Skip to main content
Tinfoil Chat supports document-heavy workflows: upload files into conversations, organize related work into projects with shared instructions and documents, and search across your encrypted history. All of it is protected by cloud sync encryption.

​
Document uploads

Attach files to any conversation using the attachment button in the message composer: the paperclip (Add files or photos) on web, or + (Add to chat) on iOS. Supported files include PDFs, Office documents (docx, pptx, xlsx), CSVs, images, audio, and a wide range of plain-text and code files. How files are processed. Processing never exposes your documents to Tinfoil:
  • Plain text and code files are read directly on your device.
  • PDFs and Office documents are converted to text by a dedicated document-conversion model running inside a secure enclave, verified through attestation like every other model. On iOS, PDFs and text formats are extracted on-device.
  • Images are sent to vision-capable models; audio is transcribed by the speech model — both inside attested enclaves.
How files are stored. Document text becomes part of the conversation and is encrypted and synced with the chat. Images are stored as separate encrypted attachments: each gets its own AES-256 key, and that key is stored inside the encrypted chat record — so attachments are only readable with your personal encryption key.

​
Projects

Projects group related chats and give them shared context, so you don’t have to re-upload or re-explain the same material in every conversation. Projects require cloud sync. What a project contains:
  • Instructions — how the assistant should behave in this project. Injected into every chat in the project.
  • Documents — reference files available to every chat in the project.
  • Chats — conversations that belong to the project.
Every chat in a project automatically receives the project’s instructions and the full text of its documents. Individual chat histories are not currently shared between conversations in a project.
Shared memory across chats in a project — where the assistant remembers facts from previous conversations — is coming soon.
Like everything else, project instructions, documents, and chats are encrypted under your key and unreadable to Tinfoil.
  1. In the sidebar, open the Projects section and click New Project.
  2. Give it a name, and optionally a description and instructions.
  3. Add reference files in the project’s documents area.
  4. Start chats from the project page, or drag existing chats into the project from the sidebar.
Search in the sidebar works across the full content of your synced chats, not just titles. The search index lives inside the sync enclave, sealed under a key derived from your encryption key — so full-text search works without Tinfoil being able to read your chats or the index. Local-only chats are not indexed.

​
Personalization and custom prompts

In Settings → Personalization you can set a nickname, profession, traits, and additional context the assistant should know. Settings → Prompts manages custom system prompts and your prompt library. All of these sync across devices and are encrypted under your key, like chats. Tinfoil cannot see your name, traits, or prompts.

​
Importing from other apps

You can import your conversation history from ChatGPT and Claude, or restore a previous Tinfoil export, from Settings → Cloud Sync in the web app:
  • Import from ChatGPT — upload your ChatGPT data export.
  • Import from Claude — import conversations, and (on paid plans) projects.
  • Import from Tinfoil — restore a Tinfoil export archive.
Large archives are processed by the sync enclave: each imported chat is encrypted under your key before storage, and you receive an email when the import completes.

​
Sharing a chat

You can share a read-only copy of a conversation via link. The shared copy is encrypted under a random key that is embedded in the link itself (in the URL fragment, which is never sent to servers) — so only people you give the link to can read it. Temporary chats cannot be shared.

​
Voice and models

Tinfoil Chat includes voice input (private speech-to-text) and lets you switch between the models in the chat model catalog. Model responses stream from attested enclaves; the in-app Verification Center shows live attestation status.