# ChatGPT export extension (Amgreat)

A small Chrome extension that exports a user's **full** ChatGPT history to JSON
files — no paywall, no limits, nothing leaves the browser. Its output has the
same shape as ChatGPT's official `conversations.json`, so it drops straight into
the migration tool.

Current version: **1.4**, shown in the footer of the extension's own window, so
you can tell which build a machine actually has loaded.

## How it works

Runs as a content script on `chatgpt.com`, in the page's own origin, so it uses
the user's existing logged-in session. It calls ChatGPT's own internal API
(`/backend-api/conversations` to list, `/backend-api/conversation/{id}` to fetch
each in full), assembles them into a JSON array, and offers it as a download.
That is exactly what the paid extensions do — the paywall is artificial.

A green **"Export for Gemini"** button appears bottom-right on ChatGPT. Click it
and a window opens showing each step and a progress bar. Conversations download
in **batches of 25**, one file per batch, named
`chatgpt-export-<date>-partN.json`. Feed all of them to the migration tool at
once.

Two details worth knowing:

- **Downloads go through the service worker.** Chrome blocks a page from
  starting more than one download, so `background.js` performs them via
  `chrome.downloads`. The blob URL has to be created in the content script,
  because service workers have no `URL.createObjectURL`.
- **The pace adapts.** It starts at 1.5s between conversations, speeds up while
  requests succeed, and backs off 1.3x on every HTTP 429, honouring
  `Retry-After` when ChatGPT sends one. After sustained throttling it takes a
  five-minute rest rather than hammering. Progress is saved to `localStorage`,
  so an interrupted run resumes at the right batch instead of starting over.

Free accounts throttle hard at roughly 33 conversations. Paid accounts run at
about 21 conversations a minute.

## Try it yourself (unpacked, 1 minute)

1. Chrome → `chrome://extensions` → toggle **Developer mode** (top right) on.
2. **Load unpacked** → pick this folder.
3. Open/refresh **chatgpt.com** → the green button is bottom-right → click it.
4. Leave the window open. Files land in Downloads as each batch completes.

## Rolling it out to 30 people

Don't ask non-savvy staff to enable developer mode. Two clean options, both
using tools you already have:

- **Force-install via Google Admin Console (recommended).** You manage Chrome
  through Workspace already. Zip this folder, host it (or publish it *unlisted*
  to the Chrome Web Store), then Admin Console → **Devices → Chrome → Apps &
  extensions** → add it as **Force install** for the org. It appears for
  everyone automatically, no clicks, no developer mode.
- **Unlisted Chrome Web Store item.** Publish once (one-time $5 dev fee), share
  the private link; users click "Add to Chrome". Simpler than self-hosting, and
  it auto-updates.

Either way the extension stays yours and free of limits.

## Notes / limits

- **Text only.** Conversations come across in full; image/file attachments do
  not (same as the migration tool).
- **The user must be logged in to ChatGPT** in that browser; the window says so
  if they are not. The session token refreshes automatically if it expires
  part-way through a long run.
- A large history takes a while. It fetches one chat at a time on purpose, to
  stay under ChatGPT's rate limits; half an hour is normal for a few hundred
  conversations.
- If ChatGPT changes its internal API, the two endpoint paths in `content.js`
  may need updating. They are the only ChatGPT-specific parts.