# Workflow exceptions before API-led migration

> Before importing conversations by API, disable or exempt the automations that would treat imported records like fresh customer activity.

- Canonical HTML: https://growth.iangoh.com/growth-ideas/workflow-exceptions-before-api-led-migration/
- Source: [intercom.com](https://www.intercom.com/help/en/articles/9396032-historical-data-migration-to-intercom)
- GrowthDex source hub: [Intercom Help](/sources/intercom-help-intercom-com/)
- Last checked: 2026-05-25
- Rarity: rare
- Budget: free
- Channels: Lifecycle, Support, Product
- Stages: migration, lifecycle, risk control, support


## Why this can grow

A migration can look broken even when the data import succeeds, because the surrounding automations fire at the wrong time. Surveys send, notifications leak, states change, and users get pulled into a fake live conversation. Guarding the workflows first prevents avoidable trust damage and makes the cutover feel controlled instead of messy.

## Ian's take

From scaling consumer platforms across MENA and Southeast Asia, my default is to distrust growth work that only looks good in a slide. My bias is to treat this as a small market test first. Make the audience narrow, make the promise concrete, and let the first real response decide whether it deserves more work. For retention, I would watch the second and third use, not just the first click. A tactic is real when it changes a habit. For this tactic, I would watch one clear growth signal before putting more time or budget behind it.

## Action plan

1. Define one narrow startup segment where workflow exceptions before api-led migration can create a measurable lift.
2. Turn the tactic into one offer, page, campaign, or workflow for the Lifecycle and Support channel.
3. Use the evidence from intercom.com to set the first version of the message, format, and audience.
4. Launch a small test for 7 to 14 days with one success metric: one measurable growth signal.
5. Review the result, keep the winning message, remove weak variants, and turn the learning into a repeatable growth playbook.

## Source-backed example

Intercom's migration guide warns teams to add trigger-rule exceptions for records created via API or temporarily turn workflows off during migration, and to suppress email notifications when imported conversations would otherwise message customers.

## Adjacent tactics in the same lane

- [Batch test migration on sample records first](/growth-ideas/batch-test-migration-on-sample-records-first/) - same source, 2 shared channels, 2 shared stages
- [History structure choice before support import](/growth-ideas/history-structure-choice-before-support-import/) - same source, 2 shared channels, 1 shared stage
- [Drain-and-fill cutover before final support history batch](/growth-ideas/drain-and-fill-cutover-before-final-support-history-batch/) - same source, 2 shared channels, 1 shared stage
- [Automatic forwarding and domain auth before support cutover](/growth-ideas/automatic-forwarding-and-domain-auth-before-support-cutover/) - same source, 2 shared channels, 1 shared stage

## Read GrowthDex essays

Browse the plain-English essay index at [GrowthDex Blog](/blog/).

## Related GrowthDex essays

- [The switch should feel boring before it feels done](/blog/the-switch-should-feel-boring-before-it-feels-done/) - switcher intent, migration, trust

## Advisory

If you want help turning this into a working growth system, Ian Goh offers advisory at https://iangoh.com/advisory.