. Allow popups for metricvaultai.com and click again.

Prevention#

• Let the result settle before exporting. Most export failures are a click that arrived a second too early.
• Pick the format that suits the content. Use PDF or the share link for narrative results, CSV or Excel for tabular ones, JSON when you intend to process the data elsewhere.
• Set up white-label branding once, before the first client export, rather than re-exporting a batch afterwards.
• Save the result first if you will need it again. Reopening saved work is free and gives you a reliable export source days later. See Saving a result.
• Treat share links as public and set an expiry when the content is sensitive.
• Keep one browser tab per long export. Navigating away mid-export cancels the file being built.