ChatGPT Dots might be the best AI agent out there — but only if you use it the right way. Used correctly, it’s boosted productivity more than any other agent. Used the wrong way, it’s a broken, unreliable mess.
In the video below, the creator breaks down everything about Dots: what it is, what makes it different, the one master workflow that turns it from a “meh” agent into an absolute productivity machine, and which AI agent you should actually be using — Dots, Hermes, Grockbot, or Muse.
What Dots Is — and What Makes It Different
Let’s start with the bad. On the surface, Dots has zero differentiating features. Line it up against Grockbot, Muse, or any other AI agent and there’s basically nothing it can do that the others can’t. It’s also not cheap — it requires at least the $100 ChatGPT plan.
So why call it possibly the best AI agent out there? Two reasons.
1. It’s powered by the best model behind any agent. Dots runs on GPT-6 Astra — second only to Opus 5.5 among models, and Anthropic doesn’t ship an agent at all. That makes Dots the smartest AI agent you can get.
2. It lives in the best agent harness on earth. This is the big one. Dots sits inside the ChatGPT desktop app, which means it gets Codex (best-in-class coding), all GPT plugins, all your ChatGPT memories, and ChatGPT voice — by far the best voice model available. Yes, Grockbot has voice mode. Yes, Muse has coding and cloud computer use. But ChatGPT’s desktop app does all of those things best-in-class.
So while Dots has no features the others lack, every feature it has is simply much, much better. The trick is leaning into those strengths.
The Project Manager Workflow
Here’s the master workflow that changes everything: don’t use Dots as a personal assistant. Use it as a project manager.
Because the tools inside the desktop app are so good — computer use, browser use, Codex coding, voice mode — you don’t want Dots doing things for you directly. You want Dots controlling those ultra-powered tools and having them do the work.
The video walks through a real example. The creator’s Dot (named Bobby) was put in charge of building a game for the Chromatic — a premium Game Boy Color-style handheld (made by Palmer Luckey) that you can plug into your computer and have Codex build games for.
Instead of saying “hey, build me a game” — the personal-assistant way — he said: “Do you see the Codex thread I started on my MacBook around building for the Chromatic?” Then he set a goal — an end state: an excellent Game Boy Color action platformer with satisfying combat, meaningful choices, RPG elements, and beautiful graphics, featuring a knight with branching loot and weapon choices.
Then the key move: “Can you act as my project manager and keep working with that Codex thread to build it out?” Prompt it to build things, test them, and keep pushing until the vision is met — independently.
And the force multiplier: Spaces. OpenAI’s new Spaces feature is essentially Google Docs/Notion inside ChatGPT. Bobby maintains a Space for the game that updates every time it does something — with screenshots, changelogs, builds and artifacts, roadmaps, acceptance criteria tables, and bugs found. Every piece of code the managed thread writes gets tested along the way, and the Space captures all of it.
What you’ve built is a loop: the Dot has a goal, it manages the worker thread, checks the work, and iterates. That loop — goal, manage, verify, iterate — is what makes Dots potentially better than Grockbot or Muse for this kind of work. The super-powered tools (Spaces, Codex threads, Astra 6) let it be far more productive than other agents.
The creator also released a free, open-source project manager skill (linked in the video description) that you can hand to your Dot — install it, say “use your project manager skill to work on this project,” and it does everything described above.
Action Steps to Get the Most Out of Dots
- Pick two to three juicy projects — a game, a business idea, anything you want built out.
- Define an end goal for each.
- Install the project manager skill from the video description.
- Tell your Dot: “Here are my projects. Use the project manager skill. Ask me any questions. Here are the end goals.” It will keep building them out continuously.
- Take advantage of Spaces — check your project Spaces at the end of the day and see what your agent accomplished.
One cost note: messages back and forth with your Dot are currently free (at least for the next month) — they don’t draw down usage. Actually managing the threads and writing code does use your plan’s usage. The creator is on the $500 plan but says it’s not as bad as you’d think.
Which AI Agent Should You Use?
The video covers the four main players and where each wins:
- Grockbot — diversified knowledge work. Built around multiple agents with different personas, so it’s great when you have many different contexts (different businesses, revenue lines). Also great for proactivity, email, and running your life.
- Muse — the “book me a reservation” agent. Best at quick online tasks: figuring out websites, making reservations, restarting a hosted server. Simple, and it just figures things out.
- Dots — building and project management. The smartest model (Astra 6) plus the best tool harness. Use it for projects and building things.
- Hermes — computer and network administration. The most willing to do admin stuff across all your computers — downloading local models, moving files between machines — with minimal permissions. It’s also the only fully open-source agent of the four, and the only one that can run on local models.
And the honest caveat: Dots is rough at basic personal-assistant tasks right now — computer use and browser use for things like making reservations or filling out forms isn’t great yet (likely being fixed). For those quick tasks, Muse is the better pick today.
The bigger point: this isn’t a competition. These aren’t football teams. You don’t need to fuse your identity with an AI agent — they’re tools in a toolbelt. Use each for what it’s best at, or just pick one and stick with it if juggling four agents sounds exhausting.
The creator is most bullish on Dots, though: its project-management ability and access to the full ChatGPT toolset are unique, and once the rough edges get smoothed out, it’ll be compelling for basically everything.
Watch the full video above for the complete walkthrough, demos, and the free project manager skill.
