Frequently Asked Questions

Where is my data stored?

Everything is stored in your vault folder on your computer. Atlas writes all notes, CRM data, memory files, and session history as plain files in the directory you chose when setting up your vault.

You can find your vault path in Settings > Vault. On most systems it’s a folder you picked during first setup.

Is my data sent to the cloud?

Only two things leave your machine:

1. Chat messages — the text you send in the chat input, plus relevant vault snippets that Atlas includes as context for the AI
2. Voice recordings — audio you record for speech-to-text transcription

Everything else — full vault notes, CRM contacts, memory files, relationship graph — stays on your machine.

Can I use Atlas without internet?

Yes. All local features work completely offline:

• Notes and vault management
• Hybrid semantic + keyword search
• CRM (people, organizations, topics, graph)
• Plugins and templates
• Daily notes and tasks
• Scheduling and reminders
• Calendar sync (once authenticated)
• Memory and session history

The only features that require an internet connection are AI chat, voice input/output, and wake word responses (because the heavy processing occurs in the cloud).

How do I back up my vault?

Your vault is just a folder of plain text files — back it up however you’d normally back up files:

• Copy the folder to an external drive or cloud storage
• Use git: git init inside your vault and push to GitHub or GitLab
• Use a sync service: Dropbox, iCloud, OneDrive, Syncthing, etc.

Atlas Talk doesn’t provide built-in backup or sync (that’s what Walk & Talk’s upcoming cloud sync feature is for), but it’s fully compatible with any backup approach you already use.

Can I use my vault with other apps?

Yes. Your vault is entirely plain Markdown files — the same format used by Obsidian, Logseq, VS Code, and any text editor. You can open your Atlas vault in Obsidian, edit notes in VS Code, or push it to GitHub and read it there.

Atlas won’t break if you edit files in another app. The file watcher picks up external changes and re-indexes modified files automatically.

What happens if I cancel my subscription?

All local features keep working exactly as before — notes, search, CRM, plugins, templates, everything. Your data stays on your machine.

You lose access to AI chat, voice input/output, and drumbeat until you resubscribe.

How does Atlas protect my privacy?

Your notes stay on your computer. The only data sent to the cloud is what you include in a chat (your message text and relevant notes that Atlas includes as context) and any voice recordings you make.

Atlas’s servers process these securely. No conversation history or vault content is saved in the cloud unless you want it there (Walk&Talk).

Google Integration Privacy Policy

Atlas integrates with Google services to provide calendar sync and optional contacts import. This section describes how Atlas handles data received from Google APIs, in compliance with Google API Services User Data Policy.

Data Accessed

When you connect your Google account, Atlas requests access to the following data and migrates them to markdown files in your vault, enabling calendar and CRM functions. Your data saves to your computer.

• Google Calendar — Your calendar list, event details (title, description, times, location), and the ability to create and delete events on your behalf.
• Google Contacts (read-only) — Contact names, email addresses, phone numbers, organizations, job titles, birthdays, and photo URLs, for optional import into your local CRM.
• Basic profile — Your Google email address, used to identify the connected account within the app.

Data Usage

• Calendar data is used to display upcoming events in your daily notes, sync tasks from your vault to Google Calendar, and provide the AI assistant with meeting context when you ask about your schedule.
• Contacts data is used solely for optional one-time import into your local CRM (people records in your vault). You choose which contacts to import; Atlas never imports contacts automatically.
• Your email address is displayed in the settings panel so you can see which Google account is connected.

Atlas does not use Google data for advertising, analytics, market research, or any purpose unrelated to the features described above. It only facilitates moving your data from your Google account to files on your computer.

Data Sharing

Atlas does not directly share, sell, or transfer your Google user data to any third parties. Specifically:

• Calendar events and contacts fetched from Google are processed entirely on your local machine by the Atlas desktop app. Google API calls are made directly from the desktop app — data never passes through the Atlas cloud.
• Google data is not directly shared to the Atlas cloud backend or any other external service. When the AI assistant looks up your calendar, it reads from locally synced daily notes in your vault, not from Google directly.
• Imported contacts are saved as local Markdown files in your vault. No contact data is sent to an external service.
• Once imported and saved locally, you control your data as note files on your computer. The only data sent to the cloud is what you include in a chat (your message text and relevant note snippets that Atlas includes as context) and any voice recordings you make.

Data Storage & Protection

• Once imported, all of your data (calendar events, imported contacts) is stored locally on your machine as plain-text Markdown files within your vault folder.
• OAuth tokens (access token and refresh token) are stored locally in your Atlas configuration file on your device. They are never transmitted anywhere other than directly to Google’s OAuth endpoints for authentication and token refresh.
• Token refresh is handled automatically and locally.

Data Retention & Deletion

• Calendar events fetched from Google are cached locally for display purposes. You can disconnect your Google account at any time in Settings > Calendar, which immediately discards all cached calendar data and revokes the stored tokens.
• Imported contacts become regular CRM files in your vault. Disconnecting Google does not delete previously imported contacts, since they are your local vault data. You can delete or edit them manually at any time.
• OAuth tokens are deleted from your device when you disconnect your Google account.
• To fully revoke Atlas’s access to your Google account, visit your Google Account Permissions page and remove Atlas.
• Since all Google data is stored locally on your machine, you have full control over deletion at any time. Simply delete the relevant files from your vault or disconnect the integration in settings.