Back up, restore, and import

Your work is written to this browser, so a saved file is the copy that outlives it. Both directions sit in the chat drawer's Manage Chats menu: Export writes the files, Import reads them back. Neither needs an account; the one server-side entitlement in the product governs cloud sync alone. On the hosted app two files cover everything, one for the chats and one for the settings. A single conversation exports on its own, and so does a persona.

What you can save

Button	What you get	Filename
Download · JSON	This conversation, complete and re-importable. Ctrl+S saves the focused chat this way without opening the dialog	conversation_<title>_<timestamp>.agi.json
Export · Markdown	This conversation as readable text	conversation_<title>_<timestamp>.agi.md
Backup All Chats	Every conversation, plus folders and your model services	backup_chats_<hostname>_<count>_<timestamp>.agi.json
Backup All Settings	Preferences and configured services, no conversations	Big-AGI-<Tenant>-settings-<ISO>.json
Share Chat	A published link, not a file - see below	-

Markdown is a rendering, not a record. It writes the conversation out as text, labels each answer with its persona and model, and cannot be read back in. Personas export one at a time, from the persona editor. Self-hosted Open adds Export All, one whole-device file with switches for Include Models & Settings and Include Binary Images.

The all-chats backup contains your API keys

Backup All Chats writes your configured model services into the file, credentials included. One file is enough to stand up a whole install elsewhere, and it is as sensitive as the key itself: Keep your key safe.

Move to a new computer

Every step adds; the target keeps what it already holds.

1. Old machine: Manage Chats -> Export -> Backup All Chats, which reports Saved N chats and the file size. Add Backup All Settings for the preferences the chats file omits.
2. Move the file across yourself.
3. New machine: Manage Chats -> Import -> JSON, and pick it. The last conversation imported opens.

Nothing is merged. Conversations arrive as new items, folders are appended when the file carried them, and model services with their keys are restored add-only. Each file reports its own result, successes and failures together, so a partly bad file is visible rather than silent.

Ctrl+O opens the same file picker without the dialog. It brings conversations and folders across and leaves model services alone. The keys, and the Restore from Backup File button, arrive only by way of the dialog.

What the import accepts

The file	What it is	What comes in
Big-AGI 2 all-chats backup	Backup All Chats output	Conversations, folders, model services
Big-AGI 2 single chat	Download · JSON output	One conversation
Big-AGI v1 all-chats backup	v1's own backup	Conversations, folders, model services
Big-AGI v1 single chat	v1's single-chat export	One conversation

Older conversations are migrated to the current format on the way in. Moving from v1 is this same button, not a separate feature. The format is identical on the hosted app and a self-hosted install, so one Backup All Chats file moves work in either direction.

A ChatGPT or Claude archive is rejected by name. No adapter exists in any tier, and the button takes .agi, .agi.json and .json - what those tools email you is a zip of JSON Big-AGI cannot read. Request it from the old tool before you cancel there anyway. Move what you still use by pasting it, or attaching the export as a document (Attachments).

Restoring a settings or whole-device file

Restore from Backup File, in the same Import dialog, takes the settings and whole-device files. Hand it a chats file by mistake on the hosted app and it routes it to the chats importer rather than failing. It replaces rather than merges, and says so first:

Backup File Details   Created · Backup Type · Version · Schema Version ·
                      Tenant · Full Databases · Setting Groups
  [ ] App Settings    preferences, models
  [ ] Conversations   chats, attachments
                                            [ Replace Selected Data ]

guards, shown before you can proceed:
  WARNING: You are restoring from an newer Big-AGI version to this one. This
  is a DOWNGRADE and may cause data loss or application errors.
  WARNING: Backup was not performed from this installation (<Tenant>). This
  may cause compatibility issues.

A single-category file ticks itself. A file with both leaves both unticked, deliberately: replacing chats is always a choice you made. The app reloads afterwards. On the second guard, move chats with Backup All Chats instead.

Coming from Big-AGI v1

Download v1's own all-chats backup first: nothing is fetched for you. The v1 hosted instance goes offline on 2026-08-31, so take the file while it still answers. The file itself has no deadline.

  done     Imported N chats from Big-AGI v1
  refused  Could not import that file - use the backup downloaded from Big-AGI v1.

Arrive on a link from v1 and a banner offers Import v1 backup for 30 days. It runs the importer above, keys included. Once it is gone, Import -> JSON on the same file does the same work. v1 had no separate personas, so there are none to move - each chat's system purpose is stored inside the chat.

Share a chat by link

Share Chat publishes a copy, once you are signed in. Its confirmation answers who can see it:

Sharing Confirmation
  Your conversation will be published and accessible by anyone with the link
  that has access to this site. Do you wish to continue?     [ Yes, Publish ]

take down     account page -> Published Content, one row per link
              first click arms the delete, second removes it  ->  Chat deleted

What goes up is a snapshot of that moment; later edits do not reach it. The link is unlisted rather than secret, and it expires on its own. Taking it down puts it off the web rather than erasing it (Delete your data). Client or patient material first: Confidential and regulated material.

The cloud copy

Sync mirrors the current state; a file is a point in time. The two solve different problems: What syncs between devices.

What does not survive

1. Images and generated media. Excluded from every export, so a message that showed an image arrives without it.
2. Settings, API keys and configured models - unless the file is an all-chats backup or a settings backup restored separately. A single chat carries none of them, so an install fed one has an empty model picker until you add a key.
3. Anything held off the record - never written down, so in no file (Chats live in this browser).

The same three stay local under sync, deliberately: what sync carries.

Import and backup errors

Message	What it means
No conversations to backup. If you have chats, wait for the app to finish loading and retry.	The chat list had not finished loading. Wait, then retry.
Invalid file: <filename>	Not a Big-AGI JSON file. A ChatGPT or Claude archive lands here.
Invalid schema: <value>	A Big-AGI-shaped file in a format this version does not read.
Invalid conversation: <id>	One conversation inside an otherwise good file would not migrate. The rest imported.
Invalid backup file format. This does not appear to be a valid Big-AGI Backup File. · Invalid JSON in backup file: <detail> · Issue loading file: <detail>	The file is not one of ours, or the download was truncated.
Restore failed: <detail>	A restore that fails here has replaced nothing. Retry.

Imported chats that are not in the list afterwards: Where did my chats go?.

Related

• What syncs between devices
• Delete your data
• Chats live in this browser
• Keep your key safe
• Open, Free, or Pro