How to Use Dots
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Using your dot

Your dot's cloud computer: watch it, take over, sign it in

Every dot has its own computer in the cloud. Open it from the profile, take over the mouse, sign it in to a website privately, and handle sites that block it.

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Every dot has a computer of its own in the cloud, with its own browser, files and website logins. Your dot works there while your devices are off, and you can open it to watch or take the mouse.

#Three machines, three sets of logins

Start with where the work happens. Three machines are involved, and each keeps its own logins.

Which machine does the job?

Pick a job. The machine that does it lights up, and you'll see whose logins it uses and what happens when you shut your laptop.

You ask your dot to...
messagesand callsonly if youallow itYour phoneYour dot's cloudcomputerYour computermessages and callsonly if you allow itYour phoneYour dot's cloudcomputerYour computer

Compare prices on five hotel sites

Runs on
Your dot's cloud computer. It opens the sites in its own browser.
Logins it uses
None. Public pages need no account.
Laptop shut?
It keeps going. Nothing about this job touches your devices.

Check an order on a shop where you have an account

Runs on
Your dot's cloud computer.
Logins it uses
Its own. Being signed in to the shop on your laptop doesn't count, because the two browsers share nothing. Your dot asks you to sign in once on its browser, then stays signed in until you sign out or the site ends the session.
Laptop shut?
It keeps going once it's signed in.

Summarize this week's email

Runs on
Your dot, in the cloud. It reads your mail through the Gmail plugin, with no browser involved.
Logins it uses
The Google account you connected as a plugin. That's an app connection, separate from any machine's browser.
Laptop shut?
It keeps going.

Rename the files in a folder on your laptop

Runs on
Your computer. Those files exist nowhere else, so your dot needs the machine they're on, and you have to allow it first.
Logins it uses
None of its own. It works with what's already on that computer.
Laptop shut?
The job waits. Your computer has to be on, awake and online with the ChatGPT app open.

Use a site that blocks its browser

Runs on
Your computer, if you've allowed it. Ask your dot to try the site from there.
Logins it uses
The ones already in the browser on your computer. Nothing carries over from the cloud browser.
Laptop shut?
The job waits until your computer is back.

Give you an update while you're out

Runs on
Your phone is only how you ask. You message or call, and the work stays on the cloud computer.
Logins it uses
Nothing on your phone is shared with your dot.
Laptop shut?
Makes no difference. You can even send a job to your computer at home from here, as long as that computer is on.
Try the second job, then the fifth. Both are sites with an account, and they end up on different machines. Open on its own page

Your dot's browser starts signed out of everything, whatever your own browser is signed in to.

#Open it, take over, hand back

Now look at the cloud computer itself. You open it from your dot's profile.

Walkthrough

Watch your dot's computer and take the mouse

  1. The dot's profile: Call and Slack buttons, then Computers with one row, Brendot's computer, Connected, and a small live picture of its screen
    Image: Brendan Jowett

    1Open your dot's profile and click its computer

    Click your dot's name or picture at the top of the conversation. Under Computers, click the row named after your dot.

  2. The cloud computer open beside a conversation: a desktop inside a thick blue frame, a browser start page with a clock and app shortcuts, a dock with three icons, and under it the words Brendot has control and a Take over buttonMarker 1Marker 2Marker 3
    1. The computer is named after your dot.
    2. Its dock: a browser, a terminal and a file manager.
    3. Who's driving right now.
    Image: Brendan Jowett

    2Watch

    The computer opens beside your conversation: a real desktop with a browser, a terminal and a file manager. Under it, a line says who's driving. Watching changes nothing.

  3. The Take over button under the cloud computer's screen
    Image: Brendan Jowett

    3Click Take over

    Click Take over. There's no confirmation, and your mouse and keyboard now work inside your dot's screen.

  4. The same computer a second later. The bar under the screen reads You have control, with a Return control button
    Image: Brendan Jowett

    4Do your part, then click Return control

    The bar reads You have control. When you're done, click Return control and your dot carries on from where you left the screen.

