Reading history
Reading history is your own list of guides, prompt templates and threads you have opened, with the time you last opened each one. You can also keep the same list in a note or in the browser.
Reading history
The list is empty for now.
Beginner
A list of pages you have opened
A reading history answers a simple question: which explanation did you open, and when? Early on, the pages are short guides and prompt templates. A prompt template is a ready-made instruction you paste into any chat so the model gets a job, a few limits, and the shape of the reply you want.
You can start without an account. Keep a note or a bookmark folder and write four things each time you finish a page: the title, the full web address, the date, and one label such as guide or prompt. That label is what you will filter on later. If the page taught a word, add the word in your own words. A token is a chunk of text the model counts. Context is how much text it can look at in one reply.
A read mark means you have been on that page. A follow, once replies exist, is the separate choice that asks for a notice when someone answers. On an empty list, nothing has been opened and nothing is set to notify you.
The browser's own history mixes every site. A folder you named holds only the pages you decided to keep. If a site offers a reading-history switch, leave it off until you want the list, and use its delete button when you want a line gone. Leave your name, your workplace, and private files out of the note.
Make a first reading log
I am building a personal reading log for AI guides and prompt templates. A prompt template is a ready-made instruction I paste into a chat. Ask me which pages I have opened. Then make a markdown table with four columns: title, full web address, date, and a label that is either guide or prompt. If I name a term and leave it undefined, add a short plain-language definition and tell me to check it against the original page. Finish with this sentence I can put above an empty log: A read mark means I have been on that page, and a follow means I asked to be told when someone replies. Use only pages I give you.
Intermediate
The fix and the table you came back to
After the first guides, you come back for two kinds of pages: a troubleshooting thread and a comparison table. A troubleshooting thread walks through one failure in order. A comparison table puts choices in columns, such as price, what stays on your computer, and what is sent to a service on the internet.
Give every row a type: fix, table, code, or prompt. Code means a command, a configuration file, or a short program. A configuration file is the text that sets how a program runs. A prompt is the instruction you paste into a chat. A filter for code and prompts hides the other rows, so you can reuse a command that worked.
Add one line in your own words, such as "stopped on an out-of-memory error". Out of memory means the job asked for more memory than the machine had free. On a graphics card that memory is video memory, often shortened to VRAM. Write the error name. Leave out any file that holds passwords, keys, or someone else's data.
Save the time you last opened the thread. That time marks where you stopped reading. Replies dated later show as new when you come back. Follow is a second choice: it asks the forum to tell you. The unread pointer is what updates your list.
Store the title, address, time, type, and that one line, then reopen the thread for the full text. On the forum, keep the row in this browser or, if you ask, on your account. Every row, and the whole list, will have a delete button.
Sort pages you already opened
I will paste AI pages I have already opened. Some are troubleshooting threads, which walk through one failure. Some are comparison tables, which put choices in columns. Some contain code (a command, a configuration file, or a short program) or a prompt (an instruction I paste into a chat). Group them by those types. For each item, write a one-line note using only details I supplied, including the error name if I mentioned one. Out of memory means the job asked for more memory than the machine had free; on a graphics card that memory is video memory, often called VRAM. Then show a second list that contains only the code and prompt rows. Use only items I paste.
Expert
A record you can filter and erase
A technical row should make the page easy to find and leave the work in the thread. Store a thread id, the canonical address, the title, a type, and the last-opened time in UTC, Coordinated Universal Time, a clock that stays the same worldwide. Use the types code, prompt, derivation, and config. A derivation is a mathematical argument written step by step. A config file sets how a program runs. If you opened a glossary entry, store the term beside the row.
Leave the post body, file contents, and screenshots in the thread. A config file often contains paths, passwords, or host names.
Browser localStorage keeps that text for one origin, the scheme, host, and port together. setItem writes, getItem reads, removeItem deletes one entry, and clear deletes everything the site stored. The HTML Standard sets no expiry. The text stays until the page deletes it, you clear site data, or the browser drops it.
An account copy tied to a person is personal data, because it shows which pages they opened. State the retention period beside a switch that starts off, and delete the rows when they ask or withdraw consent. Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive covers storage on the device: it is allowed with consent, or when it is strictly necessary for a service the person explicitly asked for.
