Help

Getting started

Do I need an account?

Not to try it. Give your AI the demo spine (spinevault.app/demo-spine/) and see how it works. To build or seal your own spine, make a free account at beta.spinevault.app. On the sign-in screen, tap Sign up and enter your email address; we email you a code to confirm it.

Signing in

The sign-in page keeps asking me to prove I'm human.

Open the link in your usual browser (Chrome, Safari, Edge or Firefox) in an ordinary window, with content blockers off for the page. The browsers built into some apps fail this check; the Claude desktop app's is one. In the Claude app, right-click the link and open it in your default browser.

The zip and the single file

Which file do I give my AI?

The zip, if your AI takes it. Attach it and say "Open the attached spine and follow it."

If your AI won't take a zip, or can't read what's inside it, give it the single-file copy instead: the same spine as one plain-text file (.md, or .txt for an AI that refuses .md).

Which file do I bring back?

The zip. The single-file copy is for reading only. When you bring your AI's work back to SpineVault, bring the zip the session started from with it.

Adding to your spine

Can I add files to my spine?

Yes. A spine grows with your project, and there are two ways in.

Documents you want kept as they are, such as a PDF, a spreadsheet or your own notes: unzip the spine, put them in its sources folder, zip the spine's folder again, and seal it on "Load an existing spine". Before you seal, SpineVault names each file it hasn't sealed before, and the seal adds them. If it also says the zip's name has no seal code, that's expected when you zip the spine yourself; the seal still works. Keep passwords, keys and regulated data out, as you would when you build. The next time you open the spine, tell your AI what you added.

What your AI writes, such as notes, findings or a new spine file it suggests: it comes back when you say "close the spine", and you accept it on "Bring AI work back". A file that is new to the spine is marked as new, and accepting it adds it.

Your AI can't put a document into the sources folder for you. It reads what is there and suggests changes to the spine's own files.

Where should I keep my drafts and working folders?

Outside the spine's folder. Everything inside it travels with the spine: your AI may read it when the spine opens, and the next seal keeps it. A spare copy, or an old and a new version of the same folder, left inside can mislead your next session. Keep anything you don't mean to add somewhere else.

Downloads and the two-hour window

How long do I have to download my spine?

Two hours. SpineVault keeps no copy: a built or sealed zip waits two hours for you to download it, then it is deleted. Download it right away and keep it; the zip is your copy. SpineVault can't send it again later.

Sealing

My AI says it sealed my spine, but nothing happened.

An AI can't seal from inside a chat. A seal happens only on SpineVault's page, when the seal button is pressed. It has happened only when the page shows "Sealed as", the new revision and its seal code (for example "Sealed as r002 · 39f844"), under "Your spine is ready." If you don't see that line, nothing was sealed. Go to the page and press the button yourself, then download the zip.

When SpineVault asks you to wait

SpineVault asked me to wait.

Each account runs one seal or build at a time, and there are limits on how many it can run in an hour and in a day. When you reach one, the message says how long to wait. Wait that long, then try again. If your AI is working the site for you, it should wait once, then hand it back to you.

It says I have sealed spines waiting to be downloaded.

There is a limit on how much can wait for download at once. Download what you need. Each one clears about two hours after it was made, and then you can try again.

Using SpineVault inside your AI (the connector, in testing)

Can my AI use SpineVault directly?

Yes, if your AI app lets you add a custom connector. SpineVault's connector is in testing and isn't listed in the apps' directories yet, so you add it by hand. With it, your AI can open a spine you add on our page, read it, check its work, and prepare a new spine. You still press Seal or Build on SpineVault's page; the connector never seals.

How do I add it?

In your AI app's settings, find Connectors (some apps call it Apps or Tools), add a custom connector, and give it this address:

https://mcp.spinevault.app/mcp

When it asks you to sign in to SpineVault, do it in your usual browser. On Grok it is grok.com/connectors, then Custom.

Which apps does it work with?

We tested it in October 2026 with Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, Gemini, Grok and Kimi Work, Kimi's desktop app. Kimi's chat and DeepSeek's chat have no place to add a connector; attach the zip or the single-file copy instead.

My AI doesn't offer a link to open my spine.

Disconnect the SpineVault connector and connect it again. Apps remember a connector's tools from when it was added, and the open link came later, on October 20.

My AI says its session with SpineVault has ended.

When your AI opens a spine through the connector, that session lasts two hours from when it was opened. After that, ask your AI to open the spine again. The link your AI gives you to add your spine on our page also works for two hours; if it has ended, ask your AI for a new one.

My AI stopped partway through.

Some AI apps limit how many tool calls one chat can make. Start a fresh chat for the spine work, and keep web research in a separate chat.

Your account

What does SpineVault hold about me?

Your email address, when you made your account, and when you last signed in. Nothing of your spines.

How do I delete my account?

Sign in, then click or tap your address at the top right to open "Your account". "Delete your account" is the last section: type your address to confirm, then press "Delete my account". This removes your address and your sign-in for good, and any download still waiting. It cannot be undone. Our nightly database backup keeps your address for up to 16 days after that; then it is gone from there too.

If it has been more than a few minutes since you signed in, SpineVault asks you to sign in again first, then brings you back.

How do I change my address, or sign out on every device?

Both are on the same page. "Change your address" sends a code to the new address; enter it there. "Sign out everywhere" signs you out on every device and browser where your account is signed in, this one included.

Contact

Questions, problems or anything else: testers@spinevault.app. AI agents: read spinevault.app/llms.txt.