#Where your password goes

Sooner or later your dot reaches a site that needs a login. It never asks for the password in the chat. Step through what happens instead.

login pageasks youyou typepasswordsigned inYour dotIts browserYouPrivate formlogin pageasks youyou typepasswordsigned inYour dotIts browserYouPrivate form
  1. Your dot reaches a login page in its browser and stops.
  2. It asks you to sign in.
  3. You type your password into a private form. Your dot is paused while you do.
  4. The form sends it straight to the browser. It never passes through your dot.
  5. The site lets the browser in, and your dot carries on signed in.

The form is the only protected route. A password typed into a message is readable by your dot like any other text, so keep it out of the chat.

#Sign in when your dot asks

On screen, that exchange is two clicks and a form.

Walkthrough

Sign your dot in to a website

  1. A message from the dot: Sign in to your venue account so I can review the saved proposal, with a row under it reading Sign in to venues.example.com
    Image: OpenAI

    1Open the sign-in request

    Your dot says what it needs the site for and puts a sign-in row under its message. Click the row.

  2. The sign-in form: Email address, Password, a Save to Passwords box, and buttons Take over to sign in, Not now and Sign inMarker 1Marker 2
    1. Save to Passwords keeps the login for next time. It's optional.
    2. Take over to sign in opens the browser so you can log in on the site yourself.
    Image: OpenAI

    2Type your details and click Sign in

    Enter your email and password, plus any code the site sends you, and click Sign in.

  3. A chip in a dot's conversation reads Sign-in details entered, with a tick
    Image: Peter Yang

    3Check for the chip

    A chip in the conversation reads Sign-in details entered, and your dot tells you it's in. It stays signed in until you sign out or the site ends the session.

If you saved the login, the next sign-in on that site is a one-click question, Use this saved account? A saved login is never used without it.

#When a site blocks your dot's browser

Signing in doesn't help with every site. Some refuse browsers that run in the cloud, and your dot tells you when it hits one.

The cloud computer's browser showing www.amazon.com is blocked. This page has been blocked by Chromium. Under the screen the bar reads You have controlMarker 1Marker 2
  1. The page is refused before any login.
  2. Taking over doesn't help. It's the same browser.
Image: Pat Simmons
  • Ask your dot to try the site from your own computer. That's a different browser, with your logins in it.
  • For a CAPTCHA, your dot asks before it solves one. Answer yes or no in the chat.
  • Your dot won't build a way round a block, and it says so if you ask.

#Check yourself

One question before you move on.

Predict

You're signed in to your bank on your laptop. You ask your dot to download last month's statement. What happens?

  • It downloads the statement, because you're already signed in
  • It reaches the bank's login page and stops to ask you
  • It reads the password your browser saved
Show the answer

It reaches the bank's login page and stops to ask you

Your dot opens the bank in its own browser, where nobody has signed in yet. It asks you, and you sign it in through the private form.

Your dot opens the bank in its own browser, where nobody has signed in yet. It asks you, and you sign it in through the private form.

#Next step

Your dot's own computer covers most jobs. For the rest, give it yours.

Does my dot keep working when my laptop is closed?

Yes. Work on its cloud computer carries on while your devices are off. Only jobs that need your own computer wait for it.

Should I keep files on the cloud computer?

Treat it as your dot's workbench. Ask your dot to save anything you care about as a file in its Outputs, or to a connected app such as Google Drive, so you can reach it without opening the computer.

What's installed on it?

It's a Linux desktop with a browser, a terminal, a file manager and fifteen programs on its start page, including Blender, GIMP and Inkscape. Its working folder is /workspace.

  1. Rebuilt around the real screens, with the three-machines chooser and the sign-in drawing.
  2. First published.

Sources

8
  1. OpenAI docs: Connect computers and apps to your dot learn.chatgpt.com
  2. OpenAI docs: Meet dots (the sign-in request and form) learn.chatgpt.com
  3. OpenAI: How we build safety, security, and privacy into dots (secure sign-in, the saved account prompt) openai.com
  4. OpenAI Help Center: Dots privacy, security, and safety FAQs help.openai.com
  5. OpenAI Help Center: Getting started with your dot help.openai.com
  6. Brendan Jowett on YouTube: screenshots of the cloud computer and taking over youtube.com
  7. Pat Simmons on YouTube: screenshot of a site blocked in the cloud browser youtube.com
  8. Peter Yang on YouTube: screenshot of the Sign-in details entered chip youtube.com
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by The Full Stack PM