Docs

For you

You research; the software keeps the evidence attached. Plain answers to the questions you actually have.

• How do I get my tree into Heartwood?

  Export a GEDCOM file (every mainstream genealogy tool has an export button; GEDCOM is the shared family-file format they all speak) and open it in Heartwood. The import is immediate, your original file is kept byte-for-byte, and the citations you already wrote come along. Nothing is uploaded anywhere — the file goes from your disk into an app on the same disk. See what's here now and what's coming.

• I'm switching from another genealogy program. What should I check first?

  A switcher's first week — import, read the loss report, review by source, understand backups versus GEDCOM exports, and move data back out. Family Historian users also have a linked FH7 interop checklist.

• What happens if Heartwood or its servers disappear?

  Your Desktop does not depend on our servers. Your tree, sources, and files remain on your machine. A verified Heartwood backup restores the full local tree; GEDCOM export provides a portable interchange file plus a loss report. Optional future hosted collaboration is not required to open Desktop or use any offline feature.

• Why does Heartwood keep asking about sources and evidence?

  How Heartwood thinks about proof — the research methodology professionals use (the Genealogical Proof Standard), built into the product: where unconfirmed findings wait, how conflicting records stay visible, and what it takes for something to count as settled.

For your AI assistant

The way most people will use Heartwood's deeper powers: connect the AI you already trust and put it to work on your research — it proposes, you decide. Sharing these docs with an assistant happens only when you choose. Nothing is uploaded automatically.

• How do I connect my AI to my tree?

  Connect your AI — one copy-paste block (or one click from inside the app) and your assistant can read records, capture what they say, and suggest where to look next. Five minutes, no technical knowledge needed.

• What should I actually say to it?

  Prompt cookbook — starter prompts for real research sessions, the same copy the in-app cookbook ships.

• Can I give it a research discipline to follow?

  Optionally — the Heartwood GPS skill is a short guide that teaches an assistant to research the way a professional genealogist would, with wiring instructions for the assistant you use. Nothing about the connection requires it.

Want your assistant to read the docs itself? Give it this address: heartwood.family/llms.txt — a machine-readable index of everything on this site, built for AI assistants to navigate on their own.

For toolmakers

Heartwood is closed source but not a black box: the same documented local surface its own features use is yours to build on — on your machine, against your data.

• How do I build a tool against my own data?

  Build a tool against Heartwood with your agent — point your coding agent at the docs and describe the tool you want — a photo tagger, a research-log exporter, a DNA-match cross-referencer — instead of hand-writing a client yourself. It's a tab on the API reference below, not a separate page.

• What exactly can I call?

  API reference — every route on the local daemon API, browsable, rendered from the committed OpenAPI artifact; the reference content is never hand-maintained.

• What can an AI assistant do through MCP?

  MCP reference — every tool, prompt, and resource, grouped by workflow, with the copy-paste connection block and example prompts. All MCP operations are Preview during the beta. Differentiated stability tiers become meaningful as interfaces mature toward 1.0.