The short answer
- In Prism, open the user or workspace menu, then Settings > Data Controls > Export all projects (zip), then Download zip.
- For one project only: open the project-title menu and choose Export (zip).
- Open the ZIP in Splitlight. It lists every project in it with its main document, and the files each document asks for that are not in the export. Nothing is uploaded.
Those menu names are the ones in OpenAI's migration guide, read on October 30, 2026. Older help pages describe a shorter path (click the project name, then Export); either gives the same kind of ZIP.
What the ZIP holds
Each project is a folder of ordinary files: the .tex sources, the .bib bibliography and the figures. Nothing in it needs Prism to open; any LaTeX editor or TeX installation reads it. Some archives also carry a conversations folder of JSON files with the chats from Prism's side panel. Splitlight reads those as chats and can save each as Markdown.
| Part of a Prism project | In the ZIP? |
|---|---|
| .tex, .bib, figures, style files | Yes |
| Prism chats | In some archives, as a conversations folder |
| Project history (earlier versions) | No |
| Inline comments | No |
| Collaborators and their permissions | No |
| The live Zotero connection | No; the .bib it wrote is there as a file |
If the export fails: export-errors.json
OpenAI's guide says that when an export fails you should look for export-errors.json in the archive and retry. In practice:
- Open the archive in Splitlight. If it holds
export-errors.json, the page shows each project it names and the error, in plain words, above the project list. - Export that project again on its own, from its project-title menu with Export (zip).
- If the project is still missing, OpenAI's guide says to email support@openai.com. Do it well before January 1.
A project can also export "successfully" and still be short of a file, for example a figure that was never uploaded to Prism and only lived on a co-author's laptop. Splitlight's check catches that: every \input, \include, \includegraphics and \bibliography is looked up in the export.
Four things to do before you close Prism
- Download the last PDF of each project from Prism's viewer. It is your reference when you build the project somewhere else.
- Copy inline comments you still need into the text, as
%comments or a to-do list. They do not export. - Export the .bib from Zotero again if the project used the Zotero link, so the bibliography is current.
- Write down who had access. Collaborators have to be invited again wherever the project goes.
Export downloaded? Open the ZIP here: every project checked, ready for Overleaf or as one .tex. Nothing is uploaded.
Open your export in SplitlightSplitlight Pro, $8 paid once: the whole export sorted in one ZIP, with every project ready for Overleaf, every document as one .tex, every chat as Markdown and a spreadsheet of the projects. Get Pro on Gumroad or see what is free.
Questions
Where is Export all projects in Prism?
In the user or workspace menu: Settings, then Data Controls, then Export all projects (zip), then Download zip.
How do I export just one Prism project?
Open the project, then the project-title menu, and choose Export (zip).
What does export-errors.json mean?
It is the file OpenAI's guide points to when an export fails. It names the projects that did not export. Export each of them again from its own menu, and email support@openai.com if one is still missing.
Does the Prism export include my chats?
Some archives carry a conversations folder of JSON files with the Prism chats. Splitlight reads them and saves each as Markdown.
Is my Prism project history in the export?
No. OpenAI's guide lists project history, inline comments, collaborators and the live Zotero connection as not moving with the files.
Sources
- OpenAI Help Center: Prism to Codex migration guide (article 20001615). The export steps, export-errors.json, what does not move with the files, and the note on Codex's built-in LaTeX compiler. Read through search results and quotes, as the page refuses automated readers
- OpenAI: Introducing Prism. The launch post of January 27, 2026, which now carries the shutdown date, January 1, 2027
- Purplelink: Move a Prism project to a Mac before it shuts down (October 25, 2026). A second reading of OpenAI's guide, by the maker of a Mac LaTeX editor
Last checked: October 30, 2026.