---
title: "Bearly Manual"
description: "The complete guide to using Bearly, covering every setting and capability, how features connect, and step-by-step recipes that combine them, for people, AI assistants, and agents."
canonical: "https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/"
markdown: "https://bearly.ai/docs/manual.md"
---

# Bearly Manual

HTML: [https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/)

> The complete guide to using Bearly, covering every setting and capability, how features connect, and step-by-step recipes that combine them, for people, AI assistants, and agents.

This manual explains how to do anything in Bearly, from your first chat to workflows that chain research, data, media, agents, and automation. Each capability says when to use it, what it needs, what it produces, and what it combines with, and each recipe says why its steps work together, so you can adapt it to your own work.

New to Bearly? Read [What Bearly is](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/what-is-bearly.md), then [Tour the workspace](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/workspace-tour.md).

## I want to…

| Goal | Start here |
|---|---|
| Ask a question and get current answers with sources | [Research](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/capabilities/research.md) |
| Get a long, cited research report on a topic | [Research → Deep Research](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/capabilities/research.md) |
| Find and quote academic papers | [Research → Scholar](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/capabilities/research.md) |
| Choose the one product worth buying | [Research → Best Pick](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/capabilities/research.md) |
| Get the point of a YouTube video, or check its claims | [Videos and posts](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/capabilities/videos-and-posts.md) |
| Work with a PDF, document, or spreadsheet | [Files and documents](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/capabilities/documents.md) |
| Analyze data or make a chart | [Data and code](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/capabilities/data-and-code.md) |
| Build a page, dashboard, or small tool and share a link | [Pages and Canvas](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/capabilities/pages-and-canvas.md) |
| Make an image, a video, a voiceover, or a transcript | [Images, video, and audio](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/capabilities/images-video-audio.md) |
| Record a meeting and use what was said | [Meetings](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/capabilities/meetings.md) |
| Dictate, or talk to Bearly out loud | [Talk to Bearly](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/chat/voice.md) |
| Let Bearly use a browser, a folder of files, or my screen | [Browser and computer](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/capabilities/browser-and-computer.md) |
| Connect Notion, Linear, GitHub, or my own server | [Connectors and skills](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/capabilities/connectors-and-skills.md) |
| Run something every morning without asking | [Routines](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/capabilities/routines.md) |
| Get results by email or text | [Email and text](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/capabilities/email-and-text.md) |
| Compare models, or ask several at once | [Choose and compare models](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/chat/models.md) |
| Encrypt chats end to end, or use only zero-retention models | [Privacy and security](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/privacy-and-security.md) |
| Find, organize, share, or export chats | [Organize, find, and share](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/chat/organize.md) |
| Set a tone, language, or instructions for every chat | [Tune a chat](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/chat/settings.md) |
| Share files and instructions across chats or with people | [Projects](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/projects.md) |
| Set up Bearly for a company | [Organizations](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/organizations.md) |
| Understand plans, credits, and limits | [Plans, credits, and limits](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/plans-and-credits.md) |
| Call Bearly from code or another agent | [API and agents](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/api-and-agents.md) |
| Combine features in a way I haven't seen | [Building blocks](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/combine/building-blocks.md) |
| Fix something that isn't working | [Troubleshooting](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/troubleshooting.md) |

## Recipes

Each recipe chains several capabilities and explains the hand-off between them:

- [Research and analysis](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/combine/research-recipes.md)
- [Writing, content, and media](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/combine/creative-recipes.md)
- [Founders, sales, and operations](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/combine/business-recipes.md)
- [Automation and agents](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/combine/automation-recipes.md)
- [Everyday life](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/combine/everyday-recipes.md)
- [Teams and projects](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/combine/team-recipes.md)

## For AI assistants and agents

This manual is written to be read by software as well as people. Replace the trailing slash of any page address with `.md` for clean Markdown, start at [/manual.md](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual.md) for the directory, or read [/manual-full.txt](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual-full.txt) for everything in one file. [Guide for AI assistants](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/for-ai-assistants.md) explains how to use it to help someone, and [API and agents](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/api-and-agents.md) covers programmatic access.

