How to Set Up a ChatGPT Dot: 3 Steps and 6 Jobs to Give It First
Set up your ChatGPT Dot in three steps and put it to work watching things for you: a flight price, a house or apartment listing, a sold-out item, new job postings, your morning, and a trip you're planning. You get the setup steps and the exact words for all six jobs, plus a version of each you can run in regular ChatGPT today.
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A ChatGPT Dot can watch things for you so you can stop checking. The flight you’re hoping gets cheaper. The apartment that hasn’t been listed yet. The job posting that goes up early and is crowded with applicants by lunch. You tell your Dot once, it checks for you every day, and it messages you when there’s something to see. Below are the three steps to set yours up and six jobs to give it first, with the exact words for each one.
A Dot is an always-on agent inside ChatGPT. It has its own computer in the cloud, it keeps working after you close the app, and it notifies you when a job is finished or when it needs something from you. You give it a job once, in plain words, and it keeps doing that job.
Dots are on ChatGPT's Pro plans, which start at $100 a month, and on Business Premium and Enterprise. You set yours up in the ChatGPT desktop app or a desktop browser, and you can keep talking to it in the phone app as that update reaches you. Not on one of those plans? You can still run all six jobs today. Each one below comes with a version for regular ChatGPT, so you can start now and hand the same jobs to a Dot later.
Regular ChatGPT waits for you. You ask, it answers, and it stops until you ask again. A Dot works the other way around. You give it a job that keeps going, like “check this flight every morning,” and it keeps at it in the background. When it finds something or needs a decision, it messages you. OpenAI launched Dots on September 29, 2026.
Three steps get you going, the same three from the video.
- Open ChatGPT on your computer and select Dots. Use the desktop app or a desktop browser, then follow the setup prompts. The two screens you’ll see are explained just below.
- Give it a name. Your Dot says hello and asks, “Want to give me a name?” Type one. Mine is Grace. You can also choose its character, its shape, color, and eyes, with Customize your dot, and change them anytime.
- Give it a specific job. Type it in plain words, the way you’d ask a person, with the details that matter. The six jobs below are ready to paste.
Watch it work. Your Dot has its own cloud computer, so your laptop doesn’t have to stay on. You can open that computer and watch it work in real time: in your Dot’s chat, open Your dot’s computer. You’ll see its browser doing the job, with the line “Your dot has control” and a Take over button. Click Take over if you want to drive for a moment, and Return control to hand it back.
Between step 1 and step 2, ChatGPT shows you two screens. Here’s what each one is asking, so you know what to click.
“Make your dot more helpful.” This screen lists Email, Calendar, Contacts, and Drive. Click Continue with Google to connect them. You pick which ones with switches, then sign in to Google and tick the permission boxes. Or click Continue without connecting additional plugins to skip it. You can add them later, and the steps are just below.
“Choose where your dot can work.” The choices are Your dot’s computer and Your local computer. Leave it on your Dot’s computer and click Continue. That’s the one that keeps working while your own computer is closed.
Here’s which jobs need which connection, so you know what to say yes to.
How to connect your calendar or your email later. If you skipped the first screen, you can still add them.
- In ChatGPT, open the Plugins tab.
- Search for the one you need, like Google Calendar or Gmail, and open it.
- Click the plus button to install it, and sign in when it asks.
Your Dot can also ask for a connection itself when a job needs one. Open the request it sends you and follow it.
For Google, you sign in on Google’s own page and tick the boxes for what your Dot may see. When a website needs a login, your Dot shows you a private sign-in form. Type your password there, never into the chat.
Describe work that keeps going, not a one-time request. The trick is telling it four things: the job, the details, how often to check, and when to notify you. Two more make a job even safer: when to stop, and what to leave alone. "Tell me, but don't book anything" is the most useful kind of sentence you can give a Dot. It lets you hand over the watching and keep the final say.
Start with any of these six. The first is the one from the video, and the other five work the same way. Each one has the words to give your Dot, and under it, the version to paste into regular ChatGPT if you don’t have a Dot yet.
