Your first minute

The first time you open Conch, it introduces itself and asks a few things, one at a time. Each one can be skipped, and each can be changed later in Settings.

Getting to know each other

1. Your name. Type it and press ↵. Conch uses it to greet you.
2. What you'd like a hand with. Tap as many as fit: writing, coding, research, email and calendar, and more. Conch keeps them as one sentence in Settings → About you, where you can change the words.
3. How it should sound. Choose Warm, Concise, Playful or Precise, and Conch says hello in that voice as you choose.

A mind to think with

A provider is what answers: an assistant already on your computer, a model you hold a key for, or a model that runs right here. Conch finds what you have and puts it first.

1. Pick a provider. Not sure? Compare them.
2. Press its one button: Connect, Sign in or Install. Conch shows the exact command it runs, and carries on by itself when it's done.

Once one works, Conch moves on by itself. I’ll do this later skips it for now. You can connect more at any time in Settings → Providers, and every connected one is in the model picker at once.

The apps you live in

Conch shows the apps that suit what you picked, like GitHub for coding or Gmail for email. Tap one to connect it in a step or two. Or skip them: when an app would help in a chat, Conch offers it right there. Apps that need more setup, like Google Calendar, are in Apps.

If Conch finds another assistant on your computer, it offers to bring your things next.

Somewhere to start

Conch ends with three things you could ask first, made from what you picked. Choose one and a chat opens with it typed in, ready to send or change. Or press Open Conch and start with anything.

To see the welcome again, use Replay welcome in Settings → General.

Say hello

Type in the box and press ↵. The answer flows in as it's written, and anything it does (reading a file, running a command) appears as a step you can open.

When it wants to do something that matters, it asks, right in the chat, with one button to allow it and one to refuse.

Three controls worth knowing

The model picker, in the composer. Every model from every provider you connected, with how hard it should think. A chat can move to another provider mid-way and keep its thread.

The mode, beside it. How much your assistant may do without asking, from Ask first to Full trust. What each mode means.

Find anything, with CtrlK. One box for chats, messages, models, skills, apps and settings. Typos are fine.

Type / to see every command, or read the whole list.

Where next

• Take it with you: Conch on your phone.
• Let it use your tools: connect an app.
• Teach it something once: skills.