docs/start here

getting started

from download to a working bot in about two minutes.

dusk bot is a normal desktop app. there is nothing to set up first: no account, no card, no server. you open it, sign in to an ai you already use, and make a bot.

1. download it and open it

get the app from the download page.

• mac: open the .dmg, drag dusk bot into applications, and open it.
• windows: run the installer. it installs for your user only and needs no admin rights.
• linux: install the .deb on ubuntu 24.04, or run the appimage.

the install page has the details for each system.

2. sign in to your ai

dusk bot has no model of its own. your bots think with an ai you already use: claude, chatgpt, gemini, grok and others. the first screen lists the ones it can use and walks you through setting one up. pick one and sign in the usual way.

ClaudeSigned in

ChatGPTSign in

GeminiSign in

GrokSign in

no subscription? an api key works, and so does a model you run yourself. see connecting an ai.

3. make a bot

choose New bot, or press ⌘N (CtrlN on windows and linux). give it a name, pick a shape and a colour, and tell it its job in plain words. one bot, one job.

you do not have to get the job perfect. you can change a bot's name, look, job and model later, and it keeps its chats and memory.

4. hand it something real

text it the way you would text a teammate. the thing you have been putting off is a good first message.

• "summarise what came in overnight and tell me what needs me."
• "find three flights to lisbon in march under €150."
• "read this pdf and give me the five points that matter."

the bot answers in the chat and shows what it is doing while it works. it asks before the scary stuff: sending, buying, deleting.

what to try next

• make it a routine. say "do this every weekday at 8" and it becomes a routine.
• give it a computer. a bot can have its own browser and desktop that you can watch.
• teach it. tell it how you like things and it remembers.
• add a second bot. then put them in a group chat and let them hand work to each other.
• text it from your phone. see the phone app.

everything so far lives on your own computer. nothing went to us, and you did not need an account. if you later want your bots on all the time, read where bots live.

stuck? write to [email protected] and a person answers.