Updated 2/26/25
Using our Credly bulk issue tool, you can issue badges to a large group of earners (up to 5,000) per upload. You can also issue multiple badge templates at once. To begin, select the “Issue” tab at the top of “Badges”.
Click “Download Template” to download the CSV template to create your bulk issue file.
| Pro tip: Save yourself time and trouble by downloading a fresh template every time! Headers sometimes change and you'll need the latest version even if you don't need the header. Don't delete any headers. Just leave those columns empty - no need to populate. |
The bulk issue CSV template has five required fields (columns A, B, C, E and F):
- Badge Template ID - the unique ID that represents the badge template a candidate will be issued
- Recipient Email
- First Name
- Last Name
- Issued at date
Even if you do not use the optional fields, the column headers must remain intact in order to upload. Please delete any automatically generated examples under the optional field columns you are not using.
We explain additional columns at the end of this article. For now, let's keep moving with the process.
To locate the badge template ID, you can either click into template or navigate to the “Developers” section using the left-hand menu. If you export templates from the badges tab, you'll also see template ids listed.
Copy the complete template ID you need. Paste it back into the CSV file in the “Badge Template ID” field.
Format Requirements
- Issued at and Expiration dates - must use short date format (mm/dd/yy)
- Issuer Earner ID - can use letters, numbers, or both
- Country - must use the country’s full name or ISO Code
- State or Province - free text field, no requirements
Once your CSV template is complete, save your completed spreadsheet as a Comma Separated Value (CSV) if it is not one already. We recommend saving in UTF-8 format if you are using non-latin script or special characters such as accents.
Also, please note that our system uses a date format that is US based (so 02/28/25 as an example).
Back in the Credly platform, click “Choose CSV File” and select your saved CSV file.
The system will validate your file contents and alert you to any errors. You may need to recheck your spreadsheet to make sure headers are correct and earner information is updated.
Click “Issue” to bulk issue your badges.
Bulk Issuing and Email Languages
If you elect to specify the email language when using a spreadsheet, indicate the language in the Locale column, using one of these codes (if you are curious, these are from the ISO 639 codes):
en - English (default)
fr - French
fr-CA — French Canadian
de - German
ko - Korean
ja - Japanese
zh-CN - simplified Mandarin
pt - Portuguese
pt-BR — Portuguese (Brazil)
es-ES - Spanish Spain
es-US - Spanish US
In the CSV template, you can choose to add in the following optional fields:
- Expiration Date
- Issuer Earner ID (custom earner ID)
- Country
- State or Province
- Evidence Name
- Evidence URL
- Text Evidence Name
- Text Evidence URL
- ID Evidence Title
- ID Evidence Description
- Locale (for sending emails in a different language)