# How to keep your AI work when you switch apps

Source: https://aaronmakelky.com/tools/ai-binder-method
Last updated: 2026-06-26

A practical guide from Aaron Makelky for setting up an AI binder: plain files, folders, instructions, skills, active-host notes, and optional GitHub sync so work stays portable across AI apps.

AI binder method

I built too much of my work inside ChatGPT. When I moved more of my workflow to Claude, the problem was obvious: the app owned too much of the context.

[Open setup gist](https://gist.github.com/a-makelky/c8a4ed34b02649d62050061c3d6664eb) Copy setup prompt

Works across ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, Codex

The app can change. The folder still opens.

## I learned this by leaving ChatGPT

I paid for ChatGPT Plus the month it came out in February 2023. I kept paying for about 30 months, then canceled in the summer of 2025 because I was moving more of my work to Claude.

That is when I realized how much of the work lived in ChatGPT: projects, chats, custom GPTs, research, decisions, and the way I had learned to work through problems.

Starting over in Claude felt like showing up to practice without the playbook. The tool was different, but the real problem was that my memory was stuck in the old app.

## The binder idea

The fix was moving the working memory outside the AI app instead of switching from one AI company to another.

I think of it like a binder. The pages are plain files and folders. ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, Codex, or whatever comes next can open the binder, read what is there, and keep working.

Chat is where the conversation happens. The folder is where the memory lives.

What goes inside

## Five tabs I would start with

### today.md

A plain text scoreboard for what matters right now.

### projects

Folders for the connected work that needs more than one chat.

### instructions

AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, and the preferences that should not live in one app.

### skills

Reusable procedures you want each AI tool to find from the same place.

### active hosts

A small record of which device and AI app touched the binder last.

Setup

## Start with a folder

You do not have to understand GitHub on day one. Start with a folder your AI tool can read. Make it useful locally, then sync it when the system is worth keeping.

1. Create a folder called Personal Binder or Work Binder.
2. Add a today.md file with the few things you are actually working on.
3. Add a projects folder for anything that needs context over time.
4. Add instruction files for the AI tools you use, starting with AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md.
5. Point your AI tool at the folder and ask it to help you set up the rest.
6. When the folder becomes useful, sync it somewhere durable like GitHub.

## The tool stack I use

### GitHub is the shelf

It gives the binder a durable home and a receipt for every update.

### Obsidian is the local notebook

It is a good way to read and edit plain files on your own machine.

### Notion is the human surface

It is easier when other people need to read, comment, or collaborate.

Try it

## Give this to your AI tool

The full setup guide lives in the gist. This shorter prompt points ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, or Codex at that guide and asks it to walk you through the setup one step at a time.

Copy setup prompt [Open gist](https://gist.github.com/a-makelky/c8a4ed34b02649d62050061c3d6664eb)

```
Use this setup guide: https://gist.github.com/a-makelky/c8a4ed34b02649d62050061c3d6664eb

I want to build a model-agnostic AI binder for my work.

Walk me through setting up:
- a main binder folder
- today.md for my current priorities
- a projects folder
- AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md instructions
- a place to store reusable skills
- a simple active-hosts note so I know which device and AI app touched the binder last
- an optional GitHub sync plan

Ask me one question at a time. Keep it beginner-friendly.
```