# Consumer Brain

Persistent file storage for consumers that works across chat sessions and apps in your workspace.

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Consumer Brain gives your users a persistent file storage space that lives across chat sessions. Files generated during conversations, uploaded documents, and data outputs are saved automatically -- consumers can browse, organize, and reference them in future chats.

> **Warning:** Consumer Brain requires a Studio Pro plan or higher.

## What It Does

| Feature | Description |
|---------|-------------|
| **Persistent storage** | Files survive across multiple chat sessions |
| **File browser** | Slide-out panel with search, sort, and folder organization |
| **Inline preview** | View images, PDFs, CSV, JSON, and text files without downloading |
| **Drag into chat** | Reference stored files in new conversations |
| **Auto-save** | Files generated by code execution are saved automatically |
| **Cross-app access** | Authenticated users see files from other apps in your workspace |

## Enabling Consumer Brain


  **1.** 
    <strong>Enable Persistent Storage</strong>

    Go to your app's **Build** page → **Code Execution** section. Toggle on **Enable Persistent Storage**.
  


  **2.** 
    <strong>Configure Retention (Optional)</strong>

    Set **File Retention Days** to auto-delete files after a period. Default is 0 (files persist forever).
  


  **3.** 
    <strong>Set Storage Limits (Optional)</strong>

    Set **Max Storage Per Consumer** to limit how much each user can store. Default is 0 (unlimited).
  


## How Consumers Use It

### File Browser

Consumers access their stored files through a slide-out storage panel in the chat interface. They can:

- Browse files with search and sort options
- Create folders to organize files
- Rename and delete files
- Preview files inline (images, PDFs, spreadsheets, text)
- Drag files into the chat input to reference them in new conversations

### Automatic File Saving

When your AI generates files during a conversation (charts, reports, code outputs), they're automatically saved to the consumer's persistent storage if enabled. The consumer doesn't need to manually download and re-upload.

### Cross-App File Sharing

When consumers authenticate across multiple apps in your workspace, they can see files from sibling apps:

- Cross-app files show with a badge indicating which app created them
- Cross-app files are **read-only** (rename and delete only available on the original app)
- Fact-based memories from other apps automatically augment the system prompt

#### Controlling Cross-App Sharing

**Workspace level:**
- In **HQ Settings → Consumer Context**, toggle **Consumer Sharing** on or off for the entire workspace

**Per-app level:**
- Each app can opt out of sharing via the **Consumer Sharing Opt-Out** toggle
- When opted out, files from that app won't be visible to consumers using other apps

## Storage Billing

Consumer Brain storage is metered as part of your plan's usage:

- Storage is calculated in MB-months
- Only applies to authenticated consumers on Studio Pro or higher
- The free tier and lower plans do not have access to persistent storage

## Troubleshooting

**Files not being saved?**
- Verify **Enable Persistent Storage** is toggled on in Build → Code Execution
- Check that the consumer's storage quota hasn't been exceeded

**Cross-app files not showing?**
- Verify **Consumer Sharing** is enabled at the workspace level
- Check the app hasn't opted out of sharing
- Consumer must be authenticated (signed in) on both apps

**File preview not loading?**
- Large files may take a moment to load
- Signed URLs expire after 1 hour -- refresh the page if a download link has expired
- Some binary formats may not support inline preview

> **Note:** Consumer Brain is part of the persistent storage system. Files generated during [code execution](/docs/guides/maximize-chipp-capabilities) are automatically saved when enabled.