A group chat is a conversation with you and several bots. The bots see each other's replies, so they can build on each other's work.

When to use a group chat

The Website launch group chat, with replies from several bots and the group instructions bar at the top

Use one when a job needs different kinds of help working together:

Group	Who does what
Content team	A Researcher gathers facts, a Writer drafts, an Editor polishes.
Website launch	A Designer plans the look, a Developer builds it, a Tester checks it.
Second opinion	Two bots on different models answer the same question so you can compare.
Planning	An Ops bot plans, a Finance bot checks costs.

For a single task with a single helper, a normal thread is simpler.

Create a group chat

You need at least one bot first. See Create a bot.

Open New group chat

Click + at the top of the sidebar and choose New group chat.

Name it and pick a team

Type a name, like Website launch. Optionally type a Team to file it under in the sidebar, like Work or Client A.

Choose the bots

Tick each bot to include, then click Create group chat.

Set it up

The first time you open the group chat, you see Set up with two choices:

Default responder: who answers when you don't mention anyone. See Who answers.
Group instructions: what the group is for. See Group instructions.

Click Save & continue, or Skip for now and do it later.

Who answers

The default responder

Choose from the dropdown in the group chat's header:

Setting	What happens
Everyone responds	Every bot answers each message, one after another. The default for new group chats.
Only when mentioned	Only bots you `@mention` answer. Messages without a mention get no reply.
Lead: …	One bot you choose answers by default. Mention others to bring them in.

Tip: with three or more bots, Only when mentioned or a Lead keeps things tidy and saves money, because not every bot answers every message.

@mentions

A mention always wins over the default.

Type @ and start typing a bot's name, then pick it from the list.
Mention several bots and they answer in the order you wrote them.
@everyone asks every bot.

@Scout find the three best-reviewed standing desks under $500. @Writer then turn Scout's findings into a short buying guide.

Here Scout answers first, then Writer answers, already able to see Scout's findings.

How turns work

Bots answer one at a time, never all at once.
Before each bot's turn, it catches up on the recent messages it missed, and re-reads the group instructions.
Each bot works on its own computer, just like in a normal thread.
Stop interrupts the bot that's speaking and cancels the ones waiting after it, including any hand-offs.

The member who's working has a ring around its avatar in the header.

Bots hand off to each other

A bot can bring another member in by @mentioning it in its reply, for example "@Writer, the research is done, over to you." The mentioned bot takes a turn once any bots already waiting have answered, and it sees the message that mentioned it. Every bot in a group chat knows it can do this.

A bot that was already going to answer this message doesn't answer twice. It sees the mention when its turn comes.
To stop two bots passing work back and forth forever, each message you send allows at most 6 hand-offs. After that, mentions are ignored until you write again.
Bots treat a request from another bot as help with the work you gave the group, never as an instruction from you.
Stop ends the chain.

If a bot's computer won't start

Sometimes a member's computer won't wake up. Instead of leaving the whole group chat stuck, Machine moves that bot to a fresh computer in the same thread and catches it up on the last 30 messages, including what it said itself. Files from the old computer aren't on the new one, so the bot may need to fetch or redo something. The old computer and its files are kept.

Group instructions

Group instructions apply to every bot in this group chat, on top of each bot's own Soul. Use them for the goal, who owns what, and shared rules.

Example:

text

Goal: launch the new Trailhead website by March 1.
Scout researches competitors and customer reviews.
Writer drafts all page copy, based on Scout's research.
Editor has the final say on wording and checks for typos.
Keep messages short. Put long work in files and share the file name.

To edit them: click the bar at the top of the group chat ("Add group instructions…" if it's empty). Press Ctrl+Enter (⌘Enter on Mac) to save, or Esc to cancel.

Manage members

Click the + next to the member avatars in the header to open Manage members. Tick or untick bots, then click Save.

A bot that leaves keeps its earlier messages in the chat.
A group needs at least one bot.
Archived bots don't answer.

Threads in a group chat

Like bots, group chats can have several threads. Start a New thread under the group chat in the sidebar for a fresh topic with the same bots. A group chat always keeps at least one thread. A thread's title comes from your first message in it.

Each bot's threads in the sidebar end with an In rooms list: the group chat threads that bot takes part in, shown as group chat name · thread title. Click one to open that group chat thread.

On all your devices

Your group chats follow you. Machine keeps a copy of them with your account, so Machine Desktop on your other computers and the Machine phone app show the same group chats, threads, and messages. The app checks for changes when it starts, when you come back to its window, and every few minutes. To check straight away, click Refresh threads at the top of the sidebar.

Renaming, moving to a team, and deleting a group chat or one of its threads happen on every device. Group chats don't appear on the Machine website.

When your computer is off

Where Machine offers it, Machine runs a group chat's turns on its own servers. You send a message, Machine passes it to the bots one by one, and the conversation keeps going even if you close your laptop. When you open Machine Desktop again, the group chat shows where it got to.

When Machine doesn't offer this, Machine Desktop runs the turns itself, so keep the app open until the bots have finished. A message with an attached file is always handled by Machine Desktop, because the app copies the file onto each bot's computer.

If Machine doesn't confirm that it received your message, the group chat shows "Machine did not confirm this message. If nobody answers in a minute, send it again." Wait a minute, and if no bot starts answering, send the message again.

Other things you can do

Pin a message to keep it in a banner at the top. Click the banner to jump to it.
Reply to a specific message to quote it.
Find (Ctrl+F) and export work like in any chat. See Find, share, and export.

Right-click a group chat in the sidebar:

Item	What it does
Rename group chat	Change its name.
Move to team	File it under a team in the sidebar.
Copy conversation ID	For support.
Delete group chat	Delete it, on all your devices.

Deleting a group chat doesn't ask first

Delete group chat happens immediately, without a confirmation. It deletes the group chat on all your devices, and deletes each bot's side of that conversation on Machine. It can't be undone.

Common questions

Do the bots in a group share files? No. Each bot works on its own computer. Ask bots to put results in their messages, or share file contents, so the others can use them.

Is a group chat more expensive? Each bot that answers uses its own turn, so a message that three bots answer costs about three turns. A hand-off is a turn too. Use Only when mentioned or a Lead to control this.

Can I add the same bot to several group chats? Yes.

Can I give a group a ready-made team? Yes. Recipes add a team of bots with their group chats already set up. You can also share your own team, with its group chats, as a recipe file.

Group chats