Moving a case to another computer

Export a case to a single .decase file, carry it with your original documents to another Mac or Windows PC, and import it there without reading everything again.

#Why this exists

Reading a big case can take days on a modest computer. If you move to a new computer, you shouldn't have to do that again. Discovery Engine can pack everything it has learned about a case into one file, a .decase file, that you carry to the other computer along with your original documents. It works in any direction: Windows to Mac, Mac to Windows, or between two computers of the same kind.

#What travels, and what doesn't

The case keeps its ID, so links to its documents and your agent's notes stay valid.

#What you need

• A USB drive formatted as exFAT (or another way to move large files). A FAT32 drive can't hold a file of 4 GB or more; the app warns you if you pick one.
• Room on it for your folder of original documents plus the case file. The All cases screen shows each case's size, and the export dialog shows the expected file size and the free space where it's going.
• Discovery Engine installed on both computers (ideally the same version).

#On the old computer: export

1. Open All cases. Note the case's size.
2. Click Export… next to the case.
3. Read what the file holds, then under Save the case file in, choose the USB drive. The dialog shows About 1.4 GB (or similar) and how much is free there.
4. Click Export. A progress bar shows Copying the database, then Writing the case file. You can keep working while it runs; the file holds the case as it was when the export started.
5. When it's done you'll see Saved Case name date.decase, with its size.
6. Copy your folder of original documents onto the same drive, next to the case file. The dialog reminds you which folder that is.
7. Click Done.

The file is named after the case and the date, for example Harrowfield 2026-10-27.decase.

#On the new computer: import

1. Install Discovery Engine (see Installing on Mac or Installing on Windows).
2. Copy the folder of original documents from the drive to where you want it to live, for example your Documents folder. Copy the case file next to it.
3. Open All cases and click Import a case….
4. Under Case file, choose the .decase file. The dialog shows the case's name, which kind of computer it was exported on and when, how many files it has, and its size.
5. Under Where are the original documents now?, check the folder. The app suggests the folder of the same name next to the case file, and shows a live count:
   • All 1,530 files found. You're set.
   • 1,500 of 1,530 files found, 12 changed (read again), 18 missing. Check you picked the right folder.
6. If the case had folders or files added to it, each has its own line (Added folder: …). Point each one at its new location, or leave it to choose later.
7. Click Import. A progress bar shows Unpacking the case and Checking the database.
8. Click Open the case.

Opening it checks every file for changes. Files that haven't changed are not read again, so this takes moments, not days. Changed files are read again; missing ones are marked missing with their work kept.

9. If any document still needs reading, the app asks to download its reading models on this computer (about 1 GB).
10. Delete the case file from the USB drive. It holds the text of every document, with real names.

#If this computer already has the case

If you import a case this computer already has (same ID), the dialog says This computer already has this case and offers to replace that copy with the one in the file. Tick the box to replace it, or Cancel. The old copy is set aside first and removed only after the import succeeds. Replacing is refused while that case is being read or another program has it open.

#If you skipped a folder

If you didn't choose where the originals are, the case is still imported. When you open it, the app asks you to Find this case's folder.

#After the move

• Open Start Up on the new computer and install the command-line tool, choose the agent folders and write the guide files again. Those belong to the computer, not the case.
• Your AI agent will find the case under the same ID.

#From the command line

A person at a terminal can do the same with discovery case export and discovery case import. Both ask for confirmation, because the file holds real names; an AI agent can't run them on its own. See Command-line reference.