Import & Export — back up and share your Swik setup

Once your wedges are arranged the way your hand wants them, that arrangement is muscle memory. Losing it because of a fresh OS install, a new Mac, or an accidental reset is a real cost. Swik's Import/Export feature dumps everything to a portable JSON file you can keep anywhere — Dropbox, iCloud Drive, a Git repo, a shared file with a colleague. This guide covers what gets exported, what gets imported, and the selective-import controls.

Exporting your setup

Open Settings → About (the last tab) and find the Configuration section. Two buttons: Export and Import.

1. Click Export.
2. A standard macOS save panel appears. Pick a location and filename — defaults to a .json extension.
3. Decide whether to include sub-menus via the Include sub-menus in export checkbox above the buttons. On (the default) preserves your full hierarchy; off exports only the top ring, which is useful when you're sharing a layout with someone on the free tier (sub-menus are Pro-only — they'd be locked on import for non-Pro users).
4. Click Save.

You'll see a green "Settings exported successfully!" confirmation. The file is now sitting wherever you saved it, ready to be backed up, version-controlled, or sent.

What's in the file

The export is a single JSON document with five top-level keys:

{
  "slots": [ /* your wedges, including sub-menus if enabled */ ],
  "hotkeyConfig": { /* the key combination that summons the menu */ },
  "appearance": { /* theme, scale, behavior tunings, all UX config */ },
  "exportDate": "2026-04-29T10:30:00Z",
  "appVersion": "0.0.6.42"
}

The schema is stable across versions — newer Swik builds can read older exports, and older builds will skip fields they don't recognize. The appVersion field is informational; it's not used to gate compatibility.

Importing — and the selective options

Click Import. macOS file picker opens, scoped to .json files. Choose your previously-exported file. Swik validates the JSON and shows you a preview sheet with three checkboxes:

By default all three are checked — a full import. Uncheck whichever pieces you want to keep from your current config, then click Apply.

Any import is automatically pushed onto the undo stack. If the result isn't what you wanted, Cmd+Z in Settings reverts to your previous state.

Sub-menu truncation

If you import a layout that has more sub-wedges per sub-menu than your current setup allows (the sub-wedge count is configurable in Settings → Menu → Layout), Swik silently truncates the imported sub-menus to fit. Excess sub-wedges aren't kept in a hidden buffer — they're discarded on apply. So if you're moving from a Pro setup with 8 sub-wedges per ring to a free Mac, only the first 8 (or your configured count, whichever is smaller) survive.

If both Macs have the same Pro tier and the same sub-wedge count configured, this never happens — counts match, all sub-wedges import cleanly.

Common recipes

Move your setup to a new Mac

1. On the old Mac: Settings → About → Export. Save to iCloud Drive, AirDrop the file, or email it to yourself.
2. Install Swik on the new Mac. Run through onboarding, granting Accessibility.
3. Settings → About → Import. Pick the file. Leave all three options checked. Apply.
4. Done. The new Mac now has your exact layout, hotkey, and appearance.

Share a layout with a friend

Uncheck Include sub-menus in export if your friend is on the free tier — sub-menus would arrive locked on their machine. Send them the JSON. They import with all three options checked (or only Slots, if they've already configured their own hotkey).

Back up before a big experiment

About to try a wild new layout you might regret? Export first as swik-backup-2026-04-29.json. Experiment freely. If you don't like it: Import that backup file with all three options checked — same as a full reset to your last-known-good state.

Version-control your config

Some users keep their Swik export in a personal-dotfiles Git repo. Each meaningful tweak gets a commit. Reverting is git checkout followed by Import. Same model as keeping ~/.config in Git — your radial menu becomes part of your reproducible setup.

Troubleshooting