JavaScript snippet to export a ChatGPT conversation from the web UI to a clean Markdown file, with correct user/assistant attribution, code block preservation, and basic media placeholders. Designed to be run directly in the browser console (Safari/Chrome/Firefox).

chatgpt-conversation-exporter.js

(() => {
  function formatDate(date = new Date()) {
    return date.toISOString().split("T")[0];
  }

  function escapeMarkdown(text) {
    return text
      .replace(/\\/g, "\\\\")
      .replace(/\*/g, "\\*")
      .replace(/_/g, "\\_")
      .replace(/`/g, "\\`")
      .replace(/\n{3,}/g, "\n\n");
  }

  function processMessageContent(element) {
    const clone = element.cloneNode(true);

    // Replace <pre><code> blocks
    clone.querySelectorAll("pre").forEach((pre) => {
      const code = pre.innerText.trim();
      const langMatch = pre
        .querySelector("code")
        ?.className?.match(/language-([a-zA-Z0-9]+)/);
      const lang = langMatch ? langMatch[1] : "";
      pre.replaceWith(`\n\n\`\`\`${lang}\n${code}\n\`\`\`\n`);
    });

    // Replace images and canvas with placeholders
    clone.querySelectorAll("img, canvas").forEach((el) => {
      el.replaceWith("[Image or Canvas]");
    });

    return escapeMarkdown(clone.innerText.trim());
  }

  function getUserDisplayName() {
    // Best-effort attempts (depends on UI versions)
    const candidates = [
      '[data-testid="user-menu-button"]',
      'button[aria-label*="Account"]',
      'button[aria-label*="account"]',
      'button[aria-label*="Profil"]',
      'button[aria-label*="Profile"]',
    ];

    for (const sel of candidates) {
      const el = document.querySelector(sel);
      const txt = el?.innerText?.trim();
      if (txt && txt.length >= 2 && txt.length <= 40) return txt;
    }

    // Fallback: ask once
    const asked = (window.__CHAT_EXPORT_USERNAME__ || "").trim();
    if (asked) return asked;

    const name = prompt(
      "What first name / display name do you want to use for YOUR messages?",
      "You"
    );
    window.__CHAT_EXPORT_USERNAME__ = (name || "You").trim();
    return window.__CHAT_EXPORT_USERNAME__ || "You";
  }

  // 1) Robust selection of messages
  let messageNodes = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('[data-message-author-role]'));

  // Fallback if the attribute does not exist (different UI)
  if (messageNodes.length === 0) {
    messageNodes = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('div[class*="group"]'));
  }

  const userName = getUserDisplayName();
  const lines = [];

  const title = document.title?.trim() || "Conversation with ChatGPT";
  const date = formatDate();
  const url = window.location.href;

  lines.push(`# ${title}\n`);
  lines.push(`**Date:** ${date}`);
  lines.push(`**Source:** [chat.openai.com](${url})\n`);
  lines.push(`---\n`);

  messageNodes.forEach((node) => {
    // 2) Reliable role detection
    let role = node.getAttribute?.("data-message-author-role");

    // If we're on the "group" fallback, try to find a parent that has the role
    if (!role) {
      const parentWithRole = node.closest?.('[data-message-author-role]');
      role = parentWithRole?.getAttribute?.("data-message-author-role");
    }

    const sender =
      role === "user" ? userName :
      role === "assistant" ? "ChatGPT" :
      role ? role : "Unknown";

    // 3) Content extraction
    const block =
      node.querySelector?.('[data-message-content]') ||
      node.querySelector?.(".markdown, .prose, .whitespace-pre-wrap");

    if (!block) return;

    const content = processMessageContent(block);
    if (!content) return;

    lines.push(`### **${sender}**\n`);
    lines.push(content);
    lines.push("\n---\n");
  });

  const markdown = lines.join("\n").trim();
  const blob = new Blob([markdown], { type: "text/markdown" });

  const a = document.createElement("a");
  a.download = `ChatGPT_Conversation_${date}.md`;
  a.href = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
  document.body.appendChild(a);
  a.click();
  document.body.removeChild(a);
})();