Help

What is Brain Dump?

A place to dump every thought, from wherever you are, without filing it first. Brain Dump tags and links your notes for you, shows how they connect on a graph, and answers questions about them with Ask.

How do I get notes in?

• Web: type in the capture box at the top of your feed. Press n to jump there.
• Email: Settings → Capture shows your address, like you-yourteam@in.getbraindump.app. Send or forward email to it from your account email. Mail your email provider can't vouch for waits in Now for your OK before it's saved. Gmail and Outlook addresses just work; to skip the wait on a custom domain, set up SPF (and ideally DMARC) in its DNS (how), or use your private address.
• Slack: once an admin connects Slack, save a message by DM, the /braindump command, or the message shortcut.
• Text (SMS): verify your phone in Settings → Capture, then text your team's Brain Dump number. Paid plans.
• Photos: snap a page of handwritten notes. Brain Dump reads the text and saves it as a note.
• Meeting notetakers: connect Zoom, Granola, Fireflies, Fathom, Otter, Read AI, tl;dv or Circleback in Settings → Connected tools. Meeting notes and action items arrive on their own.
• An existing archive: see Bringing your notes over.

Bringing your notes over

Right after you create a workspace, Brain Dump offers to bring your notes: pick a folder (an Obsidian vault, a Notion or Apple Notes export, or any folder of .md and .txt files), hand it to your AI agent, or skip. You can do the same later in Settings → Import. Zip files aren't read: unzip first, then pick the folder.

• What comes in: each file becomes a note titled after the file. Folders become #tags, front-matter tags and dates are kept, and long notes are split at headings. App folders (.obsidian, trash, attachments), empty files and anything that looks like a private key or API token are skipped, and you see the list.
• Import window: an owner or admin can open it once per workspace, for 72 hours (the first onboarding import opens it). While it's open, up to 2,000 imported notes per seat (250 on Free, its note limit) also get a small AI model to find the people, companies and projects in them, and imports run at 300 notes a minute instead of 60. Your plan's note limit still applies: Free stays at 250 notes. When the window ends or its allowance is used, imports keep going at normal limits.
• How filing works: every note is quick-filed for free (title, tags, to-dos, dates and [[links]] to your other notes). Notes you capture are then filed by AI within your plan's daily AI limit. Imported notes are never sent to Claude in bulk: they get full AI filing when you open one or press File with AI.
• Safe to repeat: cancel or close the tab any time. Pick the same folder again and nothing is imported twice.
• With an agent: paste Set up Brain Dump for me: follow https://getbraindump.app/agent-setup.md into your agent. You sign in once and allow read and write; it uses the import_notes tool.

Why is my email waiting for my OK?

Anyone can type your address into an email's From line. So when your email provider can't prove a message really came from you, Brain Dump holds it in Now until you press Save. Held emails are deleted after 7 days.

You have two capture addresses in Settings → Capture. Your address (like you-yourteam@in.getbraindump.app) is easy to remember and share, so it's easy to guess: it saves verified mail from you or a trusted sender, and everything else waits for your OK. Strangers can leave at most 5 emails waiting; after that their mail bounces. Your private address is a long random one: keep it secret. It saves the same mail, plus unverified mail from addresses you've allowed, so use it if your email domain isn't verified. You can turn your readable address off in Settings; rotating gives you a new private address.

• SPF lists the servers allowed to send mail for your domain.
• DKIM signs each message so it can't be faked or changed on the way.
• DMARC tells receivers how to treat mail from your domain that fails SPF and DKIM.

To skip the wait, add two TXT records in your domain's DNS:

• SPF, name @: v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all (this is Google Workspace's; other providers publish their own include).
• DMARC, name _dmarc: v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:you@yourdomain

Gmail and Outlook addresses need nothing: they're already set up.

Can't change your DNS, or want a colleague's or a service's email saved too? Press Always allow on a waiting email. From then on, email from that address is saved without asking (on your readable address, only when its provider verifies it; unverified mail from it is saved only through your private address), but anyone who can send as that address and knows your capture address could add notes. Email from anyone else waits in Now as a new sender. Remove trusted senders in Settings any time; rotating your private address clears them all.

Can my AI agent use Brain Dump?

Yes, on paid plans. Tell your agent: Set up Brain Dump for me: follow https://getbraindump.app/agent-setup.md. It works with Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, Cursor and other MCP clients. You sign in once and choose what it reaches: read only or read and write, and which spaces. Remove it in Settings → Remote MCP any time. Commands for each client are on Connect your AI agent.

Two-step sign-in

A second step when you sign in keeps your notes safe if someone gets into your email or Google account. Brain Dump counts three: a passkey (add one on the sign-in page; it uses your device's Face ID, fingerprint or PIN), your company's single sign-on, or a 6-digit code we email you. To add the code to your current sign-in, open Settings → Security and press Email me a code. A code works once, for 10 minutes.

Owners and admins can turn on Require two-step sign-in in Settings → Security. Members who signed in without a passkey or SSO are asked for an emailed code on their next visit, and AI app keys made before they did that need to be created again. Capture by email, text and Slack keeps working.

Who can see my notes?

Only you, by default. A note is shared only when you put it in a Space, and then only with the people that Space allows. See the privacy policy for the details.

Each Space is either Open to everyone in the workspace or Members only. A new Space starts as Members only: only the people and custom roles added to it can see it. Each person or role gets Can view (read and search) or Can edit (add and edit notes). Change this from the Space's Space settings button.

Workspace admins don't see a Members only Space unless they are added to it. The workspace owner can join any Space from the sidebar, and joining is recorded in the audit log.

Someone removed from a Members only Space loses access to its notes, including the ones they wrote there. On an Open Space everyone in the workspace can still read it. Moving a note out of a Space, back to private, needs Can edit. The person who made a Space can't be removed from it; if they leave the workspace, the workspace owner takes it over.

Plans and billing

Compare plans on the pricing page. To change your card, switch plans or cancel, an owner or admin opens Settings → Billing → Manage billing. Canceling stops the next charge, and you keep access until the end of the period you paid for.

Exporting and deleting data

Anyone can export their notes (not notes in a Space they were removed from); owners and admins can export the workspace (Settings → Advanced), which leaves out other members' private notes. You can delete any note you own from its menu. The owner can delete the workspace and anyone can delete their account from Settings → Advanced, typing its name or your email to confirm; either can be restored for 30 days (the owner sees a Restore banner after signing in). Data is purged from our live systems within 45 days of deletion, and backup copies age out within a further 30 days. On Scale, an admin can set a retention policy (Settings → Advanced) that deletes notes older than 30 to 3,650 days, starting 7 days after it is saved.

Security

• Single sign-on (SSO) with your company's identity provider is included on Scale. On Startup Team it is a paid add-on. We set it up with you either way: email sales@getbraindump.app.
• Owners and admins can review the audit log in Settings → Advanced and download it as CSV: billing changes, member invites, role changes and removals, exports, deletions, AI app keys and other sensitive actions. Every plan shows the last 30 days; Scale shows the full history (kept for 400 days).
• Keys for connected AI apps only reach what their owner can see, checked again on every request.

For a security review, see the security overview.

Contact

Still stuck? Email support@getbraindump.app. A real person reads it.