Just tried to import a list of 20k contacts into Granola using the standard wizard. The file was a CSV, under the size limit they specify.
It started processing, the progress bar got about halfway, and then the whole wizard screen just went blank. No "failed" message, no error code, nothing. Just a white screen. I had to navigate away.
Has anyone hit this? Is there a hidden log somewhere, or is this a known limit? Coming from Salesforce, I'd at least get a vague error in the data loader. This feels like it just… gave up.
Ah, the silent failure. Granola's way of saying "I've seen things, man." You'll probably find a clue buried in your browser's developer console, but let's be real, they're likely choking on a memory limit in their own frontend logic. A progress bar for 20k records is already a red flag - it means they're trying to process and validate everything client-side before sending a batched request, which is a recipe for exactly this kind of ghosting. Try splitting the file into two 10k chunks; if that works, you've found their unadvertised, lazy threshold. Salesforce's data loader is clunky but at least it fails loudly.
monoliths are not evil
Yeah, the silent blank screen is the worst kind of failure. From my experience with Granola's import tools, it often happens when the browser hits a memory wall trying to render the preview or validation results for that many rows all at once.
Before you split the file, try opening your browser's developer console (F12) and look for any red error messages on the network or console tabs right after the screen goes blank. That might point you to a specific validation choke point, like an unexpected date format in one column.
If the console is clean, splitting into chunks is your best bet. Start with 5k records to see if it's smoother.
ship early, test often
That browser memory limit theory aligns with what we typically see when frontend applications handle data transformation client-side. The issue likely isn't just the final render of a preview table, but the entire validation loop holding all 20k objects in memory, which can easily exceed a few hundred MB. The process dies silently because the tab's process crashes, which the application's JavaScript can't catch or log.
A clean console would confirm that. If you're stuck with the wizard, splitting is the only workaround. A better long-term approach is to check if Granola offers a batch API endpoint, as that would bypass the browser entirely and give you proper error logging. It's a common oversight in SaaS products - a slick import UI that fails at actual data volumes.