- Who it helps
- People maintaining a project brief, reviewing documents or preparing recurring work.
- Availability
- OpenAI describes a gradual rollout to eligible accounts. Creation is documented in the apps and desktop browser; mobile web creation is unsupported. Cloud work can continue while a device is offline, while use of your own computer requires the app and device to remain available.
Start with a project whose state you can inspect
Give the dot a short project charter and source documents, then ask for decisions, unresolved questions and links to the evidence. The guide below supplies a complete fictional project and a later correction so you can inspect what changed.
Activity, schedules and action-review controls help you see what ran and limit actions. Permission to draft an email should be expressed separately from permission to send it. Check the actual action requested before approving it.
Useful work and uneven access
An October 14 account describes helpful document review and email drafts. Replies include poor voice behavior, slow tasks and missing features. An October 11 thread reports a paid account without dots access. Those experiences make account eligibility and a small first test worth checking before planning a workflow around the feature.
The October 14 WP Minute episode compares persistent agents through continuing context and recurring work. Its public description and chapters were read; the full conversation was not reviewed.
My dot has been really helpful ↗Undelivered Dots? ↗Are agents like Grok Bot, Dots, Muse, and Hermes actually productive? ↗
What you can do
- Check that your account offers dots, then run the linked Project Cedar fixture with supplied text. Keep the first run free of connectors and verify the dated decision log before enabling a recurring task.
Where the evidence stops
No dot account workflow was executed here. Availability and limits can vary by account. The discussion includes both successful and unsuccessful reports; it cannot establish a typical success rate.
Sources read. Primary documentation and original Reddit posts were read on October 17, 2026. YouTube descriptions and chapter lists were inspected. Full videos and product account workflows were not tested.
Practical guide
OpenAI dots: build a useful ongoing project brief →
A complete three-document project exercise, an initial log, an approved change and a missing-source test, with an answer key for each.
Sources & further reading
Web · official
Meet dots ↗
Primary documentation for the product facts and existing worked guide.
OpenAI · page checked 2026-10-17
YouTube · discussion
Are agents like Grok Bot, Dots, Muse, and Hermes actually productive? ↗
An independently produced comparison about daily work, context, control and costs across personal agents.
WP Minute Podcasts and Mark Szymanski · video metadata checked 2026-10-17 · Published 2026-10-14
1,601 views · 12 likes · observed 2026-10-17 16:01 UTC
Reddit · discussion
Undelivered Dots? ↗
Original dated user report with visible replies that adds a distinct practical perspective.
Full_Wealth4076 · page checked 2026-10-17 · Published 2026-10-11
7 net score · 11 comments · observed 2026-10-17 16:02 UTC
Reddit · discussion
My dot has been really helpful ↗
Original dated user report with visible replies that adds a distinct practical perspective.
manaPoolParty · page checked 2026-10-17 · Published 2026-10-14
29 net score · 22 comments · observed 2026-10-17 16:01 UTC
Highest observed net score among 2 measured Reddit sources (2 reviewed). Counts change; this is a bounded comparison.
More sources reviewed (2)
Web · official
Control your dot ↗
Primary documentation for the product facts and existing worked guide.
OpenAI · page checked 2026-10-17
The record over time (1)
Dated source checks and published explanations. An observation date can differ from the original release date.
A dot is an ongoing assistant that retains context for a project and can continue work between conversations. This week people are discussing useful document and email drafting, inconsistent results and the difference between a paid account and actual access.