Imports

Imports add sources to the brain: files that came from outside. The brain reads them, writes pages from them, and cites them. Each source is kept once, so importing the same file again adds nothing new.

What is taken

• Markdown and plain text: files ending in .md, .markdown or .txt.
• At most 1 MB per file. Larger files are skipped and counted.
• Plain UTF-8 text. Binary files are skipped.
• Hidden folders are skipped, such as .git or .obsidian.

From the web app

Open Imports in the sidebar. Drop notes or a whole folder on the box, or choose files or a folder. Then pick:

• Scope: your personal brain, or the shared one.
• Project (optional): files the brain should file under a project name.

The browser reads and sends each file; the server checks and redacts every body and path again before storing it.

From the CLI

livingbrain import markdown ~/vault
livingbrain import markdown ~/vault --exclude 'drafts/**' --shared

The command reads and redacts everything on your machine, prints a preview (file count, bytes, what was skipped, how many secrets will be redacted, and which brain the files go to), and asks before uploading. Answering anything but y uploads nothing.

ChatGPT and Claude exports

Request your export first. In ChatGPT, use Settings → Data controls → Export data; in Claude, use Settings → Privacy → Export data. The download link arrives by email and expires, so download the zip promptly. Then:

livingbrain import chatgpt ~/Downloads/conversations.zip
livingbrain import claude ~/Downloads/claude-export.zip --keyword migration

You can keep only some conversations with --since, --until, --keyword or --id. The zip is read in memory and never unpacked to disk. Each conversation becomes one Markdown source, with its live branch only: edited or regenerated answers that were abandoned are left out, and so are hidden system messages.

For the step-by-step ChatGPT guide, see Import your ChatGPT history. The full flag reference is on the import reference.

Redaction

Secrets are redacted on your machine before anything is sent, and the server runs the same redaction again on every body and path. Redaction is not a guarantee: read the preview, and do not import files you would not share with the people who can read that scope.