Can our Toast history be licensed to AI companies, and how do we get it out?
Possibly, for operational records such as item sales, modifiers, kitchen timing and menus. Toast offers nightly data export files over SFTP (secure file transfer) once Toast Customer Care turns them on, and users with the Data Export Config permission choose which columns are included. The payments file contains card type, last four card digits and guest contact details, which should be switched off or removed.
What lives in Toast, and why might buyers value it?
Toast is a point-of-sale (POS) and restaurant management platform. Its export files cover order details, payment details, item and modifier selections, kitchen timing, cash management, product mix, time entries, accounting summaries and menu configuration.
Buyers building restaurant and food-service tools may value how real orders are built and fulfilled: which items pair, how modifiers are used, how long tickets take in the kitchen, and how menus change over time. Multi-year, multi-location histories are typically the most useful.
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How do Toast data exports work?
As of October 2026, Toast's support site and platform guide describe the following:
- Turning it on: contact Toast Customer Care to get data export access.
- Configuring: a user with the 8.3 Data Export Config permission sets up exports under Reports, then Settings, then Data Exports, choosing data types and switching individual columns on or off. In a restaurant group, the setup applies to every location.
- Delivery: files are delivered by SFTP. Most are CSV files; the accounting file is an Excel .xls file and the menu file is JSON (a structured text format). Each file covers one location's previous business day and is usually ready within an hour of the closeout hour.
- Retention: files are kept for seven days and then removed, so history does not build up unless someone downloads it regularly.
- History: manual or past-period exports are not self-service; Toast says to contact Customer Care. Edits made to past sales after an export are not reflected in files already produced.
Who has access, and can a buyer receive files directly?
Only holders of an SSH key (a digital key used to log in securely) that has been added in Toast Web can open a restaurant group's export folder. Never give anyone your own key or SFTP login. Toast's documented approach for outside vendors is that the vendor creates its own key and sends the public half to the restaurant, which adds it and can delete it later.
If you choose that route for a buyer, remember the key reads everything in the folder, for every location. Switch off sensitive columns first, and delete the key as soon as the license ends.
What should stay out?
- Card type, last four card digits, and swiped or keyed card amounts in the payment file.
- Guest names, email addresses and phone numbers, which appear in the payment file (for digital receipts) and in the check details file.
- Tab names, which often hold guests' names.
- Server names, tips and time entries tied to named employees.
- Loyalty, gift card and guest profile data.
- Payroll and wage information.
What rights questions apply to restaurant data?
Card-related fields are governed by your payment processing agreement and card network rules, so keep them out rather than trying to clean them. Guest contact details and employee records raise privacy questions under state law. If you are a franchisee, your franchise agreement may give the franchisor rights over sales data. Read your Toast agreement for data-use terms too, and talk to your lawyer.
Where should a restaurant group start?
Decide which data types a buyer needs; item, modifier, kitchen and menu files are often enough. Ask Toast Customer Care how far back historical exports can go and whether there is a fee. Then configure exports with payment and guest columns switched off. Our restaurant groups page has more.
Common questions
Who can configure Toast data exports?
Toast says users with the 8.3 Data Export Config permission can configure exports, after Customer Care enables them.
How long are export files kept?
Toast says files are kept for seven days before being removed.
Does the payments file include full card numbers?
Toast's field reference lists card type and last four digits, not full numbers. Leave both out of any license.
Can we get years of history?
Historical exports go through Toast Customer Care. Ask what range and format are available.
Sources
- Toast Data Exports Overview | Toast Central, accessed 2026-10-16
- Configuring exports | Toast Platform Guide, accessed 2026-10-16
- Data export field reference | Toast Platform Guide, accessed 2026-10-16
General information, not legal, tax or financial advice.