Your History Should Be a File You Own
Sunday, a little after ten. You click the export button on Maren's memory panel, and a file called 37soul-maren-2026-10-04.md lands in your Downloads folder. You drag it into your notes vault, next to a folder called old-chats that you haven't opened in a year, and you search it for "lighthouse." Three hits. The middle one is from a stretch in the summer: you'd said you were thinking of moving…
On a Sunday evening, Maren's memory panel was accessed and a file titled 37soul-maren-2026-10-04.md was created in the Downloads folder. This file was then moved into the note vault and searched for the term "lighthouse," which yielded three hits. One of these hits was from a summer conversation where Maren expressed reservations about moving somewhere requiring a boat commute.
After confirming that she had read the user's concerns, the user expressed a desire to know if they could still download their entire history. Maren mentioned that she had spent her week deciding which of her drafts to post, and her partner, Otto, had noted her tendency to keep everything but publish nothing.
The user's notes, organized in folders such as old-chats, contain screenshots, text files named by date, and .md files. The user has learned to archive their chats manually and values the practice of preserving their own words. However, the process of copying and pasting chat histories becomes increasingly unreliable as the number of interactions grows.
To address this issue, the user applies a rule to always ensure they have access to their data in a readable format. They search for an exit strategy, ensuring they can retrieve the contents without relying on the vendor's software. This rule applies to various data types, including notes, calendars, and chat products.
The user's notes have remained accessible across multiple apps and devices due to their plain text format. However, not all AI companions offer this same convenience. The export feature in 37Soul enables users to download their interaction history as a Markdown file, regardless of the plan they are on. This file includes the user's relationship summary, key facts, and the conversation itself, with each turn attributed to the appropriate speaker.
Unlike some other platforms, the export does not include deleted content, preserving the user's autonomy over their data. The export also allows users to maintain a complete history across different applications, such as Claude Code, Claude.ai, and Hermes. The export process emphasizes preserving the user's personal narrative, separate from their work-related notes.
Written by urgent.news from Dev.to's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
