# What is ChatGPT Dots? A plain explanation

A dot is an always-on agent inside ChatGPT with its own cloud computer. See how it differs from a chat, what it does while you're away, and when it asks you.

*From How to Use Dots, an independent guide (not affiliated with OpenAI). Web version: https://howtousedots.com/what-is-dots Last verified: 2026-10-06.*

*Step 1 of 10 on the path "Learn Dots, step by step". After it: [Can I get Dots?](https://howtousedots.com/availability.md).*

A dot is an always-on agent inside ChatGPT: an assistant that keeps working after you stop typing. You hand it a job once. It works on that job between your conversations, on its own computer in the cloud, and comes back to you with results and with the decisions that need you.

**In short**

- A normal chat answers when you write to it. A dot keeps a job going between your messages.
- A dot has its own cloud computer, so it carries on with your laptop shut.
- It uses the apps you connect, such as email and calendar, and remembers what you've told it.
- Anything that could affect your accounts or share information is checked first. Some things your dot asks you about, and a few it hands back to you.
- You get one dot. It sits in the ChatGPT sidebar, under **New chat**.

## What does a dot look like in ChatGPT?

A dot lives in the ChatGPT you already use. Look at the left of this screen: this dot is called Zozo, and it sits right under **New chat**.

![ChatGPT with the sidebar open: New chat, then a dot named Zozo, then Projects and Recents. In the conversation the dot has written: Hey! I'm your dot. Message or call me anytime. I'll keep things moving, even when we're not talking, and check in with updates or questions.](https://howtousedots.com/assets/shots/what-is-dots-where-it-sits.jpg)

1. Your dot has one fixed place in the sidebar. Until you name it, the entry reads **Your dot**.
2. Your dot has one conversation, and it never starts over. A new dot writes first.
3. The dot describing itself: it keeps things moving when you're not talking.

Image: Zinho Automates (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGGHiJF6g0c)

## What is a dot made of?

Behind that one sidebar entry, a dot is a model with four things attached: a computer, your apps, its own notes, and a line to you.

Diagram: Your dot sits inside a dashed box labeled in the cloud, together with a model, its own computer and its notes. You are outside the box and reach it by message or call. Your apps are outside too, and the dot uses the ones you choose to connect.
- You ↔ Your dot
- Your dot → Your apps
- A model — Your dot
- Your dot — Its own computer
- Your dot — Its notes
- in the cloud: Your dot, A model, Its own computer, Its notes
- Note on You: message or call
- Note on Your apps: you pick which

*Everything inside the dashed box runs in the cloud. That's why closing your laptop changes nothing.*

Here's what each part gives your dot.

| Part | What it gives your dot |
|---|---|
| **A model** | GPT-6 Astra does the reading, planning and writing. |
| **Its own computer** | A cloud computer with a browser and files, where your dot researches, builds and keeps going while your devices are off. [The dot's cloud computer](https://howtousedots.com/cloud-computer) |
| **Your apps** | Email, calendar, files and more, through the plugins you've connected to ChatGPT and within the permissions you've set. [Apps and permissions](https://howtousedots.com/apps) |
| **Its notes** | Your dot's own saved notes on your preferences, decisions and ongoing work, on top of what ChatGPT remembers. [Dot memory](https://howtousedots.com/memory) |
| **A line to you** | ChatGPT on your computer or phone, a [voice call](https://howtousedots.com/voice-calls), or [Slack](https://howtousedots.com/slack). It's the same dot everywhere, with the same memory. |

Your own computer isn't on the list. A dot can use it too, but only if you allow it, and that's off until you do. [Let your dot use your computer](https://howtousedots.com/connect-your-computer)

## What does a dot do while you're away?

Those parts are why a dot can be "always-on": the work doesn't stop when you do. Try it: the same request goes to a normal chat and to a dot, and then you leave for the day.

**Interactive: You close the laptop. Then what?**

Open it: https://howtousedots.com/widgets/close-the-laptop.html

What it does: A simulator. At 9:00 AM the same request goes to a normal chat and to a dot, and a time slider runs the day to 6:00 PM. The chat answers once and then waits for the next message. The dot delivers a list at 10:30, asks before sending an email at 12:15 (the reader answers yes or not yet, or leaves it waiting), flags a calendar clash at 2:30 without changing anything, hands over a website sign-in at 4:00, and says what needs you at 5:30.

Its content as text:

### You close the laptop. Then what?

At 9:00 the same request goes to a normal chat and to a dot. Drag the day forward and watch what each one does while you're in meetings.

| Time | You | A normal chat | Your dot |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 9:00 AM | Send the same request to both: keep the offsite on track. | Answers with a list and draft replies. | Says what it will do and starts reading. |
| 9:20 AM | Close the laptop and go into meetings. | Waits for your next message. | Reads the plan and the venue emails. |
| 10:30 AM | In meetings. | Nothing. | Delivers the list: 3 decisions, 2 deadlines, 1 thing waiting on the venue. |
| 12:15 PM | In meetings. The question reaches you on your phone. | Nothing. | Sees the headcount go to 26, updates the list, drafts a note to the venue and asks before sending it. |
| 2:30 PM | In meetings. | Nothing. | Tells you about a calendar clash you never asked it to look for. It changes nothing. |
| 4:00 PM | In meetings. | Nothing. | Needs the venue's site, which needs your login. It hands that step to you. |
| 5:30 PM | Open the laptop. | Still shows its 9:00 answer, with the old headcount. | Tells you what is done and what is waiting for you. |

The email at 12:15 depends on you. Say yes and the note goes to the venue. Say not yet, or say nothing, and the draft waits. Nothing is sent.

