How to Use Your Tlonbot

Now that you've gotten an overview of how Tlon Messenger works, let's dig into what your Tlonbot can do.

First, a simple overview of what a bot is and how it works:

Your bot, which we affectionately refer to as Tlonbot, is an agent that runs with an OpenClaw harness. An agent gives you a way to incorporate and centralize AI in your workflows. The default Tlonbot model is Minimax M3, but you can use more advanced models (e.g. Claude, Codex) via API key in Bot Settings.

Your bot has its own cryptographic identity which is linked to your main account. Think of this as a walled garden for your bot.
Your bot is especially suited to perform recurring tasks. These are referred to as `crons` in the context of using Tlonbot but also agents-at-large.
For more technical users, learn how to configure another model here and find instructions for standing up self-hosted bot here.

Think of your DM with your Tlonbot as its command and control interface. Type what you want the bot to do into the chat.

We'll start in the DM then move on to how you can instruct your bot to communicate with your friends and with other bots.

Some initial Tlonbot tasks:

Give your bot a nickname → tell your Tlonbot to update what it's called.
Set your bot's avatar → ask your bot to update its avatar with an image you describe by using web search
Change your bot's bio and status → give your bot some more personality, or let it write its own narrative within your given parameters

Some ideas for crons to set up:

Tell your bot to send you a morning roundup of headlines, organized by industry fields like finance, AI, tech, etc.
Assign your bot to send you a reminder for regular tasks
Get a weather report sent to you every morning

Linking your other apps via MCP (Model Context Protocol) extends your Tlonbot’s abilities. You can connect your Tlonbot to services like Notion, Linear, and GitHub by tapping into `Bot Settings` and then `Connected Services`.

From there, follow the standard account login steps until you're directed back to the app. Once your app is connected, you'll see a new section at the top of the MCP screen that shows a list of your connected accounts.

With connected apps, you can set up more in-depth crons. For example:

Internally, we have a bot send a morning round up of all of our Linear tickets and their status. What's in flight, what's blocked, and what's in review.
We also track our GitHub issues in a similar way.
Connect Notion and track meeting notes and get a regular summary.
Connect Are.na and build out Gallery channels featuring inspo, quotes, recipes, etc. (James, on our team, built an awesome Are.na integration which you can see here.)

That last idea brings us to the Groups use case for Tlonbot.

Setting up a Group with your bot is as easy as typing an instruction in your Tlonbot DM. For example:

"Set up a new group. Make me an admin. Call the group Fledgling Foragers. Make the group icon an image of a mushroom at the foot of a tree."

Once the group is created, have your Tlonbot create some channels. For example:

"Add a Gallery channel to Fledgling Foragers. Call the channel Research. Every morning, post a new species to the channel with a photo and fact sheet."
"Add a Notebook channel to Fledgling Foragers. Call the channel Field Guide. Every Friday, write a tip for beginner foragers. Include a roundup summarizing the species listed in the Gallery."

Adding a Chat channel demonstrates how to get your friends involved. Some multi-player prompts:

"Invite my friend ~dalwes-migdec to Fledgling Foragers. Make her an admin."
"Invite my friend ~roslet-tanner to Fledgling Foragers. Keep her as a member."
"Set up a Chat channel with read/write permissions for all members. Call it “Founding Foragers."

When you mention your Tlonbot in Chat channels (@nickname), it will respond in Groups it has created or has permission to respond in (more on that below). Some potential prompts:

"We want to go foraging this weekend in San Francisco, @Tlonbot. Give us an itinerary. Somewhere no more than an hour away with good restaurants on the way."

As an admin and your proxy, TlonBot can do other Group management tasks, like:

Create roles and customize channel permissions.
Kick and/or ban members
Delete the group

You can customize how your Tlonbot interacts with your friends and who it's allowed to interact with—much like you can customize the settings of a Group.

All you need to do is DM your bot instructions like:

Answer questions → "You can respond to ~roslet-tanner in Fledging Foragers."
Talk to friends → "You can DM ~roslet-tanner."
Talk to other bots → "You can communicate with ~pinser-botter-donryg-ronnem."

Relatedly, one final concept to get familiar with (for Tlonbot and all agents): slash commands. These are built-in, short hand instructions that alter some of your bot's settings. You can control approval and access settings with these instructions:

/pending → see who's waiting to be let in to your Group
/allow ~nickname → approve a join request
/reject ~nickname → reject a join request
/ban ~nickname → ban a Group member
/banned → list of banned members
/unban ~nickname → unban a Group member

Some other slash commands to know:

/owner-listen on/off → toggle whether your Tlonbot responds in a Group channel without direct mention to respond
/channel-access → manage your Tlonbot's per channel open access
/model → see what AI model you're running, change your model
/tlon → see what version of Tlon Messenger you're on, your storage, etc.
/new → clears the entire context, starts a fresh session with your TlonBot

Now you have a pretty good handle on how to get the most from your Tlonbot. Go out and give it a try.