Get started with ChatGPT dots

If you want an assistant to help keep an ongoing responsibility organized, ChatGPT dots may be worth a small trial. Start by checking whether your account has access, then give your dot one job you understand well. You can learn a great deal before connecting a mailbox or your own computer.

This guide is for nontechnical business owners. Its practical outcome is a first responsibility brief, one reviewed result and a record of the access you chose. Public product instructions were checked on October 10, 2026.

Check access before arranging setup

OpenAI describes dots as a gradual rollout. The current eligible groups include Pro 100, Pro 200 and Pro 500 users over 18 outside the EEA, UK and Switzerland, plus worldwide rollouts for Business Premium and Enterprise. Enterprise requires an administrator to enable dots. Eligibility does not mean the feature appears immediately. Official availability details.

Check the account and workspace you intend to use. If dots is absent, consult the current official access guidance or your workspace administrator. An independent setup provider cannot guarantee that a rollout reaches your account or obtain access outside the vendor's requirements.

Before paying for assistance, ask what happens if your account is not yet eligible. A useful preparatory session can define the intended task, but that should be clearly distinguished from completing live onboarding.

Choose the device that suits you

Current instructions support creating a dot in the ChatGPT mobile app, desktop app or a desktop browser. Mobile web is not supported. OpenAI's October 5–9 release update confirms mobile creation, including naming the dot and connecting plugins. Mobile creation update.

Use the latest mobile app if you prefer your phone. Choose a desktop screen if reading account permissions or reviewing longer documents is easier there. Begin with the device you can use comfortably; the trial should test the work rather than your patience with a small screen.

Follow the introduction and choose a name. Appearance choices can wait. More important is a clear description of what help you want and how you will judge the first result.

Leave unnecessary connections for later

The getting-started guide allows you to skip plugin connections and add them later. Connecting your own computer is optional: the dot has its own cloud computer. Local work requires your computer online with the ChatGPT app open. Official getting-started guide.

For a first trial, use a public document or fictional material you have permission to provide. Write down why any new connection is necessary before approving it. There is no prize for connecting the largest number of apps on the first day.

Ask your helper to explain unfamiliar permission language in plain terms. If a grant reaches more information than the trial requires, decide whether the benefit justifies that scope. Keep personal and business account ownership clear, especially when a staff member or consultant assists with setup.

Write your first responsibility brief

Choose something that changes over time but has an obvious source of truth. Preparing a checklist from an approved event plan, tracking questions in a sample project or identifying changes between two versions of a public brochure are suitable planning exercises.

Your brief should answer five questions: what matters, which source is authoritative, what finished work looks like, which decisions remain yours, and when the responsibility ends. Avoid “help run my business,” which leaves too much undefined.

Try an original starter request such as: “Use this fictional workshop plan to prepare a list of deadlines and missing decisions. Show which section supports each item. Keep proposed actions as drafts for me to review. Stop after this first report.” The limited finish line makes the result easier to assess.

A fictional first responsibility

Fictional example: Irene operates Maple Table Classes, an invented cookery workshop business. She supplies a made-up plan for a weekend bread class. It lists an instructor, a room and a materials deadline, but the room booking remains unconfirmed.

Irene asks her dot to identify what she needs to decide. A useful result should preserve the difference between “room requested” and “room booked.” It should also identify the missing confirmation without contacting anyone or inventing an agreement.

She then provides a revised plan with a new materials deadline and asks for an updated list. This tests whether the assistant follows the current document. Irene checks the dates herself and records how much correction the result required.

Review the result and the stopping controls

OpenAI's controls distinguish pausing the dot's main task, stopping delegated tasks and canceling scheduled work. Stopping work does not undo actions already completed. Official controls.

Before expanding beyond the first report, locate the relevant activity and schedule controls. Ask for a plain explanation of anything still running. Keep the original brief and your corrections together so another person can understand what the trial authorized.

Also review costs. A dot can involve other products' work and usage allowances; confirm current plan details rather than assuming unlimited delegated work. Keep InstallAI assistance fees separate from vendor subscriptions and any additional charges.

First-session checklist

1. Verify current eligibility and the correct business account or workspace.
2. Choose the mobile app, desktop app or desktop browser you prefer.
3. Follow the introduction and leave unnecessary connections for later.
4. Write one responsibility with approved sources and a clear finish line.
5. Test normal, missing-information and revised-source examples.
6. Review important facts and locate the activity and stopping controls.
7. Decide whether a specific additional connection is justified.

Bring your responsibility brief to InstallAI to discuss independent onboarding assistance. Agree on the supported account, first test and handover before proceeding. A useful setup leaves you knowing what the dot can access, what it is doing and when it needs you.