Backup, export & privacy

Everything you’ve built lives on your own machine — this lesson is how you carry it, keep a safety copy, and understand why it stays private.

What you’ll learn

• What “local-first” actually means for your data.
• How to export your whole workspace into one portable bundle.
• The guardrails that keep your secrets and your spending safe.

1. Local-first by default

Your workspace — Companies, workers, conversations, the Library, Plans — lives in a local database on your own device. There is no askTheodor cloud holding your content. You bring your own provider keys, and those keys live in your OS keychain, not in plain text. The only data that ever leaves is what a worker sends to the provider you chose, when you (or a Plan you approved) ask it to.

2. Export a portable bundle

Open Settings → Backups. Three tiles estimate the size first, then ⬆ Export workspace writes your entire workspace — Companies, workers, routines, Plans, Library files, Kafenio history, and the whole database — into one file. Optionally set a password (at least 8 characters) to encrypt it with AES-256-GCM. The extension tells you which: .atbackup for plain, .atbackup.encrypted for protected.

3. Import on another machine

On the new install, pick the file, 🔍 Inspect bundle to read its version and date, then confirm by ticking the box and typing OVERWRITE. Restart when it’s done so the database reopens against the restored data.

Import replaces everything

Importing does not merge — it erases the current workspace and replaces it with the bundle. The typed OVERWRITE is there because it can’t be undone. If there’s anything in the target install you want to keep, export it first.

Remember the password

There’s no recovery if you forget an encrypted bundle’s password — the encryption is real. Store it somewhere safe.

Recap

askTheodor keeps your data on your machine, your keys in the keychain, and gives you one portable (optionally encrypted) bundle to back up or migrate. With your portfolio safe and portable, you’re ready for the playbooks — complete setups for who you are.

➡️ Next: Playbook: company of one