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Dataerai can pull neuroimaging data from OpenNeuro, the free, open platform for sharing BIDS-formatted datasets, into one of your projects as metadata-first assets. The dataset’s metadata — title, description, authors, publication date — is copied into Dataerai so it’s searchable and shareable alongside your own data. The files are not copied: clicking Download on an imported asset streams that file (a NIfTI scan, a .tsv table, the dataset README, etc.) directly from OpenNeuro’s host over HTTPS.
Imported assets are metadata-first: they describe and link to data that lives on OpenNeuro. Nothing is stored in your Dataerai allocation, so importing doesn’t consume your quota.
One OpenNeuro dataset (an accession such as ds000001 or ds003097) imports as a collection of assets — one asset per file in the dataset, grouped under a collection named for the dataset and nested to mirror the dataset’s BIDS folder structure. Each asset’s file (e.g. sub-01/anat/sub-01_T1w.nii.gz) downloads straight from OpenNeuro. A dataset with no publicly downloadable files instead imports as a single asset that links out to the dataset’s OpenNeuro landing page.

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Search OpenNeuro

Open the Import from OpenNeuro page and enter a search term, then Search.
  • The search is free text and matches the dataset name — try face, memory, or resting state.
  • Results show Title, Type, and the dataset accession and publication date under each title.
  • Use Per page to trade clicks for a longer page, and Next to page through the most-recent matching datasets.

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Select and import

1

Select datasets

Tick the datasets you want — click a row, or press Space or Enter on it, to toggle its checkbox. The header checkbox selects or clears everything on the current page; your selection is kept as you page through results.
2

Choose the destination project

Paste the UUID of the project that should own the new assets into the Import into project field.
3

Import

Click Import. Large selections are sent in batches automatically, and a single Import result panel summarizes how many datasets were imported (and how many assets were created), plus any that failed and why.
A single dataset can contain many files across deeply-nested subject and session folders, so importing one dataset can create many assets. Very large datasets import a capped subset of their files; the rest remain available directly on OpenNeuro (via the OpenNeuro CLI, DataLad, or the S3 mirror).
Because imported assets point at OpenNeuro rather than your own storage, their files are only available while the OpenNeuro objects are. If you need a durable copy under your control, download the file and upload it as a regular asset instead.

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Next steps

Metadata-first assets

How assets that describe data elsewhere work in Dataerai.

Import from Zenodo

Pull public records from Zenodo the same metadata-first way.

Organize into collections

Group imported datasets alongside your own data.

Search & discover

Find imported datasets by title, type, and metadata.