# Context Import

Use context import when a user wants to bring useful knowledge from old ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Cursor, or other LLM chats into DotAIOS.

## Extraction Prompt

Paste this into the old chat or another LLM that can see the conversation you want to summarize:

```text
You are preparing a DotAIOS context import for me.

Read this conversation and extract only stable, useful context. Do not include secrets, API keys, passwords, tokens, private keys, or credentials. If you see anything sensitive, replace it with "[REDACTED]" and note that it belongs in ~/aios/.env.

Return valid JSON only, using this shape:

{
  "context": {
    "identity": "Durable facts about who I am, my background, preferences, values, communication style, or long-term goals.",
    "work": "Current active work threads and near-term project context.",
    "priorities": "Current priorities, bets, next actions, and anti-priorities.",
    "north_star": "Long-term direction and decision filters."
  },
  "projects": [
    {
      "slug": "project-slug",
      "name": "Project Name",
      "summary": "Durable project summary and current status.",
      "content": "# Project Name\n\nUseful project context."
    }
  ],
  "wiki": [
    {
      "topic": "topic-slug",
      "summary": "Reusable long-term knowledge.",
      "content": "# Topic\n\nUseful durable knowledge."
    }
  ],
  "companies": [
    {
      "name": "Company Name",
      "summary": "What matters about this company."
    }
  ],
  "people": [
    {
      "name": "Person Name",
      "summary": "Who this person is and why they matter."
    }
  ],
  "signals": [
    {
      "type": "chat-import",
      "project": "project-slug",
      "domain": "build",
      "summary": "Short-lived observation that may matter this week."
    }
  ],
  "events": [
    {
      "type": "context-import",
      "project": "project-slug",
      "domain": "build",
      "summary": "Meaningful durable import event."
    }
  ]
}

Rules:
- Keep entries concise.
- Prefer durable, reusable facts over transcript recap.
- Put short-term status in signals or events, not identity.
- Put people and companies only in people/companies.
- Do not invent missing details.
```

## CLI Flow

Preview first:

```bash
npx dotaios@2.0.20 import ./import.json --dry-run
```

Apply only after reviewing the planned writes:

```bash
npx dotaios@2.0.20 import ./import.json --apply
```

If the import contains secret-like terms, DotAIOS blocks apply by default. Move real secrets to `~/aios/.env`; use `--allow-sensitive` only after manual review.

## Re-importing

Imported markdown lives in one DotAIOS-managed block per destination file,
delimited by `<!-- dotaios-import:start -->` and `<!-- dotaios-import:end -->`.
Anything you write outside those markers is never read or rewritten.

Running the same import again is safe:

| Destination state | What `--apply` does |
|---|---|
| No file yet | Creates it with the block |
| File exists, no block | Appends the block below your text |
| Block present, same content | Skips it, reports `unchanged`, writes nothing |
| Block present, content changed | Replaces the block and preserves the pre-edit file at `<file>.dotaios-backup-<token>` |
| Import markers present but malformed | Refuses that file, reports `refused`, exits non-zero |

A replacement overwrites anything hand-edited *inside* the markers, which is why
the pre-edit file is preserved and named in the output. Edit imported material
outside the block, or promote it into your own prose, if you want it to survive
the next import.

`--dry-run` states the same decision (`would create`, `would append`,
`would replace`, `would skip`, `would refuse`) without writing.

Signals and events are append-only journals, so re-importing the same file
appends those lines again.