CAI Tools or the Character.AI data export?
Last checked 27 October 2026
CAI Tools is a browser extension that adds features to the Character.AI website, including downloading chats and characters. The data export is a ZIP that Character.AI itself emails you. Both get your chats out, from different places: CAI Tools reads the website while you are logged in, and the export is a file you keep.
Have the ZIP? Open it in Chatbound: it opens the locked file with your email address, lists every chat and lets you search and save them. Nothing is uploaded.
Open your exportSide by side
| Compared | CAI Tools | The data export, read in Chatbound |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A browser extension by Muhammed İrşat, for Firefox (including Firefox for Android) and Chrome | A ZIP that Character.AI makes when you ask in your settings, opened in a web page |
| Reads from | The Character.AI website, while you are logged in | The ZIP on your device |
| When you get it | Whenever you use the extension | When the email arrives, which can take 3 to 4 weeks |
| Chats | Downloads chats as readable or transferable files | The chats on your account in one file. Save any chat as HTML, text or Markdown, or as a SillyTavern chat file |
| Characters | Downloads characters as cards; can clone and import them | The characters you created, with their definitions, as Character Card V2 files |
| Cost | Its listing says some features may require payment | Reading and saving chats is free; Pro is $8 once |
| If the website closes | It works on the website, so it needs the site to be up | The ZIP you downloaded still opens |
| On a phone | Firefox for Android, according to its listing | Any current phone browser, including on an iPhone |
The CAI Tools column is what its Firefox Add-ons listing says: version 3.8.3, updated on 15 October 2026, with about 5,800 users there. We haven’t tested the extension ourselves.
Use both
You can use both. While the site is up, an extension can download a chat as soon as you need it, along with what the website shows, such as which character the chat is with. The export is the complete copy that doesn’t depend on the website once you have it. That matters now: Character.AI filed for Chapter 11 to sell the company and says the platform will be wound down if no buyer keeps it running (details). Ask for the export now, since it can take weeks, and use an extension for anything urgent in the meantime.
Moving to SillyTavern and other apps
SillyTavern’s documentation points to CAI Tools for bringing Character.AI characters and chats over. From the export, Chatbound makes the same kinds of files, character cards and SillyTavern chat files. SillyTavern and Perchance import both; Janitor AI and Sakura.fm import the cards. The four compared.
Sources: CAI Tools on Firefox Add-ons (version 3.8.3, updated 15 October 2026, checked 27 October 2026); CAI Tools on GitHub, its page for bug reports and the Chrome Web Store link (checked 27 October 2026); SillyTavern 1.19.0, its interface and import code (github.com/SillyTavern/SillyTavern, release branch), and the Chat File Management page of its documentation (checked 22 October 2026); Character.AI Help Center, “How do I download my data?” (checked 21 October 2026); Character.AI, “An Update on Character.ai” (12 October 2026, checked 27 October 2026). Chatbound is not affiliated with CAI Tools or its author.
Questions
Is CAI Tools the same as the Character.AI data export?
No. CAI Tools is a third-party browser extension that downloads chats and characters from the Character.AI website while you are logged in. The data export is a ZIP that Character.AI itself emails you when you ask for it in your settings.
Will CAI Tools work if Character.AI shuts down?
It works on the Character.AI website, so it needs the site to be up. Files you already downloaded with it stay yours. The data export, once downloaded, opens without the website.
Does CAI Tools work on mobile?
Its Firefox Add-ons listing says it is available on Firefox for Android, and it doesn’t mention iPhone. The data export opens in Chatbound in any current phone browser, including Safari on an iPhone.