# Show HN: Read your Character.AI data export in the browser, nothing uploaded

> Source: <https://github.com/anima-universe/character-ai-export-viewer>
> Published: 2026-10-31 19:53:20+00:00

Open your Character.AI data export and read your characters and chats — in your own browser. The file is read on your device; nothing is uploaded anywhere.

**Use it online, free and without an account: [amavie.ai/character-ai-export](https://amavie.ai/character-ai-export).**
This repository is the same reader as open source, so you can check what it does with your file or run it yourself.

- **Character.AI data export** — the ZIP (or the JSON files inside it) from Character.AI's “Export data”: your
characters and every chat, with dates and both sides of the conversation.
- **Character cards** — PNG cards with the card inside (SillyTavern, Chub, JanitorAI, RisuAI, Agnai, Backyard AI) and
card JSON.
- **Chat exports** — SillyTavern`.jsonl` chats, WhatsApp and Telegram exports, plain text.

```
npm install
npm run dev     # opens the viewer at http://localhost:5173
npm test        # format tests
npm run build   # static files in dist/ — host them anywhere
```

Requires Node.js 20 or newer. No server, no analytics, no network requests: the page reads the file with the File API
and unzips it with [fflate](https://github.com/101arrowz/fflate).

``` js
import { readImportFile } from './src/lib/parse';

const reading = await readImportFile(file); // a File from <input type="file">
if (reading.kind === 'pick') {
  // Character.AI export: reading.pick.characters, reading.pick.chats (messages with role, name, text, time)
} else if (reading.kind === 'request') {
  // one card or one chat: reading.request.card_json, reading.request.chat
}
```

The reader is the one [Amavie](https://amavie.ai) uses to bring a character and a conversation over from another app;
`src/lib` is mirrored from Amavie's codebase, so fixes land there first. Issues and pull requests are welcome.

Amavie is a universe of AI characters who remember you and live their own lives — chat with them and play roleplay
scenes on the [web](https://amavie.ai), iOS and Android.

MIT — see [LICENSE](https://github.com/anima-universe/character-ai-export-viewer/blob/main/LICENSE).