Get started: a real task in half an hour
Most people open WorkBuddy for the first time, type "hello", and then have no idea what to do next.
That is not your fault. WorkBuddy is not a chat box. It is a desktop agent that does things — it reads folders you authorise, edits files, runs scripts, drives a browser. The unremarkable-looking switches around the input box decide how it works, which parts of your computer it can touch, and at which point it stops to ask you.
Understanding those is worth far more than memorising prompt tricks.
This chapter takes about 40 minutes end to end. When you finish you should be able to run a real task that produces something you can accept or reject — and know where the brakes are.
Reading order
| # | Page | What it settles |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | What WorkBuddy is | How it differs from ordinary AI chat, and whether it earns a spot on your desktop |
| 02 | Download and install | Windows and macOS, and the chip version you must not get wrong |
| 03 | Sign-in, accounts, credits | Personal or enterprise sign-in, how credits burn, what burns them fastest |
| 04 | The three-pane window | Tasks on the left, conversation in the middle, artifacts on the right |
| 05 | The new-task bar, switch by switch | Workspace, mode, model, Skills, connectors, permissions |
| 06 | Work modes and model tiers | When to turn on Plan; fast, balanced or maximum |
| 07 | Run your first task | Three ready-made tasks with complete prompts |
| 08 | Briefing it properly | Why the same sentence gets someone else a better result |
If you only have 15 minutes
Skip 01 and 04 and do this instead:
- Read 02 Download and install and get signed in.
- Skim the "workspace" and "default permissions" sections of 05 The new-task bar. Those two decide whether it touches files you did not want touched.
- Jump straight to 07 Run your first task and paste in a prompt.
Come back for 01, 04 and 06 afterwards. The switches make far more sense once you have watched one task run.
One principle that runs through the whole book
Shrink the work down to a single action you can accept or reject.
"Refactor this whole project" is too big. The agent does not know where to start, you cannot judge whether it did well, and you find out twenty minutes later that it went the wrong way — burning credits and time together.
Try instead: "Read D:/reports/2026-ai-industry.pdf, extract the five most important conclusions, one sentence each, with the source page number." That takes a couple of minutes and you can tell at a glance whether it is right. Once the direction is confirmed, let it build the outline and then the deck.
08 Briefing it properly unpacks this, but you can start applying it now.
Three things to know before you start
It really does change your files
"Actually executes tasks" is the whole pitch, and the price is that writing files, deleting files and running scripts all happen for real, on your machine, as you.
Before you point it at anything important, copy the files into a separate folder and let it work on the copy. Default permissions stop it at the dangerous moments, but they cannot catch "it understood the wrong directory". See Permission modes and the sandbox.
Your computer has to stay on
This is a desktop client and tasks run on your machine. Close the lid, lose the network, or quit the app and the task stops. For long jobs — transcribing video, processing hundreds of files — submit it and leave the machine awake.
The account is shared with CodeBuddy
WorkBuddy and Tencent Cloud CodeBuddy share one account and one credit pool. No separate subscription needed; a plan bought on either side works on both.
Ready? Start with 01.