Memory and Preferences

Cola tries to remember long-term useful information so collaboration becomes more continuous. Memory is not a word-for-word archive of every chat. It distills stable facts, preferences, and collaboration patterns into long-term context.

What Memory Can Include

Good memory is usually long-lived information, such as:

• How you want to be addressed.
• Preferred language, tone, writing style, or output format.
• Long-term projects, common directories, or common workflows.
• Collaboration rules you repeat.
• Facts you explicitly ask Cola to remember.

For example:

When helping me write English docs, keep paragraphs short and avoid marketing language.

Remember: this project's release branch is named release. Do not default to pushing to main.

When summarizing PR comments for me, state the risk first, then the suggested fix.

Memory, Chat History, and Settings

These serve different purposes:

• Chat history: raw context from current and past conversations.
• Memory: long-term facts and preferences distilled from multiple interactions.
• Settings: model, shortcuts, appearance, audio devices, privacy options, and similar app choices.

Changing Settings does not automatically rewrite memory. Asking Cola to forget a memory does not automatically delete every historical chat message.

Tell Cola What to Remember

If something will be useful later, say "remember":

Please remember: when I write product docs, I prefer direct operating steps, not marketing copy.

Remember that this customer project is called Apollo. When I say Apollo later, I mean this project.

Specific memories are more useful. Instead of "I like concise output", say:

For technical summaries, keep it to 5 bullets or fewer. Each bullet should start with the conclusion, then the evidence.

Tell Cola What Not to Remember

If information is only for the current task, limit it directly:

Use this only for the current task. Do not remember it long term.

Do not remember any personal information from that customer file.

Do not ask Cola to remember passwords, verification codes, API keys, private keys, recovery codes, card information, or other high-sensitivity credentials. For those cases, ask Cola to explain the steps and complete the sensitive action yourself in the relevant system.

Edit or Forget Memory

When Cola remembers something incorrectly, correct it directly:

You remembered that wrong. I now prefer Chinese output, not English output.

Delete the memory that says I send a weekly report every Friday.

Forget the old Apollo directory. From now on, use the directory I gave you today.

If you are unsure what Cola remembers, ask:

What writing preferences do you currently remember about me?

List the long-term memories related to this project so I can review them before changing anything.

Transfer Memory from Other AI Assistants

Cola provides Transfer Memory to bring long-term preferences from other AI assistants into Cola.

There are two common modes:

• Automatic import: follow the interface prompts to scan personalization data from common AI assistants.
• Manual import: paste exported summary text, or upload exported chat-history files.

Before importing, clean the exported content. Remove privacy-sensitive material, customer data, credentials, and outdated project context you do not want Cola to keep.

After transfer, ask Cola to summarize what it imported:

List the long-term memories imported this time so I can decide what to keep.

Memory and Imprints

If you see Imprints in the interface, they are more like Cola's reflections on a period of interaction. They are not the same as a task list, and they may not appear every day.

Long-term preferences and facts mainly affect future collaboration through memory. Imprints are more about reflection and relationship context. For work rules, project constraints, and safety requirements, ask Cola to remember explicit rules.

Clean Local Memory

Memory is stored in Cola's local data on your Mac. Signing out does not automatically delete all local memory, sessions, or outputs.

If you are handing off the computer, switching accounts, or fully cleaning data, read Backup, Migration, and Uninstall first. Do not delete the entire local data directory without understanding the impact.

For more data boundaries, see Privacy and Local Data.