> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.tinfoil.sh/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Tinfoil Chat overview

> An AI assistant you can bring your real work to — research, documents, personal questions — without anyone else reading along. Available on web and iOS.

[Tinfoil Chat](https://chat.tinfoil.sh) is an AI assistant for the work and questions you'd rather keep to yourself. Draft sensitive documents, analyze contracts, work through medical or financial questions, or just think out loud — with the same capabilities you'd expect from leading AI apps, minus the part where a company can read everything you type.

It runs in your browser and on [iOS](https://apps.apple.com/app/tinfoil/id6745201750), with your conversations, files, and settings following you across both.

## Why it's different

Most AI chat apps ask you to trust a privacy policy. Tinfoil Chat is built so you don't have to:

* **Nobody reads your conversations — including us.** The AI models run inside secure enclaves: hardware-isolated environments that even Tinfoil's own engineers cannot look into. Your app checks this cryptographically every time it connects, against open-source code anyone can audit. See [how verification works](/verification/verification-in-tinfoil).

* **Your saved data is yours alone.** Everything you keep — chats, uploaded documents, projects, even your name and personalization settings — is encrypted with a personal key that only you hold. What Tinfoil stores is ciphertext it cannot decrypt. There is no category of saved content we can read.

* **You decide what gets kept.** Sync chats across devices, pin them to a single device, or use temporary chats that vanish the moment you close them.

This isn't a stripped-down chat box, either. You get the workflow features you're used to: file uploads, projects with shared instructions and reference documents, full-text search across your history, voice input, and a choice of models — all under the same guarantees.

## Where to go next

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Cloud sync & encryption" icon="key" href="/chat/cloud-sync">
    How your encryption key works, setting up passkeys, and backing up your
    key on web and iOS.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Features" icon="sparkles" href="/chat/features">
    Document uploads, projects, encrypted chat search, sharing, and importing
    from other AI apps.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Data controls & deletion" icon="trash" href="/chat/data-controls">
    Local-only chats, temporary chats, exporting your data, and how deletion
    works.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Verification center" icon="certificate" href="/guides/verification-center">
    The in-app panel that shows live cryptographic proof your session is
    protected.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Common questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Can Tinfoil read my saved chats, documents, or settings?">
    No. All saved content is encrypted with your personal encryption key.
    Tinfoil's storage layer only ever holds ciphertext. This applies to chats,
    uploaded documents, project instructions and files, personalization
    settings (including your name and traits), custom system prompts, and
    prompt library entries. The details are in
    [cloud sync and encryption](/chat/cloud-sync).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What happens if I lose my encryption key?">
    Your data cannot be recovered — not even by Tinfoil. This is a direct
    consequence of the encryption design: without your key, the ciphertext is
    unreadable to everyone. Set up a passkey (recommended) or keep a copy of
    your key somewhere safe. See [key backup options](/chat/cloud-sync#key-backup-options).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does Tinfoil remember context across conversations?">
    Chats inside a project share the project's instructions and documents, so
    you don't need to re-upload the same material for each conversation.
    Individual chat histories are not currently shared between conversations —
    cross-chat memory is coming soon. See
    [projects](/chat/features#projects).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I keep some chats off the cloud entirely?">
    Yes. Local-only chats never leave your device, and temporary chats are
    never stored at all. See [data controls](/chat/data-controls).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How do I know these claims are true?">
    You don't have to take our word for it. The security-critical code is
    open source, and the app verifies at connection time that the servers are
    running exactly that published code — you can watch this happen in the
    in-app [Verification Center](/guides/verification-center).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>