About the brackets. Anything in [square brackets] is a blank for you. Type your own detail in its place and delete the brackets.
1. Watch a flight price
You stop refreshing the airline page. Your Dot checks every morning and tells you the moment the price is right. This is the job from the video, the one I gave Grace: “Check round-trip flights from Los Angeles to New York every morning. Depart November first, return November fifth. One adult, economy. Message me when you find a fare under $375, including taxes.”
Notice the four things in it: the job (check flights), the details (the cities, the dates, one adult, economy), how often (every morning), and when to notify (a fare under $375 with taxes). Grace filled in the rest herself: all three New York airports and a daily check through the end of October. The version below spells everything out, so your Dot is watching for exactly the trip you mean.
Tell your Dot:
Check round-trip flights from [your city] to [where you're going], leaving [date] and coming back [date], for [1] traveler in economy. Include every airport near both cities. Check every morning until [the day before you leave]. Tell me the moment the total price per person drops under [$375], with taxes and fees included. When you tell me, give me the airline, the flight times, the number of stops, and the link. Don't book anything.No Dot yet? Paste this into ChatGPT:
Search for round-trip flights from [your city] to [where you're going], leaving [date] and coming back [date], for [1] traveler in economy. Show me the three cheapest options with the airline, the flight times, the number of stops, and the total price with taxes and fees. Then tell me if leaving a day earlier or a day later would be cheaper.2. Watch for a house, an apartment, or a car
The good ones go fast. Your Dot sees a new listing the morning it goes up, and only tells you about the ones that fit. The words below are for an apartment. For a house or a car, swap in the site you use, what you’re looking for, and your price.
Tell your Dot:
Check [Zillow, Apartments.com, or the site you use] every morning for [2-bedroom apartments] in [your neighborhood or zip code] under [$1,800] a month. Must have: [parking and a washer and dryer]. Nice to have: [a yard]. Skip anything that [doesn't allow pets]. Tell me only when a new listing matches, with the link, the price, the address, and the day it was listed. Don't contact anyone.No Dot yet? Paste this into ChatGPT:
Search [the site you use] for [2-bedroom apartments] in [your neighborhood or zip code] under [$1,800] a month. Must have: [parking and a washer and dryer]. Skip anything that [doesn't allow pets]. Show me the newest listings in a table with the price, the address, the day it was listed, and the link.3. Tell you when something is back in stock or drops in price
The sold-out stroller, the sneakers in your size, the mixer you’ll only buy on sale.
Tell your Dot:
Check this page every morning: [link to the product]. Tell me when it's back in stock in [size or color], or when the price drops below [$]. If another store has the same item for less, tell me that too, with the link. Stop checking on [date]. Don't buy it.No Dot yet? Paste this into ChatGPT:
Look at this product page: [link]. Tell me if it's in stock in [size or color], what it costs today, and whether another store has the same item for less. Give me the link to the best price.4. Watch for new job postings
You see the posting the day it goes up, while the list of applicants is still short.
Tell your Dot:
Each weekday at 7 AM [your time zone], check LinkedIn Jobs and Indeed for [job title] jobs within 25 miles of [city], or fully remote, posted in the last day and paying at least [$]. Skip anything that requires [a degree or certification you don't have]. Tell me only about the ones that fit, with the company, the pay if it's listed, the top three requirements, and the link. Don't apply to anything.No Dot yet? Paste this into ChatGPT:
Search LinkedIn Jobs and Indeed for [job title] jobs within 25 miles of [city], or fully remote, posted in the last 7 days and paying at least [$]. Skip anything that requires [a degree or certification you don't have]. Show me the 10 best matches in a table with the company, the pay if it's listed, the top three requirements, and the link.5. Have your morning ready before you are
One short message with the day in it, waiting when you pick up your phone.
Connect your calendar first. On the setup screen called “Make your dot more helpful,” click Continue with Google, switch on Google Calendar, and sign in. Already finished setup? Open the Plugins tab in ChatGPT, search for Google Calendar or the calendar you use, click the plus button to install it, and sign in.