## Keeping it accurate

The manual is written from the current app and updated as features ship. The shorter [feature guides](https://bearly.ai/docs.md) cover single features, and the [changelog](https://bearly.ai/docs/changelog.md) lists every release. If something in the app looks different from what you read here, the app is right; tell us with **Give Feedback** in the account menu, or at support@bearly.ai.

## Manual directory

### Start Here

- [Bearly Manual](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual.md): The complete guide to using Bearly, covering every setting and capability, how features connect, and step-by-step recipes that combine them, for people, AI assistants, and agents.
- [What Bearly is](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/what-is-bearly.md): The facts about Bearly in one place, including what it does, who it's for, which models and platforms it covers, how plans and privacy work, and where to go next.
- [Get Bearly on every device](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/get-bearly.md): Where Bearly runs (web app, phone browsers, desktop app, iOS app, Chrome extension), how to install and sign in on each, what the desktop app adds, and a table of which capabilities work on which platform.
- [Plans, credits, and limits](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/plans-and-credits.md): Bearly's plans and prices, which features each plan unlocks, how AI credits and the usage meter work, what you see at a limit, Credit Boost, and how to change, cancel, or restore a plan bought on the web, in the iOS app, or as an organization seat.
- [Tour the workspace](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/workspace-tour.md): A map of Bearly's screens and where each control lives — the sidebar and account menu, the New Chat launcher, the chat header, thread, composer, and context strip, the command menu, the Settings window, the other pages, and what changes in the desktop app, on phones, and in the iOS app.

### Chat

- [Write, attach, and send](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/chat/compose.md): How to write and send messages in Bearly, attach files and photos, unlock password-protected PDFs, share your screen, call tools and files with / and @, queue follow-ups while Bearly works, stop or interrupt an answer, and what the PII Blocker redacts.
- [Choose and compare models](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/chat/models.md): How to choose, compare, and switch AI models in Bearly, including the model picker, Bearly Fast, Pro, and Ultra, defaults by plan and usage, per-chat and new-chat defaults, plan-gated and hidden models, Zero Data Retention only, running out of credits, and comparing answers with Rerun and Council of Experts.
- [Work with answers](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/chat/answers.md): How to copy, edit, delete, rerun, and compare versions of messages in Bearly, read answers aloud or open them in Canvas, read Thinking steps and citations, what answers can display, what to do when an answer fails, and how to move around long chats with the timeline and chapters.
- [Organize, find, share, and export chats](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/chat/organize.md): How to start, rename, pin, archive, delete, select, and move chats into projects in Bearly, read the sidebar, use Needs attention, search chats and files, use the command menu, download a chat as Markdown, share a chat as a Page, ask Bearly to manage chats for you, and open What's New.
- [Tune a chat: settings, style, reasoning, and memory](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/chat/settings.md): Every Bearly chat setting explained, including This Chat versus New Chats, which setting wins when projects and organizations set their own, Response Style, Reasoning Effort, Temperature, Instructions, Language, Web Search, History modes, Memories, Personalization, and how Bearly tells the AI today's date.
- [Talk to Bearly: dictation and voice calls](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/chat/voice.md): How to speak to Bearly instead of typing, with push-to-talk dictation into the message box and live voice calls that can run actions, plus Read aloud, every Dictation and Voice setting, plan and platform requirements, and limits.
- [Keyboard shortcuts](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/chat/shortcuts.md): Every Bearly keyboard shortcut for macOS and for Windows and Linux, covering sending, new lines, interrupting, the / and @ picker, the command menu, search, new and deleted chats, jumping between prompts, Settings, dialogs, dictation, and the desktop app's global shortcut.

