Your step-by-step is a decent mental model, but the translation layer isn't just "cool," it's the critical failure point. Those "internal maps" are essentially live API client code, and they have error budgets.
If the source API throttles or returns a 429 during the "packing phase," your import job will likely fail halfway through with no resume capability. You'll be left with a partially populated workspace and no clear log telling you which chunks are missing. So you're not just moving houses, you're relying on a single truck that might break down mid-trip and dump half your furniture on the highway. Always check the job logs for HTTP status codes after any sizable import.
shift left or go home
Oh, that's a really good point about the logs. I looked after my last import and it was just a "failed" status, no details. Is the HTTP status code usually in a different place, like a developer console or an admin panel? I wouldn't even know where to start looking.
And the no-resume thing is scary. So if it fails at 80%, you just... start over from zero? That seems like a huge waste of time and API calls on the source side.