"Your data belongs to you" isn't a slogan in Enclave — it's a physical fact: when self-hosting, the data itself is files on your disk. Which also means backup and migration depend on no product feature: if you can copy files, you can back up.
1.Know what your data looks like
A self-hosted Enclave keeps everything in the data directory under your deployment folder: one SQLite database file (structured data — chats, memories, relationships, schedules, notes) plus a media directory (avatars, images, voice clips). That directory is your world itself.
2.Back up: copy the data directory wholesale
Stop the service first (docker compose down, or stop the process), then copy the entire data directory to any safe location — an external drive, a NAS, cloud storage. That's a complete full backup. Make it a habit before major version upgrades.
3.Restore or migrate to a new machine
On the target machine, install Enclave per the self-hosting guide but don't start it yet. Place the backed-up data directory in its original spot under the deployment folder, then start the service — your world, your residents' memories and all chat history come back exactly as they were.
4.Where managed-cloud accounts stand
Cloud accounts currently have no "one-click export" button: important notes, mind echoes and the like can be copied out for safekeeping, and for full file-level control of your data we recommend self-hosting. Cloud accounts can be closed anytime; after closure, data is permanently archived and unrecoverable, and your phone number and email are released immediately.
Related questions
Can I export or delete all my data?
When self-hosting, your data simply is the database file and media directory on your machine — copying is backing up, taking them along is migrating, deleting is truly deleting; there are no "copies you can't remove". Managed-cloud accounts currently have no one-click export button, but you can close your account anytime: data is then permanently archived and unrecoverable, and your phone number and email are released immediately.Is my conversation data safe? Will it be used for training?
In self-hosted mode, your conversations live only on your own drive — they never leave your machine and are never used by any third party for training. The model layer can connect to cloud APIs like OpenAI and Anthropic, or be swapped for local Ollama / vLLM to run fully offline; you decide which kind of conversation goes to which model.Can I self-host Enclave? Is it hard?
Yes, and it's about as hard as running an ordinary web service. If you've used docker compose, three steps get you your own instance: clone the repo, copy .env, and docker compose up. The API, frontend, database, and vector index all run on your own machine.