FREE GUIDE
Set up a ChatGPT dot — and lock down what it can do
OpenAI launched always-on ChatGPT agents on 29 September. Here is how to create one, and — the part most guides skip — how to decide what it may do without asking you.
Take it with you. The whole thing as a PDF — no sign-up, no email required.
Download the free PDFWhat a dot actually is
A dot is an always-on agent inside ChatGPT. It runs on GPT-6 Astra, it has its own cloud computer and browser, and it keeps working between conversations instead of waiting for your next message.
Your first one is included at no extra cost on ChatGPT Pro (outside the EEA, Switzerland and the UK) and on Business Premium in all supported regions. Enterprise, Edu and Healthcare can try the beta once a workspace admin turns it on; it is off by default. Rollout is gradual, so access can take a few days to reach an account.
Step 1. Create it on desktop
Create your dot in the ChatGPT desktop app or in ChatGPT on desktop web, and follow the onboarding prompts. The desktop app is on Windows too.
You cannot create a dot on mobile, and dots are not supported on mobile web at all. You can talk to one on the mobile app once it exists. Messaging channels like Slack are also set up from desktop.
Step 2. Name it
You can name your dot during setup. The default handle is @yourname-dot; once you name it, the handle becomes @yourname-agentname. To change the name or avatar later, select the name or avatar to open the profile, then the pencil icon.
Step 3. Connect only the apps it needs
Open your dot's profile, then Customize → Plugins. Pick an app and read its permissions before connecting it. Over four thousand apps are reachable.
Connect fewer than you think. A connected app is not only something your dot can act on when asked — OpenAI states a dot can review that information proactively and form memories from it, even when you have not asked a question about it. Disconnecting an app later does not delete what it has already learned; only deleting the dot does that.
Step 4. Set the Custom rules — the step people skip
Open Customize → Custom rules. Describe the action a rule covers, then choose one of four behaviors:
- Take action without asking — fine for drafting, summarizing, internal notes
- Take action if pre-approved — only when you explicitly requested that action in your prompt
- Ask before taking action — it pauses and checks with you
- Hand off to you — it stops and you do it
Save with the checkmark, then review it under Custom rules. Built-in safety requirements always apply and cannot be overridden by a rule you write.
Step 5. Learn the two buttons that stop it
Pause lives in the ••• menu on your dot's profile; to start it again, select Paused · Tap to resume.
Reset deletes the dot, including its conversations, saved memories and scheduled tasks. Review the deletion notice before confirming. There is no partial reset — this is also the only way to delete memories it formed from a connected app.
What to switch on first, and what to leave alone
A sensible first week: connect your calendar and one document store, leave email off, and set every action that writes, sends, buys or shares to Ask before taking action. Give it one standing job — a morning review of your calendar and what is coming up — and read what it produces for a few days before you widen anything.
Leave local computer access off. It starts off, it is optional, and turning it on lets your dot work on files on that machine from any of its messaging channels.
Questions people also ask
Do I need ChatGPT Pro?
Pro or Business Premium. Enterprise, Edu and Healthcare can access a beta once an admin enables it, and it is off by default.
Can I create one on my phone?
No. Creation is desktop app or desktop web only, and dots are not supported on mobile web. You can talk to one on the mobile app after it exists.
Can it email people as me?
You can connect your personal email account for it to use. At launch it cannot have its own standalone email address, and it cannot call you.
What happens if it gets something wrong?
OpenAI says a dot can make mistakes, including when following your own rules, and tells you to review its work before relying on it. That is the argument for ask-before-acting on anything that leaves your account.
How do I delete what it has learned?
Reset the dot. Disconnecting a connected app does not remove information the dot already obtained from it.
Sources
What Fynl.io is, and where it fits
Fynl.io is one portal a small business runs itself on, instead of five subscriptions that do not talk to each other.
The AI runs on your own Claude or ChatGPT API key. You keep the key, you pay the model provider directly, and there is no markup on top of it. There is no SMS or phone calling yet, and we would rather say so than let you find out later.
If you point an agent at your inbox, the work it creates still has to land somewhere — Fynl.io keeps the lead, the quote and the follow-up in one place, so a dot's output becomes a job you can actually track rather than another thread you lose.