Tell your Dot:
Each weekday at 7 AM [your time zone], send me a short morning brief: what's on my calendar today, when I need to leave for the first thing, the weather in [your city], and anything you're watching for me that changed overnight. If two things on my calendar overlap, tell me. Keep it to five lines. Don't change anything on my calendar.No Dot yet? Paste this into ChatGPT each morning:
Here is my calendar for today: [paste it]. Give me a five-line brief with what's first, when I need to leave, anything that overlaps, the weather in [your city], and what I should get ready before I go.6. Keep a trip or an event on track
The reunion, the wedding weekend, the family trip. Your Dot keeps the list so it stops living in your head.
Connect your email first, if the plans are arriving there. Look at the setup screen called “Make your dot more helpful.” If Email already says Connected, you’re set. If it doesn’t, or you’ve already finished setup, open the Plugins tab in ChatGPT, search for Gmail or the email you use, click the plus button to install it, and sign in. If nobody is emailing you about it, skip this and paste the plan into the chat.
Tell your Dot:
Help me keep [the family reunion on July 12] on track. Use the plan and the emails I share with you to keep one list: decisions we've made, deadlines, who has answered and who hasn't, and what we're still waiting on. Every Monday at 8 AM [your time zone], send me what's due that week. Message me right away if a deadline is at risk. Draft replies for my review, but don't send them.No Dot yet? Paste this into ChatGPT with your notes:
I'm planning [the family reunion on July 12]. Here are my notes and the emails so far: [paste them]. Make one list of every decision still open, every deadline, who has answered and who hasn't, and who we're waiting on. Put the most urgent first.Start with one job. Give your Dot job 1, the flight, and let it run for a few days. You’ll see how it reports back, and you’ll know how you want the next five worded.
Keep it on watching first. Every job above ends with a “don’t” line. That keeps your Dot finding things while you stay the one who books, buys, and replies. When you trust a job, you can loosen that line.
Set your rules once. In ChatGPT, go to Settings, then Personalization, then Custom rules under Permissions. Click Add, describe the action in a few words, like “sending an email” or “buying something,” pick how your Dot should handle it, and click Add rule. There are four choices: take action without asking, take action when you say so, ask before taking action, and hand off to you. “Ask before taking action” is a good place to begin.
Tell it where to reach you. One sentence does it: “Keep routine updates in ChatGPT and message me right away when something needs a decision.” If you use Slack or Teams, open your Dot’s profile, click Add, and connect it. Your Dot will reach you there.
See what it’s doing. Open your Dot’s profile and choose Activity to see its progress and results. Scheduled shows every job that runs on a timer, with its instructions and its time, and you can switch any of them off there. Pause stops the job it’s on, and Resume starts it again.
Talk to it like a person on your team. A few follow-ups that help:
- “What are you working on, and what do you need from me?”
- “Send me the morning brief at 6:30 from now on.”
- “Raise the flight price to $350 and keep watching.”
- “Stop the apartment search until Monday.”
When a job isn’t coming back the way you pictured it, the fix is almost always one more sentence.
You check before you act. OpenAI says it plainly: review important results and their sources, because your Dot can make mistakes. Open the airline’s page before you book. Read the listing before you call.
A stop isn’t an undo. Stopping a job doesn’t reverse what’s already finished. That’s the reason every job here keeps your Dot on watching and telling.
The decision is yours. A Dot can find the flight, the apartment, and the job. Whether it’s the right one is still your call.
Pick the one thing you keep checking by hand and paste its words today. If you have a Dot, give it the flight or the listing and let it run for a few days. If you don't, paste the regular ChatGPT version of the same job, and you'll see exactly what the job looks like before you ever hand it to a Dot.
- OpenAI: Meet dots, for what a Dot is, which plans have it, and how usage is counted.
- OpenAI: Getting started with your dot, for the setup steps and how to word a job.
- OpenAI: Dot controls, for permissions, Activity, Scheduled, and Pause.
- OpenAI: Plugins, for connecting your calendar and your email after setup.
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