Free guide · Sep 30, 2026
Set up your first OpenAI Dot safely
Who can get a Dot, the full desktop setup, the permission settings I'd start with, and five read-only first jobs with copy-paste prompts.
The short version
A Dot is OpenAI's always-on agent inside ChatGPT. It runs on GPT-6 Astra, has its own cloud computer and browser, works across the apps you connect, and keeps making progress between conversations. You give it a goal, decide what it can do on its own, and it brings results back for your review.
This guide gets you from zero to a Dot that reads and drafts for you but can't send, share or buy anything without you. Three steps: set it up on desktop, lock down the permission settings, then give it one of the five safe first jobs at the end.
Your first Dot is included in the plan at no extra cost. Chatting with it doesn't count toward your ChatGPT usage limits. Jobs it starts in Codex or ChatGPT Work do (details in section 5).
What's in the full guide
- 011. Check you can get one
- 022. Set up your Dot, step by step
- 033. The permission settings
- 044. Five safe first jobs
- 055. Usage and cost fine print
- 06Sources