Getting Started with ClawOcean: Your First 30 Minutes

You're ready to deploy your personal AI assistant. This guide will take you from zero to a working ClawOcean instance in 30 minutes or less.

By the end, you'll have an AI assistant that:

Monitors your email
Manages your calendar
Answers questions with your context
Works 24/7 in the background

Let's get started.

Before You Begin

Make sure you have:

A ClawOcean account (free to create)
Access to an email account (Gmail or Outlook)
Access to a calendar (Google Calendar or Outlook)
30 minutes of focused time

No technical skills required. Everything is configured through our web interface.

Step 1: Create Your Instance (5 minutes)

Navigate to Instance Creation

Log into your ClawOcean dashboard
Click "Deploy New Instance" or navigate to /dashboard/instances/new

Choose Your Configuration

Instance Name: Give it something memorable. "Work Assistant" or "Personal AI" work fine.

Region: Choose the region closest to you for lowest latency:

North America: nyc-1 or sfo-1
Europe: ams-1 or lon-1
Asia-Pacific: sgp-1 or syd-1

Plan: Start with the Starter plan. You can upgrade later without losing any data.

Deploy

Click "Deploy Instance" and wait 2-3 minutes for provisioning. You'll see a progress indicator.

When complete, you'll see your instance dashboard with status "Active."

Step 2: Connect Your Email (10 minutes)

Email integration is where the magic starts. Your assistant will monitor incoming mail and help you respond.

Gmail Integration

In your instance dashboard, click "Integrations"
Click "Connect Gmail"
Sign in with your Google account
Grant the requested permissions:
- Read your email messages
- Send email on your behalf (for draft suggestions)
- Manage labels (for organization)

Note: ClawOcean uses OAuth — we never see your password.

Outlook Integration

Click "Connect Outlook"
Sign in with your Microsoft account
Grant permissions when prompted

Verify Connection

Once connected, you'll see your inbox summary appear in the dashboard. The assistant will begin analyzing your recent emails to learn your patterns.

Step 3: Connect Your Calendar (5 minutes)

Calendar integration enables scheduling assistance and meeting prep.

Google Calendar

Click "Connect Google Calendar"
Grant calendar read/write permissions
Select which calendars to include (you can exclude personal calendars)

Outlook Calendar

Click "Connect Outlook Calendar"
Approve permissions

Initial Sync

Your assistant will import your upcoming events and begin learning your schedule patterns:

When you typically have meetings
Buffer time preferences
Recurring commitments

Step 4: Set Your Preferences (5 minutes)

Now the fun part: telling your assistant who you are and how you like to work.

Navigate to Settings

Click "Assistant Settings" in your instance dashboard.

Core Preferences

Your Role: What do you do? (e.g., "I'm a product manager at a tech startup")

Communication Style:

Formal / Casual / Adaptive
Brief / Detailed
Direct / Diplomatic

Working Hours: When should the assistant consider you "available"?

Priority People: Who are your VIPs? (Manager, key clients, family)

Example Configuration

I'm a senior product manager at a B2B SaaS company.

My communication style is professional but warm. I prefer brief emails 
that get to the point, but I always want a friendly greeting and sign-off.

My working hours are 9am-6pm Eastern, Monday-Friday. 
Don't schedule anything before 10am if possible.

Priority contacts:
- Anyone @mycompany.com (internal)
- Sarah Chen (sarah@bigclient.com) - our biggest customer
- My manager John (john@mycompany.com)

Low priority:
- Sales pitches from unknown senders
- Newsletter digests (archive automatically)
- Social media notifications

Step 5: Your First Conversation (5 minutes)

With everything connected, it's time to talk to your assistant.

Open the Chat Interface

Click "Chat" in your instance dashboard, or use the keyboard shortcut Cmd/Ctrl + K.

Test the Basics

Try these prompts:

Check your calendar:

"What does my week look like?"

Summarize recent emails:

"Give me a summary of important emails from today."

Draft an email:

"Draft a response to Sarah's last email. Thank her for the feedback and let her know we're working on it."

Schedule something:

"Find a 30-minute slot for a call with John this week."

Watch the Magic

Your assistant will:

Access your connected accounts
Apply your preferences
Generate contextual responses
Ask for clarification when needed

Step 6: Enable Background Processing

So far, you've been actively chatting. Now let's enable proactive features.

Navigate to Automation Settings

In your instance settings, find "Automation & Alerts."

Configure Email Triage

Enable automatic email categorization:

- Flag emails from priority contacts
- Draft responses for routine inquiries
- Archive newsletters and marketing emails
- Alert me for anything marked urgent

Configure Daily Briefing

Enable the morning briefing (delivered to your inbox or Slack):

Daily at 7:30 AM:
- Today's calendar summary
- Priority emails needing response
- Tasks and follow-ups due today
- Weather and commute info (optional)

Test with a Small Scope

Start with conservative settings. You can always expand automation once you trust the system.

Congratulations! 🎉

You now have a working AI assistant. Here's what to do next:

This Week

Use the chat daily — The more you interact, the better it learns
Review draft emails — Approve or edit to train its writing
Check the briefing — Note what's helpful and what's noise

Next Week

Expand automation — Turn on more proactive features
Connect more tools — Slack, Notion, or other integrations
Refine preferences — Update settings based on experience

Long-Term

Train through feedback — Correct mistakes, acknowledge good work
Build workflows — Create multi-step automations
Upgrade if needed — As usage grows, consider higher tiers

Getting Help

Stuck? Here's how to get support:

Documentation: /docs — Detailed guides and API reference
Discord Community: Active community of ClawOcean users
Email Support: support@clawocean.com
In-App Chat: Click the help icon in your dashboard

Ready for More?

Explore advanced features:

Welcome to ClawOcean. Your AI assistant is ready to help.