Move a journal from another app
Day One, Apple Journal or a spreadsheet. Attach the export to the chat first.
Make a Placemoir import file from my attached export. Follow the instructions at placemoir.app/archive-format.html
Import with an AI assistant
Bring your places in by asking.
Ask ChatGPT, Claude or another AI assistant to write your places into a file Placemoir can open: a journal from another app, your old reviews, a trip you remember, or a list of places to try. Where you went, and what you really thought, in a few minutes.
- Copy a prompt below, or write your own that ends the same way.
- Paste it into your assistant. If you have an export from another app, attach it to the chat.
- Download the file it makes. It ends in .placemoirarchive (with photos) or .json (without). Save it to the Files app, or AirDrop it to your iPhone.
- Open it. Tap the file in Files, or go to You › Import with an AI assistant › Choose the file. Placemoir shows how many places, visits and photos are in it. Tap Import.
Prompts to start from
Every prompt ends by pointing the assistant at the Placemoir archive format. That page tells it the format, how to convert dates and ratings, how to bring photos along, and to leave out anything it isn’t sure of rather than make it up. So your prompt only has to say what you want.
Your Google Maps reviews
At takeout.google.com, export Maps (your places) and attach Reviews.json. For saved lists, use Import from Google Maps in the app instead.
Make a Placemoir import file from my attached Google Maps reviews. Each review is a visit, with its stars and what I wrote. Follow the instructions at placemoir.app/archive-format.html
A trip you’ve already taken
Say where you went and what you really thought. Change the details to yours.
Make a Placemoir import file of my trip to Lisbon last May. Pastéis de Belém: five stars, I’d go back, get them warm with cinnamon. Tasca do Chico: four stars, fado most nights, arrive early. The brunch place by the Rua Augusta arch: two stars, never again. Follow the instructions at placemoir.app/archive-format.html
Places you want to try
Places you haven’t been to yet go on your Want to go list.
Make a Placemoir import file of 12 Paris bakeries and bistros worth trying, with a short tip for each. I haven’t been to any of them yet. Follow the instructions at placemoir.app/archive-format.html
What happens when you import
What comes across?
Places, past visits with their dates, star ratings and “Would you go back?”, notes, tags, who you were with, weather, and photos and voice memos when the assistant could include them. Places you haven’t been to yet go on your Want to go list.
Will it duplicate or overwrite anything?
No. A place you already have (the same name within 150 m) gets the new visits. Visits already in your journal are skipped, so importing the same file twice adds nothing.
Is my journal sent to the AI service?
Only what you paste or attach to the chat, under that service’s own terms. Placemoir itself sends nothing anywhere when it imports. The file is read on your iPhone or iPad.
Does it cost anything?
Importing is free, like every import and export in Placemoir.
If it doesn’t work
“Can’t import that file” with a list of problems
Placemoir checks the whole file before importing anything. Paste the message back to the assistant and ask it to fix the file.
“This isn’t a Placemoir archive”
Check you saved the file itself, not a text reply. If you only got text in a code block, ask the assistant for a downloadable file.
The file is greyed out when I choose it
It probably ends in .txt. Rename it to end in .json. Turn on Show All Filename Extensions in Files to check.
No photos came across
The assistant could only make a .json. Ask it to “include the photos in a .placemoirarchive”. That needs an assistant that can run code, such as ChatGPT with data analysis or Claude with code execution.
Places in the wrong spot, or places that don’t exist
AI assistants can get details wrong. Tell it which ones, and ask for real places only, without coordinates it isn’t sure of.
“Uses format version 2…”
Update Placemoir from the App Store.
Writing a converter?
The format is open.
Scripts and apps can write Placemoir files too. The spec, JSON Schema and an example that imports as it is are all public.
Read the archive format