### Capabilities

- [Research the web, papers, people, products, and places](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/capabilities/research.md): Which Bearly research tool fits a job, and how to start, steer, and limit Web Search, Read Site, Image Search, Deep Research, Scholar, Council of Experts, Best Pick, People Search, SEO data, Domain research, Maps, Weather, and X, with plans, admin controls, Routines support, and tested combinations.
- [Learn from YouTube, online video, and posts on X](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/capabilities/videos-and-posts.md): How to open, summarize, cut, quote, and fact-check YouTube videos in Bearly, save videos from YouTube and other sites into a chat with Get Video, and search and read public posts, threads, videos, and profiles on X.
- [Work with files and documents](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/capabilities/documents.md): How Bearly opens, previews, searches, cites, summarizes, edits, converts, and proofreads files in a chat or project, including supported file types, size limits, password-protected PDFs, Always Search Documents, the Document editor, and what changes in end-to-end encrypted chats.
- [Analyze data and run code](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/capabilities/data-and-code.md): How to analyze spreadsheets and files with Run Python, draw KPI, bar, and line charts with Charts, and pick the right visual with Visualize in Bearly, including what the Python sandbox includes, file inputs and outputs, chart limits, and how these combine with documents and Pages.
- [Make Pages and edit in Canvas](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/capabilities/pages-and-canvas.md): How to build interactive Pages in Bearly, refine them through versions, prepare and publish them to a stable bearly.sh link with the right audience, share a conversation's key takeaways, and edit an answer as a document in Canvas, with every limit that applies.
- [Make images, video, and audio](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/capabilities/images-video-audio.md): How to generate and edit images, make and edit short videos, turn text into speech with Read aloud and Voice Studio, transcribe audio and video, and have Bearly look at images and video, with each tool's options, limits, and admin controls.
- [Record and use meetings](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/capabilities/meetings.md): How to record online meetings, in-person conversations, and voice notes in Bearly's Meetings and Recordings page, follow the live transcript, get the final transcript and speaker names, summarize, export, and hand a transcript to a chat or project to draft follow-ups.
- [Let Bearly use a browser, your files, and your computer](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/capabilities/browser-and-computer.md): How a Bearly desktop chat browses sites in Bearly Browser, works in your signed-in Chrome tabs, reads and edits files and runs commands with Work locally, and operates apps with Computer Use, including the approvals each asks for and how to choose between them.
- [Connect apps and add skills](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/capabilities/connectors-and-skills.md): How to connect services and your own MCP servers to Bearly, turn a connector on for a chat or a routine, sign in on each device, and install and run skills, including the built-in Visualize and Bearly AI Models skills, with platform limits and approvals.
- [Automate with Routines](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/capabilities/routines.md): How to create, schedule, equip, and deliver Bearly routines, including the Pro requirement, where routines run, exactly which tools a scheduled run can use, connectors, skills, Deep Research, permission mode, unattended local access, browser access, the notification filter, email and text delivery, and run history.
- [Send email and texts](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/capabilities/email-and-text.md): How Bearly emails you or your teammates and texts your verified phone from a chat or a routine, how to set up Phone & SMS, who can receive messages, attachment and rate limits, and what to do when a send fails.
- [Approvals, permissions, and Full access](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/capabilities/permissions.md): How Bearly asks before using tools outside the chat, how long each approval lasts, how to review and revoke saved approvals in the Permissions control, how Standard and Full access differ, what always asks, starting new chats in Full access, organization Agent access, routine permission mode, and spoken approvals.

