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Aethel Quick Start

Lucin Solutions LLC · Aethel v2.16.1 · September 2026

Welcome! Aethel is your personal AI operator. She runs on your own computer, reads your calendar and email when you ask, sends messages on your behalf, runs scheduled tasks while you sleep, and chats with you on Telegram or in a browser. This page gets you from zero to your first chat in about 15 to 20 minutes. If you want every detail, keep the User Guide open in another tab as you follow along.

What you'll need

Install Aethel (about 2 minutes)

Fastest: one line in a terminal

This is the quickest route, and it skips the warning screens described below: neither Windows nor macOS blocks a file that a browser did not download. Both commands check the file is genuinely ours before installing it.

On Mac, open Terminal (press Command and Space, type Terminal, press Return) and paste:

`` curl -fsSL https://tryaethel.com/install.sh | sh ``

On Windows, open PowerShell (press the Windows key, type PowerShell, press Return) and paste:

`` irm https://tryaethel.com/install.ps1 | iex ``

Either command downloads the right build for your computer, checks it, and installs it. When it finishes, skip ahead to Setup.

Prefer to click through an installer, or already have the one we emailed you? Follow the steps below instead. You can also always get the current installers from tryaethel.com/get.

On Mac

  1. Double-click the Aethel Mac.pkg installer we sent you (on an Intel Mac, the file is Aethel Mac Intel.pkg). On macOS 15 or newer, macOS blocks it the first time. Click Done, open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down, click Open Anyway next to the message about the installer, and confirm. On macOS 14 or older there's a shortcut: right-click the installer, choose Open, and when macOS asks "Are you sure?", click Open again.

    Why the warning? The installer isn't Apple-notarized yet, so macOS plays it safe and blocks any installer it can't verify. The message is normal, and the steps above get past it. On macOS 15 and newer the old right-click → Open trick no longer works for unsigned installers, which is why the Settings trip is needed. Until we're Apple-signed, each new update's installer needs this same approval, once per update.

  2. The installer shows an options screen with three choices. Keep Install/Upgrade (the default) selected and click through to Install; macOS asks for your Mac password. The other two choices, Clean Install and Uninstall, permanently erase your Aethel data, so leave them unchecked unless that's exactly what you want. When it finishes, Aethel launches by itself.
  3. The Setup Wizard opens automatically. Skip ahead to Setup.

On Windows

  1. Open Aethel Windows.zip, then double-click the Aethel.exe installer inside.
  2. Windows shows a blue "Windows protected your PC" screen. Click the small More info link (it's quiet, easy to miss), then click Run anyway.

    Why the scary blue screen? Microsoft shows it for any installer that hasn't paid for a Windows code-signing certificate. Same story as macOS, on our roadmap. Once we're signed, the screen disappears for everyone.

  3. The installer asks where to install (default: C:\Aethel\) and shows three checkboxes, all on by default: a desktop shortcut, Start Aethel automatically when Windows starts (keep this on so your scheduled tasks always run), and adding Aethel's folder to Windows Defender's exclusion list so she launches faster (you can untick this if you prefer Defender to keep scanning that folder).
  4. Click Install. On the last screen, leave Launch Aethel checked and click Finish. Aethel opens and the Setup Wizard appears.

Setup (about 12 to 15 minutes)

The wizard has ten short steps (nine on Windows, which skips the Mac-only Permissions step). Use Back and Next at the bottom; your progress is saved if you close midway.

  1. Welcome: a friendly hello. Tick I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy (links to read the Terms, Privacy Policy, and EULA sit right below it), and the Next button appears. Click it.
  2. License: paste the key from your welcome email and click Activate. Don't have one yet? Click Get a key to pick a plan in your browser. Keys validate online, so make sure you're connected.
  3. Dependencies: Aethel checks your computer for the tools she needs: Python, Node.js, npm, Git, ffmpeg, and components for voice transcription, semantic search, browser automation, and remote access. If anything shows a red mark, click Install Missing; Aethel installs it for you (anything it can't auto-install opens its official download page instead - install it, then click Re-check). On Mac you may be asked for your password. Next appears once every item has a green check. Version requirements: Python 3.10+ (on Intel Macs only: Python 3.10 to 3.12 — newer Python broke a few of our voice deps on Intel hardware), Node.js 18+. The wizard tells you what version you have if it's wrong.
  4. Permissions (Mac only): Aethel needs a few macOS permissions, like Screen Recording (so the AI can see what's on your screen when you ask) and Accessibility (so she can move your mouse and type for browser automation). Click Grant… on each row and approve the macOS prompt; for the ones macOS offers no prompt, the right System Settings pane opens instead, flip the toggle next to Aethel. The row turns green by itself. You can skip this and come back later.
  5. AI Engine: pick the AI brain Aethel uses. Pick whichever provider you already have a plan with; you can swap engines later from Settings → AI without losing anything.
    • Codex (OpenAI), recommended.
      • Best for: day-to-day tasks, code generation, file edits, repo-wide refactors.
      • Plan: ChatGPT Plus ($20/mo) or higher, or a pay-per-token OpenAI API key. (A temporary free promo on ChatGPT Free + Go was running as of May 2026; verify on OpenAI's pricing page.)
      • Models, cheap to expensive: GPT-5.2, GPT-5.3-codex, GPT-5.4-mini, GPT-5.4, GPT-5.5.
    • Antigravity (Google).
      • Best for: everyday tasks on a Google account; Gmail, Calendar, Docs.
      • Plan: sign in with a Google account, or set an Antigravity API key.
      • Models: Gemini 3.5 Flash, Gemini 3.1 Pro, Claude Sonnet 4.6, Claude Opus 4.6, GPT-OSS 120B.
    • Claude (Anthropic).
      • Best for: long-context reasoning over a codebase, thoughtful writing, careful planning.
      • Plan: Claude Pro ($20/mo), Max ($100 / $200), or Anthropic Console API credits (~$5 minimum, prepaid). No free tier for Claude Code (the agent Aethel uses).
      • Models, cheap to expensive: Haiku 4.5, Sonnet 4.6, Opus 4.7.

