Skip to main content

Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://sherlock-osint.vercel.app/docs/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

Because Sherlock keeps all your workspace data in the browser, it’s important to export backups before clearing browser storage, switching devices, or migrating to a new deployment. The backup system in Settings → Data lets you download a complete JSON snapshot of your workspace, restore from any prior snapshot, or wipe all local data when you want a clean slate.

​
Where to find backup controls

All backup and restore actions live in Settings → Data, under the Workspace Data section.

​
Exporting a backup

Click Export → Workspace Data as JSON Backup to download a .json file containing everything Sherlock has stored for your workspace. The file is saved to your browser’s download location with a timestamped filename.

​
What’s included in a backup

A full workspace backup captures:

Workspaces

Workspace metadata, display titles, launch topics, and configuration.

Artifacts

Full reports including key findings, evidence records, artifact sections, follow-up records, entities, and sources.

Investigation runs

All workspace run records with their pack, purpose, and model configuration.

Chat history

Chat sessions, messages, message attachments, and action audit records.

Research boards

Board-agent sessions and the full action history for each board session.

Saved signals

All signals saved to the workspace.

Library items

Workspace library entries — notes, links, files, and promoted chat excerpts.

Boards and snapshots

Workspace board shells and all persisted board canvas snapshots.

Graph data

Manual nodes and links added to the network graph.

Templates

Saved run templates.

​
What’s NOT included

The following are intentionally excluded from backups:
  • API keys — stored separately in localStorage and never exported
  • Visual theme settings — theme templates and mode preference are stored in the database but excluded from workspace backups
  • Device-local preferences — quiet mode, auto-resolve, and similar per-device settings
This means you can safely share a workspace backup without exposing your credentials or personal display preferences.

​
Restoring a backup

Importing a backup replaces all current workspace data. Sherlock clears your existing workspaces, artifacts, runs, chat history, boards, signals, library items, and graph data before restoring the backup file. This cannot be undone. Export your current data first if you want to keep it.
Click Restore Backup and select your .json backup file. Sherlock validates and imports the file inside a single database transaction — if anything goes wrong during the import, your workspace domain is not left in a partial state. The import also accepts older backup formats for backwards compatibility.

​
Exporting a backup and restoring it later

1

Open Settings → Data

Navigate to Settings and click the Data tab.
2

Export your backup

Under Workspace Data, click Export → Workspace Data as JSON Backup. Save the downloaded file somewhere you’ll find it later.
3

Continue working or switch environments

Use Sherlock normally, or move to a new browser or deployment.
4

Open Settings → Data on the new environment

Navigate to Settings → Data on the browser or deployment where you want to restore.
5

Restore the backup

Click Restore Backup, select the .json file you exported, and confirm. Sherlock will import the backup and restore your workspace.

​
Clearing all workspace data

The Delete Data button in the Workspace Data section permanently removes all local workspace content — workspaces, artifacts, runs, chats, signals, templates, boards, library items, and graph data. It also resets graph hide/flag filters that reference workspace data. This action is irreversible. Export a backup first if there’s anything you want to keep.

​
Single-workspace export

In addition to full backups, you can export individual workspaces from the artifact viewer or workspace actions. These single-workspace exports are available in HTML, Markdown, and JSON formats and are useful for sharing or archiving a specific investigation without exporting everything. A single-workspace JSON export uses a different shape (workspace and artifacts keys) than a full backup. Both formats are accepted by the import flow.

​
Demo workspace seeding for self-hosted deployments

If you self-host Sherlock, you can pre-seed the workspace for first-time visitors by placing a backup file at: 
public/seeds/demo-workspace.json
When a new browser profile visits your deployment for the first time with an empty workspace, Sherlock automatically imports the seed file once. After that first import, the seed is not re-applied to that browser profile. The seed file can be either a full workspace-data backup (from Settings → Data → Export) or a single-workspace JSON export with workspace and artifacts keys.
The demo seed is applied per browser origin. Visitors on a Vercel preview URL have a separate browser storage namespace from visitors on the production domain, so the seed can apply independently to each.