A dot does three kinds of things without a new message from you:

- **Work you gave it.** Your dot decides when to pick the job up again. You don't have to schedule every follow-up.
- **Work on a schedule.** Ask for a check every weekday at 9:00 and your dot saves it and runs it. [Give your dot a job](https://howtousedots.com/tasks-and-schedules)
- **Looking for ways to help.** Your dot reads the apps you've connected and tells you what it finds. This reading can't send messages, change anything in your apps, or control a browser.

## When does a dot stop and ask?

A dot working alone still stops at certain points. Before your dot does anything that could affect your accounts or share information, an automatic review checks the action against your instructions and OpenAI's safety rules. Three things can come out of that review:

| Outcome | What falls under it |
|---|---|
| **Your dot goes ahead** | Reading what you've connected, research, analysis, writing drafts. |
| **Your dot asks you first** | Sending a message, sharing a file, buying with a card saved on a shop's site, permanently deleting data, installing software from an unrecognized source. |
| **Your dot hands it to you** | Changing a password, moving money, typing a website login. |

Asking looks like this: a plain message in the conversation. You answer in your own words.

![A dot writes: Gulf Air's site requires a CAPTCHA before I can verify its final fare rules. May I complete this CAPTCHA? You can also give me permission to handle future CAPTCHAs if you'd like. The owner replies: Not today, don't book anything. Just keep the comparison. The dot answers: Understood, no booking. I'll keep this to the three-flight comparison.](https://howtousedots.com/assets/shots/what-is-dots-asks-first.jpg)

1. Your dot stops and asks. It also says what you could allow for next time.
2. The owner says no.
3. Your dot does what it was told and finishes the rest of the job.

Image: Zinho Automates (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGGHiJF6g0c)

Approving one message doesn't allow the next. To change what your dot asks about, [set a custom rule](https://howtousedots.com/custom-rules).

## Do you need a chat, a scheduled task or a dot?

With all that in mind, not every job needs a dot. Ask what happens after the first answer: is the job finished, does it repeat unchanged, or does it keep changing?

**Sort it: Sort each job into the least you need for it.**

Answer:
- Rewrite this email so it sounds less annoyed → A chat is enough (One question, one answer, and you're done.)
- Explain a clause in my lease → A chat is enough (Nothing to follow up once you've understood it.)
- Send me today's meetings every weekday at 8:00 → A scheduled task (The same job at the same time. A saved prompt on a schedule covers it.)
- Remind me on the first of each month to send invoices → A scheduled task (Fixed time, fixed job, nothing to decide between runs.)
- Keep our offsite on track for the next month and tell me when a deadline is at risk → A dot (The job changes from day to day, and something has to notice and follow up.)
- Keep my sales proposal current as the customer's requirements change → A dot (Nobody knows when the next change comes. A dot watches and brings you the decisions.)

Scheduled tasks come with ChatGPT Go, Plus and Pro, so you don't need a dot for those two. [Dots, Codex, Work and scheduled tasks compared](https://howtousedots.com/dots-vs-codex-work-scheduled-tasks)

## Next step

You know what a dot is. Next, find out if your account can have one.

**Next:** [Can I get Dots?](https://howtousedots.com/availability)

Check if you can get a dot in three taps: which ChatGPT plans include one, where Pro leaves it out, and what a work account needs before Your dot appears.

### Who can get a dot?

Dots come with ChatGPT Pro outside the European Economic Area, Switzerland and the UK, with a Business Premium seat, and in an Enterprise workspace where an admin has turned dots on. You have to be 18 or over. [Check yours](https://howtousedots.com/availability)

### Does talking to my dot use up my ChatGPT limits?

No. Conversations with your dot don't count toward your ChatGPT usage limits. Tasks your dot starts in ChatGPT Work or Codex count toward those limits as usual. [Dots usage limits](https://howtousedots.com/limits)

### Is a dot the same as ChatGPT Work or Codex?

No. Work and Codex do one job at a time, when you ask. A dot keeps a job going and can hand pieces of it to Work or Codex. [Dots, Codex, Work and scheduled tasks compared](https://howtousedots.com/dots-vs-codex-work-scheduled-tasks)

### Can a dot make mistakes?

Yes. Review anything that matters before you rely on it. Stopping a task doesn't undo what your dot has already done.

### What are specialist dots?

A separate preview for organizations. A specialist dot takes on a dedicated job inside a company, with its own identity, credentials and access to the systems it needs. Specialist dots are available only through pilots run with OpenAI's engineering teams.

- 2026-10-06: Rebuilt around real screens and a simulator of a day with a dot.
- 2026-10-05: First published.

## Sources

- [OpenAI Help Center: Getting started with your dot](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001530-getting-started-with-your-dot)
- [OpenAI docs: Meet dots](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/dots)
- [OpenAI docs: Tasks and memory](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/dots/tasks-and-memory)
- [OpenAI docs: Control your dot](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/dots/controls)
- [OpenAI docs: Message your dot](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/dots/channels)
- [OpenAI docs: Connect computers and apps to your dot](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/dots/computers-and-apps)
- [OpenAI: Introducing dots](https://openai.com/index/introducing-dots/)
- [OpenAI: How we build safety, security, and privacy into dots](https://openai.com/index/how-we-build-safety-security-and-privacy-into-dots/)
- [OpenAI Help Center: Dots privacy, security, and safety FAQs](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001529-dots-privacy-security-and-safety-faqs)
- [OpenAI docs: Scheduled tasks](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/automations)
- [ChatGPT pricing page (plans with scheduled tasks)](https://chatgpt.com/pricing)
- [Zinho Automates on YouTube: screenshots of the sidebar and of a dot asking first](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGGHiJF6g0c)