    Click Install if needed; Aethel installs the tool quietly in the background (the card shows Installing until it's done). Then click Sign in to OpenAI / Google / Anthropic. A short message previews exactly what's about to happen; click Continue. Claude and Antigravity open a Terminal window: pick the browser sign-in, finish in the browser, then close the Terminal window when it says you're done (Aethel waits for that). Codex usually goes straight to a browser tab. Aethel detects when you're signed in and lights up green.

    Already had one of these AI tools on your computer before Aethel? On this step Aethel also checks it for updates in the background and brings it up to date; you'll see a brief status line while it works, no clicks needed.

  6. Google sign-in: click Sign in with Google. Your browser opens. Pick your Gmail account and approve four permissions: Calendar, Tasks, Gmail, and Contacts (read-only).

    You'll see a warning: "Google hasn't verified this app." That's normal for any app still going through Google's review. Click Advanced (the small link, looks disabled at first glance), then Go to Aethel (unsafe) at the bottom. The "unsafe" wording is Google's standard language; the app is from Lucin Solutions LLC, the same company you bought from. Once our Google verification finishes, the warning goes away for everyone.

    Got more than one Gmail? You can connect several Google accounts later and choose who uses which, under Settings → System → Google. The User Guide walks through it.

  7. Browser (optional): lets Aethel drive your real Chrome (open tabs, fill forms, click buttons). Skip if you don't need it. To set up: click the link to install the Playwright MCP Bridge Chrome extension (Chrome will ask "Allow this extension to debug websites?". Click Allow, that's how the bridge works). Then click Chrome's puzzle-piece icon, pin Playwright MCP Bridge, and click its new toolbar icon; a small panel shows a long secret code. Copy it, paste it into Aethel, and click Verify - the check takes about 15 seconds and saves the code. Pasted the whole line by accident? The wizard strips the prefix automatically.
  8. Telegram: Telegram is your main way to chat with Aethel. The wizard walks you through:
    1. Click Open Telegram Web (chat in your browser, nothing to install) or Open BotFather chat if you already have Telegram on this computer; either way @BotFather loads.
    2. Send /newbot. BotFather asks for a display name (anything, e.g., "My Aethel"), then a username (must end in bot, e.g., my_aethel_bot).
    3. BotFather replies with a long token (looks like 123456789:AAEx...). Copy and paste it into the wizard.
    4. Click Test Connection, you should see a green check.
    5. Click Authorize User (it appears after the green check), then send any message to your new bot from Telegram (just say "hi"). When your name pops up in the little window, click Authorize. That makes you the bot's admin.
  9. First task: create one scheduled task to make sure everything works. The wizard suggests a Morning Briefing at 7 a.m. Accept the default, or change the time / write a different prompt (e.g., "Remind me to drink water every two hours"), then click Create Task. Next appears once it's saved.
  10. Test run: pick your new task and click Run Now. Aethel runs it once, right now, so you can see what happens; the log streams in real time. When the run finishes successfully, the Finish button appears - click it.

When you click Finish, the wizard closes and the main Aethel window opens on the Dashboard. A message points out Aethel's new icon in the menu bar (Mac, top-right) or system tray (Windows, bottom-right near the clock; click the small arrow if Windows hides it). Close the window whenever you like - Aethel keeps running quietly in the background, ready to chat.

A quick tour of the window

Click the menu bar / tray icon and choose Open Aethel to bring the window up. The sidebar has six destinations, and every page opens with a one-line description:

You won't need most of these on day one. The two pages worth peeking at: Dashboard (shows whether Telegram, Google, and the AI engine are all green) and Automations (where you'll add new scheduled jobs once you're past the morning briefing).

Keep your computer awake

Aethel only works when your computer is on and not sleeping. The display can turn off (that's fine), but if the whole machine sleeps, scheduled tasks won't fire and your bot stops responding until you wake it.

How to chat with Aethel

Just talk in plain language. A few things to try on day one:

Aethel will use her tools (Gmail, Calendar, web search, browser, reminders, and more) to actually do the work, not just suggest it. Anything that sends a message to a third party, moves money, or deletes data pauses for your okay first.

While she's working you'll see a small progress card with the model name (e.g. "GPT-5.5") and a list of friendly tool names underneath, like "🔧 Checking the weather" or "🔧 Reading an email", so you can see what's happening rather than waiting at a blank screen. The card disappears the moment her answer starts streaming in. Type /cancel on Telegram or hit Stop in the web chat to abort.

Slash commands (the cheat sheet)

A few one-liners for when the AI is slow, broken, or you just want quick info — they bypass the AI entirely. No need to memorize them: on Telegram tap the / command menu, and in the web chat click the commands button or just type / to see and filter the list.

The full reference is in the User Guide.

Need help?

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