# Self-custody your AI memory **In short.** Keep the notes your AI tools rely on in a folder of plain Markdown files on your own computer. Paste or point any assistant at them, and back the folder up like anything else you care about. > Your AI’s memory in plain files you own, backed up, and usable with any tool. Every chat teaches an assistant a little more about you. Over time it builds a picture: your projects, how you like answers, what you’ve already decided. By default that lives on their servers. If you switch tools, lose the account or want it gone, it’s hard to get back. This guide moves it into files you control. - Level: Beginner - Time: About 45 minutes - Web version: https://few.guide/guides/ai-memory.html ## What you need - **A computer**: Any. Plain text files work everywhere. - **A text editor**: The one built into your computer is fine. Obsidian is a nice option. - **A backup drive**: A USB stick or external drive. Encrypted is better. ## Step 1. Is it for you? Good for: - You use ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or similar a lot, and repeat the same background every time. - You want to try a different tool, or a [local model](https://few.guide/guides/private-ai-at-home.html), without starting from zero. - You don’t want a company holding the only copy of what it knows about you. Not for: - Anything secret. Seed words, passwords, keys and ID numbers never go in these files. **AI memory** The facts and preferences an assistant keeps between chats, plus your chat history and any project notes or instructions you gave it. ## Step 2. See what your tools already store Start by looking at what the cloud tool has saved. In ChatGPT: - Open Settings → Personalization → Memory. Read the memory summary or saved memories, whichever your account shows. You can also just ask ChatGPT what it remembers about you. - Open Settings → Data controls and choose Export. You get an email with a download link. It can take up to 7 days, and the link expires 24 hours after it arrives. - Save the export file in a new folder on your computer. Other assistants have similar settings. Look for “memory”, “personalization” or “export”. Deleting a chat in ChatGPT doesn’t remove a saved memory from it. They are managed separately. ## Step 3. Make a memory folder Create one folder, for example `ai-memory`. Inside it, a few plain Markdown files: ``` ai-memory/ about-me.md # only what you are fine with any AI reading how-to-answer.md # tone, length, language, things to avoid decisions.md # things you already decided, with dates projects/ project-name.md # goal, status, next steps ``` Keep each file short. A page is plenty. Write it the way you would brief a new helper. Obsidian is a free notes app that saves notes as plain Markdown files in a folder on your device. Any editor works on the same files, so you can leave Obsidian any time. **Markdown** Plain text with a few simple marks, like # for a heading. It opens in any editor and will still open in 20 years. ## Step 4. Fill it from your export - Open the saved memories you read in Step 2. Copy the ones that are true and useful into your files. - Leave out anything you don’t want stored at all. - Add what the tool never knew: current projects, decisions you’ve made, how you like answers. - Read it once out loud. If a line would bother you on a stranger’s screen, take it out. **Keep secrets out.** No seed words, passwords, keys, account numbers, addresses or ID numbers. These files get pasted into tools you don’t control. ## Step 5. Use it with any assistant Three ways, from simplest to most automatic: - **Paste it in.** Start a chat with: “Here is my background. Read it before you answer.” Then paste the file you need. - **Project instructions.** Many tools let you set standing instructions or add files to a project. Paste the same text there. - **Coding agents.** Many of them read a file called `AGENTS.md` in your project folder automatically. It’s an open format, plain Markdown, supported by a long list of tools. With a local model, the files never leave your computer. See [Run a private AI model at home](https://few.guide/guides/private-ai-at-home.html). Only paste the file the task needs. A tool doesn’t need your whole life to fix a spreadsheet. ## Step 6. Keep it up to date - At the end of a useful session, ask: “Write a short summary of what I should remember from this chat, as bullet points.” - Read it. Paste the parts you agree with into the right file. - Put a date on decisions, so you know what is old. - Once a month, delete what is no longer true. You stay the editor. The assistant suggests and you decide what goes in. ## Step 7. Back it up Treat the folder like photos or documents. CISA’s 3-2-1 rule is a good start: 3 copies, on 2 different kinds of storage, with 1 kept somewhere else. - Copy the folder to an encrypted USB stick or external drive. - Keep a second copy somewhere else: another device, or a cloud drive with end-to-end encryption. - Want it on several devices without a cloud? Syncthing is open source and syncs folders directly between your own devices. - Try opening the backup once to make sure it works. Comfortable with git? Put the folder in a private git repo on your own machine. You get a history of every change. ## Step 8. One step for today Make the folder and one file. - Create `ai-memory/about-me.md`. - Write 10 short lines: what you work on, how you like answers, and what you never want suggested. - Copy it to a USB stick. - Next time you open a new chat, paste it in first and see if the answer gets better. ## Sources - [OpenAI Help](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/7260999-exporting-your-chatgpt-history-and-data): Settings → Data controls → Export, up to 7 days, link expires after 24 hours - [OpenAI Help](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/8590148-memory-in-chatgpt): Settings → Personalization → Memory, deleting chats vs saved memories - [Obsidian](https://obsidian.md/): notes stored locally as plain text Markdown files - [AGENTS.md](https://agents.md/): open Markdown format read by many coding agents - [CISA](https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/publications/data_backup_options.pdf): data backup options and the 3-2-1 rule - [Syncthing](https://syncthing.net/): open-source sync between your own devices Checked against OpenAI’s help pages, obsidian.md, agents.md and CISA’s backup guide on 24 Oct 2026. Menu names change between versions.