Your first conversation

This page walks you through Nod's onboarding, your first tasks and what to do when Nod needs you.

Onboarding at a glance

Nod opens onboarding the first time you set up an assistant. After the welcome screen, Nod starts preparing its private computer in the background while you optionally connect email, choose an AI provider if none is set up yet, and decide whether to share conversation traces. If you connected email, Nod reads a small sample of it in the meantime to suggest first ideas in chat.

For a local desktop assistant, you connect accounts while Nod prepares its computer. When you connect to a server, setup and saved connections belong to that server. A server that already completed onboarding opens your existing chat.

flowchart TD
  start[Welcome] --> email[Email or skip]:::muted
  email --> model[Connect a model<br/>if needed]:::accent
  model --> privacy[Conversation<br/>traces]:::muted
  privacy --> chat([Why Nod and<br/>first ideas in chat]):::go

Go through onboarding

Choose your assistant. The welcome screen shows what sets Nod apart. Select Get started. In the desktop app, select Connect to a server instead to use an existing assistant. The desktop app starts preparing its private computer as soon as the welcome screen opens, and the web app as soon as you continue. It keeps preparing in the background while you go through onboarding; there's nothing to watch.
Connect email (optional). Select Connect via Composio next to Gmail or Outlook, then sign in and review the permissions, or select Skip for now. Google or Microsoft asks you to allow Composio, the service Nod uses to connect apps, as the note under the buttons says. Setup continues after the connection is confirmed. Once it is, Nod starts reading a small sample of recent email in the background to learn what you work on and suggest first ideas. From that sample it keeps only the names of apps that send you notifications, never the email itself. Failed sign-in does not erase your earlier progress. If you go Back, Manage opens the same account manager as Apps.
Connect a model (only if none is set up). Choose a provider, or select More providers to search all supported services. The OpenAI row notes that you can sign in with a ChatGPT Plus or Pro plan at no extra cost. See Connect a model for required credentials and cloud settings. Nod skips this step when a model connection already works, including one configured through server environment variables.

To use an OpenAI-compatible model server, choose Your own server and enter an address reachable from Nod's server. Choose a model if prompted, then select Continue.

While setting up a provider, Back returns to the provider list. From that list, Back returns to email setup.
Help improve Nod. Nod explains conversation traces and asks whether you'll share them. Select Share traces or Not now; either one saves your choice and continues. Traces stay off unless you choose to share them. Nod also says that it shares basic usage data, which is on by default. You can change both later in Settings → General. Traces appear only where they're available; see Conversation traces.

Setup finishes after the privacy step in the web app or a desktop client connected to a server. For a local assistant, Nod also turns on Open at login so it's ready when you sign in to your computer. You can turn it off in Settings → General. If its computer is still preparing, Nod shows a loading screen and opens chat when ready. A startup failure offers Try again without clearing your connections. If setup needs a model connection, Nod sends you back to that step.

You can add more later from Apps and Channels in the sidebar. See Connect apps and Channels.

To revisit setup in your browser, open /onboarding?replay=1 on your Nod address. This returns to Welcome while keeping saved connections and settings.

In the desktop app, Replay onboarding opens setup again without deleting saved connections or preferences. While first setup is still running, it returns to your current step. Links to other Nod pages wait until setup finishes; the Apps return link from sign-in is ignored. For a separate empty test install on a Mac, use the Mac test installer; it creates a new isolated profile.

Start your first task

Nod opens the conversation with a short hello: tell it what you'd like off your plate or start with an idea, and it checks with you before it sends, buys or deletes anything you didn't ask for. Reply in chat, or ask for a task directly. There is no required interview. What you share follows the normal chat memory settings.

After the first chat introduction, choose Enable notifications to hear from Nod while you’re away, or Not now to dismiss the offer. Nod does not enable notifications just because you open chat. In the web app, your browser asks for permission after you select Enable. Your browser and system settings control delivery. You can change the choice in Settings → General. Enabling alerts does not authorize app monitoring or scheduled work.

Nod then shows idea cards. The first three are one to do once and two that repeat. When your connected tools, such as email, have useful recent activity, they're based on a small sample of it; otherwise they're general suggestions. Nod's message above them says where it looked. The cards after them add common ideas, such as a morning brief on your day or a Friday recap. A picked idea might be an upcoming meeting to prepare for, a conversation waiting on you, or a recurring report. Meeting suggestions use the current time and, when known, your time zone to avoid preparation for events that have already started, ended, or been cancelled. It uses only available read operations and respects your rules. Preparing suggestions never sends messages, changes your accounts, or starts ongoing work.

If a tool can't be read or has nothing useful to surface, Nod suggests work without claiming it found something. You can ignore the cards and type any request.

Under the cards, Nod says you can ask it for more ideas. If you get notification email from apps you haven't connected, such as Slack, GitHub or Linear, it names up to three of them, since connecting them helps it find more. To get more ideas, just ask in the chat. If apps that would show Nod more of your work aren't connected yet, Nod first lists up to three of them, each with a Connect button below its message. Connect any of them, then ask again: Nod looks through the newly connected apps and suggests ideas from what it finds. With nothing useful left to connect, Nod suggests ideas right away.

The whole card is the button. A card that works in one of your tools shows that tool's logo under its title, and a card that repeats shows Repeats. Select a card to send its title to Nod as your message. The card shows On it… while its turn or saved task works. It shows Waiting for you when that work needs your attention. Waiting means a saved task waits for someone or something else. Done or Set up means its saved tasks are complete. Request sent means the chat turn ended without a saved task. Read the delivered result to check what Nod completed.

Nod keeps the saved tasks started from these cards available with recent tasks, so a card can still show completion when you return to the first conversation later.

You can get useful work without connected apps. For example, paste three supplier quotes and ask Nod to compare their prices and delivery times. Include your deadline and ask for a recommendation. Check the delivered comparison in chat. A starting card or an acknowledgement is not the result.

Use Send feedback in chat when you want to report a problem or suggest a change. New setup does not open a feedback hint over your first result.

Write a good first request

Say what done looks like: "Compare these three suppliers and put the price and delivery time in a table."
Name the account or site: "Download last month's invoice from billing.example.com with my saved login."
Say whether to send or draft: "Draft a reply to the Northstar quote. Don't send it."
Ask for a schedule in plain words: "Every Monday at 9 am, send me a summary of new client email."

You can keep writing while Nod works. Nod reads new messages before its next step.

When Nod needs you

Nod needs	What you see	What you do
A choice or a missing detail	A question in the chat	Reply in the chat
Your OK for an action	"Reply yes to go ahead, no to skip it, or tell me what to change."	Reply yes or no
A password, code or card	A private form, such as Sign in or Approve payment	Enter it in the form, not the chat
You to use a website	A live browser view in chat	Take over, then select Return to Nod

What you type in a private form goes to the website, not to the model. Nod never asks for a password, code, card number or API key in the chat. See Approvals and the trust check and Vault.

Stop Nod

To stop Nod, select Stop, the square button next to the send button. It shows while Nod is working. Nod stops the current work and cancels anything still queued. Stopping can't undo an action that already started, such as an email that's already on its way.