The Neconyan handbook

Your guides Miso, Taro & Nori

Choose each guide's gender to change their artwork and pronouns. Your choices stay in this browser, separately from the app.

Miso Neutral Female Male Taro Neutral Female Male Nori Neutral Female Male

Updates and backups

Keep an independent copy before updating, importing a large library or making broad edits. Different exports cover different things.

Choose the right export

For selected libraries between separate installations, use Device sync. Its four manual transfer methods are separate from a whole-account backup; deletions, keys and Conversation chats do not travel.

Export or copy	Useful for	Doesn't automatically include
Character card	Moving a character definition	All chats, gallery media and account settings
Chat export	Keeping a conversation	The whole account or every related tool setting
Expression set (ZIP)	The selected character, member or persona artwork	The card, its description or any chat
Image change's Download backup	The transcript as it was before that change	A whole-account or image-file backup
Notebook export	Portable Markdown notes and files	Revision history, AI permissions and lore bindings
Mewmory export	Its supported memory records	Connection keys or deleted chat sources
Chat Archive organisation	Folders, collections and saved views	Chat contents
Account backup	A broader account archive	Main secrets unless the server allows key exposure
Stopped-server data/config copy	Recovering a self-managed installation	A guarantee that another app can use the same files

Read an export's scope before relying on it. Private content and, depending on server settings, credentials can be present in an archive. Keep backups somewhere you control.

The expression Export ZIP covers the selected artwork set only. An image change's Download backup is the chat before that change, not a whole-account or image-file backup. Change history offers Undo change only until the chat changes afterwards or its backup is deleted. Included tools explains the expression export, and Something went wrong covers image-repair recovery.

Download an account backup

Open Settings → Cache & Account → Account Settings → Account, then use Download Backup. Once accepted, the backup keeps running if you close the page. The server needs enough free space to write the archive.

Return to the account controls and use Choose a saved account backup, then Download saved backup, to recover completed work. Stop backup requests cancellation.

Store the downloaded archive on another device or independent storage service, where a disk failure or app uninstall won't remove it.

Back up a self-managed installation

Stop Neconyan before copying its live data. In a standard setup, preserve the data folder and your actual config.yaml. If you configured a different data root, copy that location instead.

Keep the old copy until the restored installation opens correctly and you can inspect the chats, characters and other work you care about. Never run two apps against the same writable data folder.

Update a Git installation

Open Server → Updates & Restart → Check for updates, then Update & Restart. The launcher also checks at startup. If local edits block an update, read the explanation before replacing anything you've changed. Setting NECONYAN_AUTO_UPDATE=0 disables the launcher's automatic check.

After updating, reload the browser and check a saved chat and your active connection. Included tools update with the app; separately installed extensions have their own updates and compatibility.

Update a ZIP installation

Open Server → Updates & Restart → Check for updates, then Update & Restart. Supported installations download and verify the official source ZIP, prepare the replacement and restart. Your data and configuration stay in place. Keep a backup anyway.

For an older installation without that updater:

1. Back up, then stop the old Neconyan server.
2. Download and extract the newer official source release into a new folder.
3. Copy your data and any changed configuration into the new installation, preserving the originals.
4. Start the new launcher and check the result.
5. Keep the old folder until you've confirmed the new copy contains your work.

Don't overwrite a running installation with a mixture of old and new source files.

Update Android

Export before updating or moving devices. Newer builds provide Server → Updates & Restart → Check for updates, then Update APK inside the Android app. Android still asks you to approve installation. If those controls aren't available, download the official APK and install it over the existing app.

Uninstalling removes the app's private data. See Android installation for the update steps. The same backup-first rule applies before replacing or removing the standalone iPhone app.

Restore deliberately

Import & Restore selects particular libraries from a compatible folder or ZIP. It doesn't blindly restore every setting in an account archive. Individual formats have their own import controls.

Time Machine snapshots, notebook history and Chat Archive organisation are helpful recovery tools with narrower scopes. Keep an independent backup even when you use them.