Turn what you know into an editable family tree with AI

Use short sentences and repeat names where a pronoun could be unclear. “Maya is Priya’s daughter” is easier to interpret than “she is her daughter.” Say who is married to whom and name both parents of a child when you know them. Separate people who share a first name with distinct full names.

For example: “Elena and Mateo are spouses. They have two children, Sofia and Daniel. Sofia is married to Alex. Sofia and Alex have a daughter, Luna.” This gives the draft a clear structure without requiring dates, places, or a long family history.

Begin with one branch or two or three generations. The description field accepts up to 1,000 characters. Include only information needed to identify the people and their connections. You can add photographs and further details later in the editor.

Leave out facts you do not know. AI cannot establish a biological relationship or verify a date just because a name appears in your description. Avoid including sensitive details that are unnecessary for building the tree. Rootstory supports descriptions in many languages, including mixed-language descriptions.

Sign in, open My Family Trees, and choose Build with AI. Enter your description in “What do you already know?” and choose Generate Family Tree. Rootstory creates a private tree named AI Generated Family Tree and opens it for you.

Rename the tree to something meaningful and review its description. The original prompt is included in the generated tree’s description, so check that text before you later share or publish the tree. Use Edit Tree to make changes to people and connections.

Compare the people shown with your original description. Look for missing relatives, duplicate people, swapped parents, and relationships assigned to the wrong person. Check siblings through their parents rather than assuming that nearby nodes prove a particular connection.

Correct the draft in the editor, then ask a relative to review the same branch. Add dates only when you have a reliable basis for them. Preserve disagreements as questions in your working notes rather than choosing the version that makes the diagram look complete.

This workflow organizes family knowledge; it does not turn an AI result into verified ancestry. A family story can suggest what to investigate next, while documents and conversations help you decide which details belong in the tree. Return to the draft as new evidence arrives.