### Combine

- [Building blocks: how Bearly's features connect](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/combine/building-blocks.md): The composition model behind Bearly — what each capability takes in and produces, which outputs feed which tools, where each block runs, which plans and Routines support it, and what breaks a chain — so a person or an AI can design new multi-step workflows.
- [Recipes for research and analysis](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/combine/research-recipes.md): Step-by-step recipes that chain Bearly's research tools (Deep Research, Scholar, Read Site, document search, YouTube claim checks, X posts, Rerun, and Council of Experts) with Run Python, charts, Pages, and email to produce cited reports, checked figures, and published briefs.
- [Recipes for writing, content, and media](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/combine/creative-recipes.md): Step-by-step recipes that chain Bearly's image, video, text-to-speech, transcription, YouTube, grammar, and Run Python tools to make narrated clips, product visuals, show notes, trailers, quote cuts, and proofread drafts in one chat.
- [Recipes for founders, sales, and operations](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/combine/business-recipes.md): Step-by-step recipes that chain Bearly's Domain research, SEO data, People Search, Council of Experts, Document editor, Run Python, charts, Pages, and email for naming a product, meeting prep, contact lists, contract redlines, shareable dashboards, and search-gap content plans.
- [Recipes for automation and agents](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/combine/automation-recipes.md): Step-by-step recipes that combine Routines, Bearly Browser, Chrome control, Work locally, Computer Use, connectors, Deep Research, and email or text delivery, including what scheduled runs can and can't use and which steps need the desktop app.
- [Recipes for everyday life](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/combine/everyday-recipes.md): Step-by-step recipes that chain Bearly's Maps, Weather, Best Pick, YouTube, Scholar, voice calls, text to speech, Run Python, Pages, and email for rides, trips, shopping, learning, reading health research, language practice, and splitting bills.
- [Recipes for teams and projects](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/combine/team-recipes.md): Step-by-step recipes that combine projects, Always Search Documents, meeting transcripts, project sharing and locked settings, organization policies, Memories and chat management, Prompt Templates, email to teammates, and restricted Pages for shared knowledge bases, meeting recaps, and team rollouts.

### Workspace & Control

- [Projects: shared context, files, and settings](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/projects.md): How Bearly projects work, including creating one, sidebar actions, roles and sharing, every Project Settings control, Docs & Data files and desktop folder sync, how project chats inherit settings and memory, password protection, archiving, and tested setups.
- [Run Bearly for an organization](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/organizations.md): How to create and run a Bearly organization, including managed and unmanaged organizations, every console tab and setting (Overview, Agent access, Microsoft Entra and provisioning, Access banner, Members, Groups, Projects, Policies, Billing seats, Usage, Activity), and the complete policy control catalog.
- [Privacy and security controls](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/privacy-and-security.md): Every privacy and security control in Bearly and what it changes, including Zero Data Retention only, end-to-end encryption with recovery phrase, device approval, and passkeys, personalization, memories and web search, project passwords, tool permissions, signed-in devices, logging out, account deletion, text messages, and admin-only controls.
- [Settings reference](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/settings-reference.md): Every pane and control in Bearly's Settings window, in the order the app shows them, with options, defaults, and what each control does, plus how to open Settings, read its save status, and find the panes that only appear on some platforms or plans.

### For AI & Agents

- [Guide for AI assistants](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/for-ai-assistants.md): How an AI assistant, including Bearly's own, should use this manual to answer questions about Bearly, check what a user's plan and device allow, and walk them through a task or a new combination of features.
- [Use Bearly from scripts and agents](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/api-and-agents.md): How developers and AI agents use Bearly programmatically, including API keys, the Bearly API's endpoints, authentication, models, limits, and errors, the Bearly AI Models skill for scripts inside Bearly, links that open Bearly with a prompt, the Markdown versions of this manual, remote modules, and guidance for agents that operate Bearly's interface for a person.
- [Fix common problems](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/troubleshooting.md): What a Bearly message or symptom means and what to do about it — upload and PDF password errors, failed answers, a paused queue, usage limits and out-of-credits notices, hidden models, missing features, desktop-only tools, locked encrypted chats, routines that didn't run, connectors, email and text, Deep Research, Full access, Chrome control, voice, dictation, meetings, sharing, and sign-in.
- [Glossary](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/glossary.md): Plain definitions of the Bearly terms you meet in the app and in this manual, from Agentic (Compaction) and Bearly Fast to Full access, Routines, Voice Studio, and Zero Data Retention only, each with a link to the page that covers it.

## Continue through the documentation

- [Documentation index](https://bearly.ai/docs.md): Browse every Bearly guide.
- [Next: What Bearly is](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/what-is-bearly.md)
- [Related: Tour the workspace](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/workspace-tour.md)
- [Related: Research the web, papers, people, products, and places](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/capabilities/research.md)
- [Related: Learn from YouTube, online video, and posts on X](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/capabilities/videos-and-posts.md)
- [Related: Work with files and documents](https://bearly.ai/docs/manual/capabilities/documents.md)