The unread pointer compares the last-opened time with the latest reply, so newer replies can be marked new. Follow is a separate choice that asks for a notice. Filtering on type is how "code and prompts only" works.
Specify a deletable history record
Write a field list for a personal reading-history record. Fields: thread id, canonical URL, title, type (code, prompt, derivation, or config), last-opened time in UTC (Coordinated Universal Time, a clock that stays the same worldwide), and an optional glossary term. A derivation is a mathematical argument written step by step. A config file sets how a program runs. The record stores a pointer to the thread and leaves out the post body, file contents, and screenshots, because those often include paths or passwords. Describe an unread pointer as last-opened time compared with the latest reply time, and a follow flag as a separate choice that asks for a notice. Show a filter that returns only code and prompt rows, a delete for one row, and a delete for the whole list. State that browser localStorage keeps the text for one site origin until the page deletes it, the person clears site data, or the browser drops it, and that an account copy is personal data kept only for a stated period and removed when the person asks, under GDPR Article 17 and the storage-limitation principle. The switch starts off. Mention that Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive covers storing information on the device, allowed with consent or when strictly necessary for a service the person explicitly requested. Plain language. No sample users and no sample posts.
Three marks, and the empty list
A read mark means you have been on that page, and a follow means you asked to be told when someone replies.
| Mark | What it records |
|---|---|
| Read | You opened the thread. |
| Unread pointer | The time of that visit. A reply dated later can show as new when you return. |
| Follow | You asked for a notice when someone replies. |
The pointer updates the list you see on your next visit. A notice goes out after you turn follow on.
What one row holds
Write the time in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) when the log will move between computers, so the stamp stays put when a local clock shifts for summer.
| Field | What you write |
|---|---|
| Title | The page title |
| Address | The full URL |
| Opened | The date and time of your last visit |
| Type | guide, prompt, fix, table, code, derivation, or config |
| Note | One line in your own words, such as the error name |
| Term | A glossary word you opened, if you want the definition again |
The row points at the thread. The post text, the config file, and any password stay in the original place.
Turn it on, then wipe it
- When the list is live, recording stays off until you turn it on.
- You will be able to delete one row from the page, or the whole list there.
- A browser-only copy sits in local storage for this site. Mozilla's documentation says a private window drops that copy when the last private tab closes. Clear cookies and local storage together: the HTML Standard warns that clearing cookies alone can leave the other copy in place.
- An account copy is personal data. IMY, the Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection, says personal data stays only as long as the purpose needs, and that you ask the organization holding it if you want erasure. Their erasure page, in Swedish, lists when deletion applies and when another legal duty can mean some records stay. Ask in writing and expect an answer within a month.
- Article 7 of the GDPR says withdrawing consent has to be as easy as giving it.
A shared community DGX Station would help when a history row points at a model job that ran out of video memory, the memory on a graphics card, on a home computer, because you could rerun those settings on the shared machine. About the shared station
Sources
- HTML Standard: Web storageThe localStorage rules: one shelf per origin, setItem, getItem, removeItem and clear, no expiry in the API, and why browsers should clear it together with cookies.
- MDN: Window.localStorageHow long the shelf lasts, including that a private window clears it when the last private tab closes. MDN text is under CC-BY-SA; this page paraphrases it.
- Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR), official textThe official regulation. Article 5 covers data minimisation and storage limitation, Article 7 covers consent and withdrawal, and Article 17 is the right to erasure.
- IMY: How long can we keep personal data?The Swedish authority's plain statement of storage limitation: keep personal data no longer than the purpose needs, then delete it or remove the link to the person.
- IMY: Rätt till radering (in Swedish)In Swedish. When you can ask an organization to delete personal data, the one-month reply time, and the cases where they may keep records.
- EDPB Guidelines 2/2023, final version pageThe European Data Protection Board's record of the 16 October 2024 guidelines on Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive, with the PDF download.
- EDPB Guidelines 2/2023, PDFThe full analysis: the rule is wider than cookies, storage means placing information on the device, and the article allows that with consent or when it is strictly necessary for a service the person asked for.