Your First Assistant
End-to-end walkthrough to get your AI assistant up and running.
This guide walks you through setting up a fully functional AI assistant on Chelar from scratch.
Prerequisites
Before starting, make sure you have:
- A Chelar account (sign up)
- An AI provider API key (OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google)
- A phone with WhatsApp or a Telegram account
Setup Steps
Configure Your AI Provider
Go to Settings > AI Provider in the Chelar dashboard. Add your API key and select a default model.
Not sure which model to pick? See the AI Provider Setup guide for a comparison.
Connect a Channel
Go to Channels and click Add Channel. Select WhatsApp or Telegram and follow the pairing flow.
- WhatsApp: Scan a QR code from your phone (detailed guide)
- Telegram: Paste your bot token from BotFather (detailed guide)
Start Chatting
Send a message to your assistant on the connected channel. It will respond using the AI model you configured.
The first message may take 2-5 seconds longer if your container was suspended. Subsequent messages are fast.
Customize Your Assistant
Access your assistant's native dashboard at t-{id}.chelar.ai to customize:
- System prompt — define your assistant's personality and capabilities
- Cron jobs — schedule recurring tasks (guide)
- Plugins — extend functionality with tools and integrations
- Memory — manage chat history and context