# Bot recipes

Add a ready-made team of bots, with their roles, skills, and group chats, in one click. Find, preview, import, and switch on a recipe, or share your own team as one.

Canonical page: https://themachine.myapps.ai/docs/desktop/bots/recipes

A **recipe** is a ready-made team for a job: several bots with their roles,
playbooks, skills, and group chats, already set up to work together. It's
the fastest way to get something useful running without setting up each bot
yourself.

There are 45 recipes in the [recipe library](/recipes), for example:

- *Run a Calm Inbox*
- *Ship Code Safely*
- *Validate Your Startup Idea*
- *Inbox Crew*, one of the five [crews](#crews-teams-with-standing-responsibilities)

You need Machine Desktop **0.1.38 or later**.

## Add a recipe

![The Recipes panel, listing ready-made teams](/images/docs/desktop/recipes.webp)

### Find one

Two places to look:

- **On the web:** browse the [recipe library](/recipes).
- **In the app:** click **+** at the top of the sidebar and choose
**Recipes**. On the **Explore** tab, browse **Machine recipes** or type in
**Search recipes**. **Recipes on the web** opens the library in your
browser.
### Open it in Machine Desktop

On the web, click **Add to Machine Desktop** on the recipe's page. Your
browser asks to open Machine Desktop: allow it. The recipe opens in the app.

In the app, click **Load** next to a recipe.
### Review the preview

![A recipe preview showing its bots and skills, with the Add team button](/images/docs/desktop/recipe-preview.webp)

The preview shows:

- each bot in the team and what it does,
- **Included skills**, which start off, and
- what will happen when you add it.

Nothing has been added yet.
### Add the team

Click **Add team**. Machine creates each bot as a new project, groups them
in a new team in your sidebar, and sets up their group chats. A message
confirms how many bots were added.

Your existing bots and chats are never changed. If anything goes wrong while
adding a team, nothing is added, so you never end up with half a team.

## After you add a recipe: switch it on

To keep you in control, a new team starts partly switched off. Work through
this list:

| What | Starts as | To switch it on |
|---|---|---|
| **Skills** | Off | Open each bot's settings → **Skills**, and turn on the ones you want. See [Skills and memory](/docs/desktop/bots/skills-and-memory). |
| **Routines** | Paused | Open **Tools → Automations**, check each routine, and **Resume** it. See [Manage automations](/docs/desktop/automations/manage). |
| **Apps** | Not connected | Open **Tools → Connected apps** and connect what the recipe needs. See [Connected apps](/docs/desktop/integrations/connected-apps). |

Then open the team's group chat and say hello. The bots know their roles.

## Crews: teams with standing responsibilities

Five recipes are **crews**: teams built around jobs the bots look after
without being asked. Each bot comes with its goals already written in, so
they show on the [Responsibilities](/docs/desktop/bots/responsibilities)
board as soon as you add the crew.

| Crew | Bots | What they look after |
|---|---|---|
| **Inbox Crew** | Keeper, Writer | Keeping your inbox under control, flagging what's urgent, and a draft ready for every reply you owe. |
| **Research Crew** | Scout, Analyst | Watching your competitors and the topics you follow, and a short brief each week. |
| **Ops Crew** | Planner, Tracker | Preparing your day from your calendar, catching clashes, and chasing stuck tasks. |
| **Founder Crew** | Chief, Numbers, Voice | A morning brief, investor and customer follow-ups, revenue and churn, and posts in your voice. |
| **Small Business Crew** | Desk, Books | Customer emails, sending invoices and chasing late payments, and a weekly view of money in and out. |

Each goal has its own check-in routine, named after it, like **Check-in: Keep
my inbox under 20 unread**. A check-in runs on a schedule, looks at what
changed, and reports in a few short lines. Like every recipe routine, check-ins
start **paused**: resume the ones you want in **Tools → Automations**.

Crew bots only draft. Nothing is sent, posted, published, bought, or deleted
until you approve that exact action.

## Import a recipe from a file or link

A recipe is a file, so you can use one someone sends you. Two kinds work:

- a `.md` recipe, like the ones in the library, and
- a `.recipe.json` file, made with [Share as a recipe](#share-your-own-team).

1. Click **+** at the top of the sidebar and choose **Recipes**.
2. Open the **Import** tab.
3. Either:
   - **Bring your own recipe**: drop the file onto the box, or click
     **Choose a recipe file**.
   - **Load from a link**: paste a link to a Machine recipe page, or to a
     public `.md` file on GitHub.
4. Review the preview and click **Add team**.

The file picker also lets you choose other `.json` files, such as backups
from the self-hosted app. Machine can't add those: you see the preview, but
clicking the button shows an error and nothing is added.

## Share your own team

Turn a team in your sidebar into a recipe file that anyone can add with
**Recipes → Import**.

1. Right-click the team's heading in the sidebar, or click its **⋯**.
2. Choose **Share as a recipe**.
3. A file named after the team, ending in `.recipe.json`, is saved to your
   downloads. Send it to whoever you like.

| Included | Not included |
|---|---|
| Each bot's name, title, description, and Soul | Conversations and threads |
| Each bot's color and mascot look | Files and anything on the bots' computers |
| The team's group chats, with their members and group instructions | Secrets and connected apps |
| Your name, as the person who made it | Archived bots in the team |

A shared recipe holds up to 12 bots and 6 group chats. The option only
appears for a team that has bots or group chats in it, and the team needs at
least one bot to share.

## Share a recipe from the library

Each recipe on the web has:

- **Download .md**: save the recipe file to share or keep.
- **Copy for another agent**: copy the recipe text to use elsewhere.

## Common questions

**Do recipes cost anything?**
Adding a recipe is free. The bots cost the same as any other bots when they
work.

**Can I change a recipe's bots after adding them?**
Yes. They're normal bots. Change their [Soul](/docs/desktop/bots/soul),
settings, and group chats however you like.

**Can I add the same recipe twice?**
Yes. You get a second, separate team.

**Can I undo adding a recipe?**
Archive or remove the bots it added. See [Archive or
remove](/docs/desktop/bots/archive-and-remove).