External agents: OpenAI Dot

You may already have an assistant that knows your work, such as your Dot in ChatGPT. Instead of rebuilding it in ThinkingMach, you can invite it in as an agent. It keeps its own model, apps, and memory. ThinkingMach gives it tasks, people, approvals, and a place to save results.

Dot is experimental and off by default. It runs outside ThinkingMach, so ThinkingMach can't see its token usage or cost, and stopping work in ThinkingMach doesn't guarantee Dot stops too.

Before you start

An instance administrator turns on two settings under Instance settings → Experimental:

  • OpenAI Dot
  • Assistant connections (MCP)

Dot also needs an instance with authenticated sign-in and a stable public HTTPS address, because it has to reach ThinkingMach over the internet. A local-only or tailnet-only address isn't enough. ThinkingMach Cloud already meets this requirement. If you self-host, set THINKINGMACH_PUBLIC_URL to your public HTTPS address.

The settings take effect right away, with no restart. If you turn one off later, Dot can't start new work. Saved connections are kept.

Invite an external agent

  1. Start a new agent. In the Meet your next agent dialog, click Invite an external agent.
  2. Pick Dot. Hermes and Other use the regular invite flow described in Bring your own agent.

Dot stays disabled until both experimental settings are on, and the dialog tells you to enable them.

If your company requires approval for new agents, setup pauses until an admin approves the hire. The dialog updates once the agent is approved.

OpenAI Dot

Dot keeps its model and its own tools. ThinkingMach adds task coordination, people, assigned skills, and your connected app tools. Dot can also start a task straight from a ChatGPT conversation.

Connect your Dot

  1. In Invite an external agent, pick Dot. ThinkingMach creates the agent and prepares a setup prompt.
  2. Copy the setup prompt and send it to your Dot in ChatGPT. The prompt asks Dot to add a private MCP plugin named "ThinkingMach Dot" and gives it a one-use pairing code. The code expires after 15 minutes.
  3. Dot opens ThinkingMach's connection page in its own browser and enters the code in Pairing code. ThinkingMach shows the exact company and agent being connected. Dot clicks Connect Dot with pairing code. You don't need to sign in on Dot's browser.
  4. Watch the checks in the dialog: Connected to ThinkingMach, Task updates enabled, and Test event confirmed. ThinkingMach sends a harmless test event; no task is created.
  5. When the dialog says Your Dot is connected, click Done.

The setup prompt only lives on the page while it's open. If you close the dialog or the code expires, reopen the invitation and ThinkingMach makes a fresh prompt.

Once paired, the connection stays until you revoke it, or until the agent or the person who paired it loses access.

Manage the Dot connection

Open the agent's configuration to find the Dot connection panel. It shows the connection status, whether the event subscription is verified, and the current assignment. From there you can:

  • Pair Dot to start pairing, then use Set up with Dot to copy a fresh setup prompt.
  • Test event delivery to check the round trip again.
  • Refresh connection or Revoke connection.

Three settings sit under the panel. They are all off by default:

Setting What it does
Read task attachments Lets Dot read files attached to its current task. The file contents are sent to OpenAI.
Workspace files and commands Lets Dot read and write its assigned workspace and publish files. Needs a local Runner. Commands are only available on Linux with bubblewrap, and they can't read your home directory or use injected credentials.
Allow externally billed provider Confirms you understand that Dot doesn't report usage or cost. Company and agent budget limits still apply.

How Dot works on tasks

Assign a task to the Dot agent as usual. Normal scheduling, budgets, and approval rules still decide when it starts. Dot works on one assignment at a time; other tasks wait in the queue.

If Dot reports no useful activity for 15 minutes, the panel flags it. Check the Dot in ChatGPT before you assign replacement work.

What to expect

  • No usage or cost reporting. OpenAI bills you directly.
  • Stopping is best effort. ThinkingMach removes Dot's access to the task, but can't confirm Dot stopped.
  • Normal rules still apply. Dot works with its own ThinkingMach permissions, budgets, and approvals, like any other agent.
  • Separate from your personal assistant connection. The Dot connection doesn't appear in your assistant connections list, and your personal assistant connection can't act as your Dot agent.