# Import existing files

You can bring in notes you already have instead of starting from
nothing. ako shows you what it will add before anything changes.

## Into a new organisation

When you set up your organisation, you can import everything at once and
have ako split it between the org-wide brain and a brain for each team.
See [Bring what you already have](/getting-started/bring-what-you-already-have).

## Into an existing brain

1. Go to **Knowledge** and open the brain.
2. Select **Import files** and choose the files.
3. ako opens a chat with the files attached. The assistant reads them
   and drafts where each one should go.
4. Review the draft. Select **Import** to add the files, or **Don't
   import** to leave the brain as it was.

You can do the same from any chat: select **+** beside the message box,
then **Import into brain**. **Attach files** is different: it lets the
assistant read the files in that conversation without adding them to
the brain.

## When you create a brain

The **Bring your content** step of [Create a brain](/brains/create-a-brain)
offers two sources:

- **Upload files**: drag in markdown or text files, a folder, or a zip
  of them.
- **Import from GitHub**: select **Connect GitHub**, pick the
  repository, branch and folder, then select **Read this source**.

An import from GitHub is a one-time copy. Later changes in the
repository don't reach the brain.

If an uploaded file has the same name as one ako was going to create,
choose what happens: keep both, use yours instead, or leave yours out.