Your Student Information System (SIS) sends data files to Apptegy on a scheduled basis typically nightly so that your student, guardian, staff, attendance, and lunch balance lists stay up to date automatically. When a sync issue occurs, your Data Lists may stop updating, which can prevent alerts from reaching the right people.
This article explains how the sync works, how to check its status, common causes of failure, and what you can do to resolve issues or get help.
Understanding How SIS Data Sync Works
Your SIS exports data files (such as students, staff, attendance, and lunch balances) on a schedule usually once per day, overnight. These files are delivered to Apptegy's servers via a secure connection (SFTP). Once received, the platform processes the files and updates your Data Lists automatically.
Key points about the sync
Data Lists update each time the platform receives new information from your SIS.
Call Lists update automatically when their source Data List updates.
If no new file is received, the Data List retains the last data it had nothing is deleted.
A file with zero KB (empty) will not be processed and will not affect your existing data.
If the Only Run with New Data toggle is enabled on a Recurring Alert, the alert will only fire if the Data List received fresh data that calendar day.
Checking Your Sync Status
The quickest way to determine if your data is syncing is to check the last update date on your Data List.
1. Navigate to Data Management
Go to Alerts Center → Data Management → Data.
2. Check the Last Updated date
Find the Data List in question and look at the Last Updated entry. If the date reflects today (or the most recent school day), your sync is working. If the date is old or hasn't changed, the sync may have stopped.
3. Verify child lists updated
Confirm that all child lists (Call Lists built from that Data List) also updated as expected and that columns match their headers.
Diagnosing Common Sync Failures
When your Data List stops updating, the issue is usually related to the file your SIS is sending. Below are the most common causes.
Changed or mismatched column headers
If your SIS export adds, removes, or renames columns, the sync will break. The system tracks the file's header names, delimiter, and number of fields. Any change to these will prevent the file from processing. If you recently changed fields in your SIS export, contact Apptegy Support so we can update the file configuration.
Malformed rows or bad formatting
Files that contain rows with extra or missing delimiters (commas or tabs), truncated lines, blank rows, or encoding issues (non-UTF-8 characters) may fail to upload. A common error is "Bad quote format in record" this means a row has mismatched or missing quotation marks.
Special characters and encoding
Non-printable characters, BOM (byte order mark) markers, or unexpected line endings can cause errors even when the file looks correct in a spreadsheet application. If you suspect this, open the file in a plain text editor rather than Excel or Google Sheets, which may auto-correct issues.
Empty files (0 KB)
An empty file will not be processed. This can happen if no data matches the export criteria — for example, an attendance file during summer break when no attendance is being taken. This is normal behavior and will not affect your existing data.
SIS stopped sending files
If your SIS server was rebuilt, credentials were changed, or the export schedule was modified, files may no longer be arriving. Check with your district's IT team or SIS administrator to confirm the export is still running and sending to the correct server.
Manually Updating a Data List
If your automated sync has stopped and you need current data immediately, you can manually upload a file to refresh your Data List.
1. Prepare your file
Export the latest data from your SIS as a CSV, TSV file. Make sure the file contains headers and that the column structure matches your existing Data List.
2. Open the Data List
Go to Alerts Center → Data Management → Data, then click on the Data List you want to update.
3. Upload the new file
Click the Update List button at the top of the window. Browse for or drag and drop your updated file, then click Next.
4. Confirm column mapping
A preview will show the first five rows and the column headers. If the headers match your existing list, no changes are needed just click Update. If new columns appear, you will need to map them (Phone Number, Email, ID, Text Value, Numerical Value, or Do Not Import).
Once the Data List updates, any Call Lists built from it will also update automatically.
Troubleshooting Specific Data Types
Students
If a student is missing from your Data List, it usually means their record was not included in the most recent SIS data file. Verify the student is active in your SIS and check that they are included in the export. The student will appear after the next successful sync that includes their record.
Guardians
Guardian data relies on the student-guardian relationship defined in your SIS. If guardian information is missing, confirm that your SIS export includes guardian records and that the guardian is linked to a student. For districts using OneRoster, verify that the users.csv file contains records with a guardian or parent role.
Staff
Staff files sync separately from student files. If staff data has not updated, check that your SIS is still exporting the staff file and that no columns were added or removed.
Note that staff directory syncs run on a schedule they are not triggered by file arrival. If you need an immediate staff directory update, contact Apptegy Support.
Lunch balance
Lunch balance data typically comes from your SIS or a separate food service system (such as eTrition, PaySchools, or PrimeroEdge). This data is usually merged with your student Data List to create a lunch balance Call List.
If lunch balance alerts stop working, verify that the lunch balance file is still being sent and that the Student ID column in both files matches so the merge works correctly. Map the balance column as Numerical Value so you can filter by amount.
File Format Requirements
When preparing or troubleshooting a data file, keep these requirements in mind:
Accepted file types: CSV (with headers, quote-wrapped) or TSV.
Encoding: UTF-8
Headers: Include column headers in the first row of the file
Delimiter: Use commas for CSV or tabs for TSV. PowerSchool users should use TSV because PowerSchool does not quote-wrap fields.
File delivery schedule: Preferably overnight (around 2 AM CST or similar)
File naming: File names can vary, but if exporting for both Connect and Alerts, the export names must be distinct
When to Contact Apptegy Support
Contact Apptegy Support if any of the following apply:
Your Data List has not updated for more than one business day and you have confirmed your SIS is still sending files.
You recently changed columns in your SIS export and your sync stopped working (we will need to update the file configuration on our end).
You see errors when attempting to manually upload a file and have verified the file is correctly formatted.
You need a Recurring Alert re-sent after a sync issue has been resolved.
Your SIS changed servers, credentials, or delivery method and the sync needs to be reconfigured.
You want to switch from a manually uploaded spreadsheet list to an automated SIS sync.
Your data is syncing but contacts are missing or incorrect after verifying the source file is correct.
When reaching out, please include the name of the Data List that is affected, the date it last updated, and any changes recently made to your SIS export. This helps our team resolve the issue faster.