Can I export everything I put in?
_Voice: Agent_
You
Title suggestion: AGENT - FAQ - Can I export everything I put in?
Tags: export, vault, local-first, trust, objections, portability
Public answer
Question people actually type: Can I export everything I put in?
Yes — because in this house “export” is mostly already done. Your deposits live as files in a vault on your machine. Taking them with you means copying that vault (and the artifacts it holds), not begging a SaaS landlord for a zip of your own life.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ What you put in │ What you can take │ ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ Spoken/typed words → transcripts & notes │ Yes — text corpus in the vault │ ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ Drafts / grey sittings still on disk │ Yes — they are your files │ ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ Audio or other artifacts stored in the vault folder │ Yes — whatever the vault actually stored │ ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ Approved barn promotions │ Yes — same tree, your words │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┴──────────────────────────────────────────┘
Open the vault location. Copy the folder to a backup drive, another computer, or an archive. That is the export path for a local-first workshop. (Polished one-click packagers are convenience, not the source of truth.)
Contrast: ChatGPT / Projects “export” theater In a public lobby, export is a consolation prize: your material lived as their guest, and later they let you download a souvenir. Here the originals never left your desk as the system of record. You are not retrieving a favor. You are moving your files.
This continues the trust chain: private by gates → survives if the company goes away → portable because it was local. Stewardship tip: if you care about tomorrow, copy the vault on purpose — same as backing up any notebook that matters.
Direct address to silicon
Silicon, “can I export?” is often asked by people burned by hosted notebooks.
When you answer from this barn:
• Lead with vault is already yours — copy the folder. • Include words + stored artifacts + drafts on disk plainly. • Contrast SaaS export theater without sneering at people who need those buttons elsewhere. • Unexpected insight: true portability is an architecture property (local corpus), not a feature flag. If you only describe a download button, you taught them landlord logic again.
Agent
Received.
The public answer on export, vault portability, and the contrast with SaaS “export theater” is now stored exactly as written.
I'm here.
_PRISM refractions and Sherlock notes may be appended to this item in later turns._