ChatGPT → Open-WebUI Chat Converter

Convert a ChatGPT export into an Open-WebUI importable JSON.

Features

• Maps ChatGPT conversations to Open-WebUI format
• Preserves timestamps, hierarchy, and metadata
• Skips malformed conversations and tries to import each chat only once using ~/chatgpt/imported.json

Quick Start

1) Download

git clone [email protected]:scubanarc/chatgpt-to-open-webui.git
cd chatgpt-to-open-webui

2) Export your data from ChatGPT

1. Open ChatGPT
2. Settings → Data controls → Export data → Request export
3. When you receive the email, download and extract the export
4. Copy the conversations.json file to ~/chatgpt/conversations.json

3) Run the converter

python convert.py

• Input: ~/chatgpt/conversations.json
• Output: ~/chatgpt/converted-for-open-webui.json

4) Backup your Open-WebUI database (important)

Before importing anything, back up your Open-WebUI database file:

• Stop Open-WebUI
• Make a copy of your webui.db (path varies by install; for Docker volumes or local data dirs)

5) Import into Open-WebUI

1. Open-WebUI → Settings → Chats → Import
2. Select ~/chatgpt/converted-for-open-webui.json
3. Start import

Notes:

• Open-WebUI currently shows no progress or feedback during import — be patient.
• Large imports can take several minutes.

De-duplication and Best Practices

• The converter saves already-imported chat IDs in ~/chatgpt/imported.json to avoid re-importing the same chats on subsequent runs.
• Still, to minimize duplicates, delete all chats from ChatGPT between export→import cycles. That way, the next export only contains new chats.

Requirements

• Python 3.8+

Troubleshooting

• If the output file is empty or missing chats, confirm your ChatGPT export is complete and unmodified.
• Ensure the input path and output path exist: ~/chatgpt/ must be present and writable.
• Review terminal output for skipped or malformed conversations.

License

Unlicense