Manual

Before the app opens

HydroBot checks three things each time it starts: that you are signed in to an account, that your build is the current one, and that this computer can reach the internet and our account service. If one of them fails, the app shows a screen that says which check stopped it instead of opening half-working.

Create your account the first time you open the app, then sign in with your email and password. New accounts are approved by hand, so a fresh one waits for us; nothing is emailed, so message us with the address you signed up with. One account is signed in on one device at a time: signing in somewhere new asks first, and the other device is signed out when you continue.

A build that is behind updates when you ask it to. On macOS without a signing certificate the app cannot install the update itself, and points you at the installer instead. The documents page has the download links and the first-run details.

Finding your way around

The sidebar is the map. Your bots are at the top, group chats below them, and four rows at the foot: Teams, Automations, Connected apps and Settings. The search above them finds a bot, a chat or a message; ⌘K (Ctrl K on Windows and Linux) opens it from anywhere.

The composer at the bottom of a chat is where you talk. The model chip above it changes that bot's model, even mid-conversation. The Computer button opens the panel where you watch the bot work: its desktop, and a browser of its own.

Settings → Appearance decides the theme, how dense the sidebar is and what a run card shows. Settings → Language switches the app between English and Vietnamese; the language a bot replies in is a separate choice.

Your bots

A bot is a helper you hire by name. Its name becomes its job — call it Inbox, Research or Review and it takes that role — and you can refine its profile, colour and model afterwards.

New Bot creates one. Archive hides a bot without deleting its conversations; Delete removes the bot and any computer it owns, after asking you to confirm. One bot can be your Chief of Staff: it takes a brief and hands the work to the others.

Every bot keeps its own conversations and memory. Changing its model does not erase them, and an old thread can be picked up later where it stopped.

Talking to a bot

Type in the composer and press Enter. Each thread keeps its own context, and the day separators and execution timeline show what happened when.

If you are not sure how to start, type /setup and describe the job: the bot asks a few questions and sets itself up. While a turn is running you can stop it, send another message mid-turn, or open the computer panel and watch.

Reply to a message, edit your own, retry a turn, or pin a message to the top of a thread. Attach a file when the bot needs one; it works inside its own folder unless you point it somewhere else.

Group chats and teams

A group chat holds several bots and you. Write normally and the bot whose job fits answers; mention one with @ to choose who replies, or @everyone when you want the whole room to weigh in. Group chats are listed under Group chats, and you can rename one or move a bot into it from the bot's menu.

Teams is the row at the foot of the sidebar. It shows a team's bots on one canvas, lets you write instructions every bot in that team follows, and gives the team a computer of its own.

A team can also be shared through your account, so the same team exists on more than one computer. A member who needs something asks for it in the team hub, whoever takes it marks it done, and everyone sees the answer.

Where a bot works

A bot works somewhere, and that place is its computer. This computer is the default: the bot works in its own folder, and anything outside it waits for your approval. Local VM is a separate desktop on this machine that a bot can see and drive without touching your own screen.

My Cloud is an always-on computer in the cloud for work that has to continue while your laptop sleeps. It is part of a paid plan, and Settings → HydroBot Cloud shows the plan, the trial and what is included. A VPS is a Linux server you already own, added in Settings → Connections.

The Computer panel follows whichever computer a bot has: its desktop, and a browser with its own sign-ins. You can watch a turn, take over the screen, or close the panel and let the bot finish.

Approvals and receipts

Nothing risky happens behind your back. A command, a file change, a new routine or an action in a connected app arrives as a card in the chat, with Allow once and Deny; some providers also offer Always allow this session.

Every bot has an approval level — Ask for approval, Auto-accept edits, Approve for me or Full access — and it applies from the next turn. The level is one of your provider's own permission modes, so what it allows is what that provider allows. The documents page lists each level.

After you answer, the card keeps a receipt: what was actually done, and by which bot. A bot's question always waits for a person, at every level.

Apps, plugins and skills

Connected apps is the marketplace. Sign in to Gmail, Slack, GitHub, Notion or any of the others once, and every bot can use them as tools. A bot asks in the chat when it needs an app you have not connected yet.

Plugins → MCP servers is where you add a server of your own with its address and key; a connection that still needs finishing is listed there. Each bot's Access settings decide which tools it is offered, including a hand-written allow or exclude list.

Skills are written instructions for a specific job. Settings → Skills shows the library and which bots have which skill; a bot can also propose a new one, and you approve it like any other change.

Automations and routines

Automations are bots that work on a schedule. Open Automations for the calendar, drop a bot on a time, and it runs by itself; the result lands in its chat like any other turn.

A routine can repeat daily, weekly or every few minutes. If the computer was asleep when one was due, the missed runs collapse into a single catch-up when it wakes, rather than a pile of late ones.

An outside service can call a bot through a webhook address you create for it: the bot sees the event and answers in the same thread.

Code, documents and data

Ask for an app and a bot picks a folder, writes the code, runs the tests and fixes what fails. The Code tab shows the files and the terminal for that bot, and the diff of what changed.

Ask for a deck, a spreadsheet, a memo or an invoice and the bot writes a real Word, Excel or PowerPoint file, checks how it renders, and tells you where it saved it. Ask it to review a file you already have and it reports what is wrong — overflow, overlap, placeholders, broken tables — before repairing a copy.

Spreadsheets and CSV files open in a table you can sort, search and export, and a bot can chart what is in them or answer a question about the rows.

Voice and your phone

The composer takes dictation: click the microphone and speak, and the words arrive as text, transcribed on this computer. Call mode lets you talk with a bot instead of typing, and the chat keeps the transcript.

A phone pairs with a server you run, not with the desktop window: the server prints a pairing code and a link (hydrobot pair), and the iOS or Android app scans or pastes it. The phone gets its own session, which you can list and revoke with hydrobot sessions; a client code can chat and approve, but cannot create bots or change models.

Your account and plan

Settings → HydroBot account is where you sign in, change your password, set up recovery questions or a one-time recovery code, and see the device this account is signed in on.

Settings → Usage shows what the bots have spent — tokens, cost and the allowance for the week — so a routine that runs all day does not surprise you.

My Cloud is billed monthly and is cancelled from its plan page; the app says when it stops and when its files are removed. Settings → Backups exports your bots, chats and settings to one encrypted file that needs its password to restore.

Updates and help

HydroBot checks for a new build when it opens and once an hour, and installs it when you ask. A build that is behind will not run: it says which version it needs and offers to update, so you are never working in an old one by accident.

If something goes wrong, read the sentence on the app's own screen first — it names the check that stopped it. Settings → General has Export diagnostics, which writes a report of versions and the end of the log; it never includes your keys or passwords.

For anything else, ask in the community. The buttons at the top and foot of this site open the same place.