Memory Full in GPT-4 Assistant – How to Safely Clean Up Without Losing AI Knowledge?

GPT builders
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Title: Memory Full in GPT-4 Assistant – How to Safely Clean Up Without Losing AI Knowledge?

Hi everyone,
I’m developing a business-critical custom AI assistant using ChatGPT Plus with long-term memory enabled. The assistant has learned a massive amount of structured information (brand logic, communication framework, design system, automation, GitHub sync, etc.).

Now I’ve hit a critical limit:

:red_circle: Memory is 100% full in the ChatGPT UI – and I’m just a fraction of the way through development.

I’m aware of the “Settings > Data Controls > Export Data” function, and I’ve done that.
But on top of that, following my assistant’s advice, I’ve generated a fully AI-readable YAML + Markdown archive of the entire project (ZIP format).
It includes:

  • memory-index.yaml
  • memory_entries.yaml
  • command_map.yaml
  • changelog.md
  • stilona_visual_design_board_full.xlsx
  • stilona_brand_summary.pdf

:brain: The goal is to preserve all knowledge with 100% precision and reusability, so nothing is lost.

:red_question_mark:Questions I need expert advice on:

  1. What’s the safe strategy to clean up memory without losing critical AI learning?
  2. Are there any hidden options or workarounds to increase memory capacity (aside from switching to GPT Enterprise, which I can’t afford)?
  3. Can I store and reload my memory externally using a RAG architecture (e.g. Google Drive + ChromaDB)?
  4. Is it possible to simulate long-term memory through structured YAML documents that are regularly reuploaded?
  5. Any best practices you recommend for handling large-scale AI projects in ChatGPT Plus?

I’m looking for serious, experienced input – either from OpenAI team members or power users who have solved similar problems.
Even just pointing me to the right forum/channel/resource would be incredibly helpful.

Thanks in advance for any guidance or experience you can share!

Tags: memory, chatgpt, rag, export, gpt-4, backup

4 Likes
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I’m not reading all of that but from what I skimmed I think your best bet is to just copy the memory into a .txt file and then upload that to a custom GPT as part of its custom file set so you can clear the memory and start filling it again.

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Notebook LM. I had too many issues and am now using three ais. I am hoping ChatGPT gains this capability. Claude is horrible on truncation and memory.