Do one thing, step by step.

You already have an AI. No key needed.

Valence comes with its own AI that runs on your computer. For most people this is the whole answer — it's private, it's free, it works offline, and there's nothing to sign up for. Only read the next guide if you specifically want ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini as well.

The local model

Private by default, free forever.

Your built-in AI is set up during first run. If you ever need to check it or switch models, it lives in Settings → AI Providers under Local AI.

1. Open Settings from the menu, then choose AI Providers.
2. Pick Local AI — it's the first chip, marked Recommended.
3. Choose a model from the list. Gemma 4 is the calm, everyday choice and the one that's safe for Kids Mode.
4. Click Use this. The badge at the top will read Private · Ready when it's working.

Which model should I pick?

Gemma 4 for everyday chat, family use, and Kids Mode. Qwen 3 if you want code, maths, or non-English conversation — but it's more verbose and isn't suitable for Kids Mode. Valence dims any model that's too big for your machine, so you can't accidentally pick one that won't run well.

settings — ai providers

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Prefer ChatGPT or Claude? Paste one key.

Valence can talk to the big cloud AIs too. You pay that company directly for what you use — Valence never takes a cut and never sees your conversations. Your key is encrypted and stays on your computer.

Straight to the right page.

Each link below goes to that provider's key page. Create an account, make a key, copy it, and paste it into Valence.

Let it remember — and stay in charge of what it keeps.

With memory on, Valence carries what matters between conversations. Everything is stored on your computer, and you can read, search, or delete any of it whenever you like.

Switching it on

One toggle, then forget about it.

1. Open Settings → Memory.
2. Turn on Enable Local Memory.
3. Leave Save Mode as it is unless you have a reason to change it — Summary keeps short notes, Full keeps whole conversations and uses more disk.
4. That's it. Valence saves quietly as you chat and brings things back when they're relevant.

Reading and deleting memories

Open Browse & Import → Open Memory Browser (or Memory browser in the menu). You'll see every memory with its title, summary, and topics — search them, or delete any one permanently. Nothing is hidden from you.

settings — memory

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Moving from ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini?

Valence can pull your existing conversations in so it feels familiar from day one. They become searchable memories on your machine — they are not uploaded anywhere.

Importing

Sign in once, and it fetches the rest.

1. Open Settings → Memory → Browse & Import.
2. Choose Import from ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini.
3. A browser window opens — sign in to that account as normal, then confirm the import.
4. Watch the progress. When it finishes, your old conversations are searchable in the Memory Browser.

Two things worth knowing

ChatGPT also accepts a ZIP. If you'd rather not sign in through Valence, export your data from ChatGPT's own settings and choose Import from ZIP file instead. Gemini is slower — it has no bulk export, so Valence reads conversations one at a time. Leave it running.

memory browser

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The five things people hit most.

More, when you want it.