Keep Perplexity and ChatGPT chats in one Obsidian vault (2026)

If you use Perplexity for research and ChatGPT for drafting, your best work ends up split across two sidebars. Obsidian reads plain Markdown files, so you can keep both in one vault and search them together. Here is a simple layout that works whether you export by hand or in bulk.

1. Give each site its own folder

Inside your vault, create a folder for each site you use:

AI chats/
  perplexity/
  chatgpt/
  claude/
  gemini/
  grok/
  copilot/

Start with Perplexity and ChatGPT if those are the two you have today, and add the others when you export them. Keeping the source in the folder path means you can always tell where a note came from, even after you rename it.

2. Get the chats out as Markdown

Perplexity, one thread at a time (free): open the thread, then use the three dots menu and Export as Markdown. Full steps: export Perplexity threads to Markdown (watch the 2-minute walkthrough).
ChatGPT, whole account (free): request OpenAI's official data export. It arrives as raw files, which you then convert. Full steps: export ChatGPT history to Markdown and Obsidian and turn conversations.json into Markdown.

3. Use the same frontmatter for both

Give every note the same few fields at the top, whichever site it came from. Then one search or one sort works across your whole AI history:

---
title: Comparing vector databases
source: perplexity
url: https://www.perplexity.ai/search/...
date: 2026-10-26
tags: [ai-chat, research]
---

Use source: chatgpt and the chat link for ChatGPT notes. The same fields work for source: claude, source: gemini, source: grok and source: copilot. Obsidian shows these as note properties, so you can sort and filter by them.

4. Search across both

Obsidian's search (see the official search help) can be limited to a folder with path:. For example, path:"AI chats" embeddings searches every exported chat from both sites, [source:chatgpt] finds only notes whose source property is chatgpt, and tag:#research finds anything you tagged. Link chats into your project notes with [[wikilinks]] so the backlinks pane shows where each idea is used.

5. Keep it current

Pick a habit you will actually keep, such as exporting new chats every Friday. Keep a copy of the raw export (the JSON or the original files) next to the Markdown, so you can re-convert later if you change your format.

6. The same vault for Claude, Gemini, Grok and Copilot

ThreadVault 1.2.4, which we tested for Claude and Gemini on 12 November 2026 (Grok and Copilot were already supported in 1.2.3), writes the same Markdown shape for all six sites, with a different source value and folder for each. Export each signed-in tab, unzip the folders next to your Perplexity and ChatGPT notes, and one search such as path:"AI chats" pricing covers all of them. Site-by-site walkthroughs: Claude into Obsidian, Gemini into Obsidian, Grok, Copilot, and how to search all your AI chats.

Want every library in one vault? ThreadVault (disclosure: we make it) is a Chrome extension that exports your Perplexity, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok and Copilot chats from tabs you are already signed into. You get one ZIP with an Obsidian-ready Markdown note and a JSON file for every chat, organized by site and date, plus a manifest that lists anything that failed. It runs in your browser, so your chats never touch our servers. Free for 25 threads. Add ThreadVault to Chrome Learn more

Related guides

Not affiliated with Perplexity AI, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, xAI, Microsoft, or Obsidian. Last checked November 13, 2026. ThreadVault 1.2.4 facts for Claude and Gemini are from a 12 November 2026 test. These apps change, so verify menu names in each app.