Quickstart

This quickstart gets you set up with Alfred’s Dashboard, account connections, model choice, modules, and usage awareness.

1. Open the Dashboard

Go to the Dashboard and sign in. Guest mode lets you see the chat surface, but a signed-in account is needed for saved chat history, file uploads, usage details, connected accounts, and personalized settings.

Once Alfred loads, you should see:

A chat area in the middle.
Chat history and usage controls on the left.
Account, model, module, and performance settings on the right.

On smaller screens, the side panels collapse behind panel buttons in the chat header.

2. Connect the accounts you use

Open your account menu in the Dashboard and connect the platforms you want Alfred to use.

Connect Discord if you want Alfred to recognize you in Discord, DM you reminders, or use Discord-specific features.
Connect Patreon if you subscribe to a paid tier and want Alfred to detect your plan.
Connect GitHub if you want Alfred working on your repositories.

If Patreon is not connected, Alfred may not be able to verify your subscription even if you paid on Patreon.

While you’re in there, set your profile. Your name and a couple of lines about yourself in About Me makes a real difference to how useful the answers are. See Account.

3. Send your first message

Use the chat bar at the bottom of the Dashboard. Press Enter to send, or Shift+Enter for a new line.

Good first prompts:

“Summarize this file for me.”
“Remind me tomorrow morning to check invoices.”
“Search the web and explain the latest news about this topic.”
“Make a checklist for planning my week.”

Alfred may show live status updates while working, such as searching the web, reading a site, creating a reminder, or running code.

4. Upload files when they help

Use the plus button in the chat bar to upload files, or drag and drop files into the Dashboard. Uploaded files can be used in the current chat, and Alfred can refer to them while answering.

Images can be previewed directly. Other files appear as file tiles with their names and file-type icons.

5. Pick a model

Open Settings and choose an Alfred model. If a model is locked, the picker shows the plan needed for access.

Use a stronger model for harder reasoning, coding, writing, or analysis. Use a faster or cheaper model for quick, high-volume work.

See Models for the full model guide.

6. Check usage

Open View Usage from the left panel to see daily, weekly, and monthly usage. Alfred usage is based on the real cost of model and tool use, so large files, advanced models, long conversations, and image or web tasks can use more allowance than a short text chat.

If you approach your allowance, Alfred may switch to a more cost-effective model so you can keep going longer.

See Usage for details.

7. Manage modules

Open Modules from Settings to see what Alfred can do. Modules are optional abilities like memory, reminders, web search, website reading, code execution, charts, image generation, Cards, and background agents.

Some modules are enabled by default. Others can be switched on when you want Alfred to use them, and switching off the ones you don’t need makes conversations cheaper.

See Modules for details.

8. Set something up to run without you

Once the chat side makes sense, the thing most people underuse is automation. Ask Alfred for something recurring and he’ll build it:

“Every morning at 7, DM me the weather and anything I’ve got scheduled.”
“Watch this page and tell me if it changes.”

That creates a reflex, which is code Alfred runs when the event fires rather than a full AI conversation, so it’s cheap enough to leave running all day.

See Automation for the full picture.