Set up a bot that works

The bots that pay off do one recurring job well. This page takes you from an idea to a bot that does that job on its own.

1. Pick one job

Choose work you do every week that takes judgment, not just copying: sorting email, preparing for meetings, watching competitors, writing a weekly report. Write down, in a sentence each, what done well looks like and what is not its job.

Not sure where to start? Ask your first bot "what could you take off my plate?", add a ready-made bot from the Marketplace, or start from one of the Ready-made setups. A one-off question doesn't need a new bot: ask any bot.

2. Create it and tell it its job

Choose Create (the + at the top of the sidebar), then New bot, and name it after the job: "Inbox", "Research", "Acme client". You can also ask a bot in chat to make one for you.

In its chat, describe the job the way you would to a new colleague. The bot writes a first version of its instructions from that. Open them under Advanced → Instructions, read them, and tighten anything vague. See Write good instructions.

3. Give it context once

About you: your name, role, company and how you like things written. Ask a bot to save it to shared memory, so all your bots in the space know it.
Documents: send a bot a Google Drive folder link to learn, for policies, price lists or past work. See Knowledge sources.
Your look: owners and admins add the brand's colors and fonts in Design, so pages and documents match.

4. Connect only what it needs

Ask for each app the job uses ("connect my Gmail") and choose Authorize on the card. Start with the fewest apps the job needs: a bot chooses tools better from a short list. Add another when it hits a gap. See Connect apps.

For a service with only an API key or a website login, ask the bot to save it; you type the value into a protected card, never into the chat. See Reusable credentials.

5. Decide what it can do alone

New accounts start in Auto review: a model lets through actions that fit what you asked, and the bot asks you before ones that go further and are hard to undo. Choose Ask me to approve every action that changes something yourself, until you trust the bot with a job.

When a card asks for the same safe step every time, choose Always allow this tool.
For anything the bot must never do, such as deleting files in a shared drive, add a Block rule in Settings → Approvals.
Approval settings cover your whole account, or one space you Customize. Use Never ask only where you would let every bot run all of its tools unattended, such as a space of its own.

See Approvals.

6. Try it on real work

Give it five to ten real tasks, including one it should stop and ask about. When it gets something wrong, have it fix its instructions, not just the reply. Turn on Show tool activity in Settings → General under Advanced to see which apps and tools it used.

7. Put it on a schedule

Ask for a routine in plain words: "every weekday at 8am, sort my inbox and post the summary here". Then open Routines in the bot's settings and choose Test run.

Watch the first few runs. A routine that reaches a step needing your approval posts the card and notifies you, then waits; if nobody answers, it's stopped after a day. Approve the steps you're happy to run unattended with Always allow this tool. A simple daily check can use a cheaper model under the routine's Advanced. See Routines.

8. Keep it sharp

Once a week, look at Activity in the sidebar for runs that failed or wait on you. Now and then:

Open the bot's Memory and fix or delete notes that are wrong.
Ask "what would you change in your instructions?" It has seen where it went wrong.
After a task you'll repeat, say "save that as a skill". See Skills.
Check Settings → Usage for what each bot costs.

One bot or several

Start with one bot per job. Split a bot when:

its instructions fill up with "if it's about X, do this";
it keeps picking the wrong app for a task;
two jobs need different approvals, models or schedules;
work must stay apart: a client's files (use a space) or sign-ins (use a Private computer).

Keep one bot when it's one job with several steps. When several of your bots need the same procedure, save it once as a skill instead of making a new bot. Skills are each person's own, so on a team, put a procedure everyone needs in the shared bot's instructions.

Bots work together: each reads the others' How other bots see it line to decide whom to ask, a group chat puts several on one job, and your primary bot suggests work across them. Apps you connect work for all your bots in the space, so a new bot doesn't mean connecting them again.

What a bot can set up for you

Ask in the chat, and the bot does it, showing a card when you need to approve or sign in:

Rename itself, rewrite its instructions, or switch its model, thinking level or voice.
Create routines, pages, skills and new bots, with instructions and a first task.
Connect apps and MCP servers, and save API keys and logins through a protected card.
Remember things, save shared memory, learn a Google Drive folder, and save your design system.
Create a space, or change your timezone.
With Manage the bots it creates on, organize your sidebar, make group chats, and set your other bots' instructions, models and routines. See Bots that manage bots.

These stay in your hands, in Settings or the bot's settings: approval mode and rules, disabled tools, the bot's computer and permissions, model providers and keys, voice and memory providers, chat-app links, webhook and Git triggers, people, roles and billing, and deleting anything.