AIVAPersonal AI CompanionJoin the Waitlist

Documentation

AIVA Docs

13 chapters for setup, everyday use, connected apps, voice, privacy, and troubleshooting.

Guide

Welcome
StartWelcome01Getting started02Talking to AIVA03Personality04Memory05Built-in apps06Connecting apps07Voice08Screen awareness09Scheduling10Coding mode11Privacy and trust12Recipes13FAQ
Guide3 sections

Welcome to AIVA

AIVA is a personal AI companion that lives on your Mac. Unlike a chatbot you open in a browser tab, AIVA runs continuously in the background, remembers what matters to you, learns how you like things done, and can act on your behalf across your email, calendar, files, Slack, GitHub, Notion, and the open web.

You talk to AIVA the same way you'd brief a great assistant — by voice or by typing. AIVA does the rest.

What makes AIVA different

  • It's always there. AIVA is a long-running companion, not a request-and-response chatbot. It can wake itself on a schedule, notice things you should know about, and follow up on commitments you (or it) made earlier.
  • It remembers you. AIVA builds a durable memory of your preferences, your people, your projects, and how you work. Memory is yours — you can pin, correct, or forget anything by just telling it.
  • It has its own apps. AIVA keeps its own Calendar, Tasks, Notes, Contacts, Bookmarks, Browser, Files, Messages, Email, and Loops — the workspace it uses to think and act on your behalf.
  • It connects to your tools. Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Slack, Discord, GitHub, Notion, WhatsApp Business, Twilio, and your own SMTP/IMAP mailbox — all available from Settings → Apps when configured.
  • It asks before risky actions. Sending messages, creating calendar events, deleting files, posting to Slack — AIVA routes consequential work through the runtime's approval policy so you stay in control.
  • You choose Cloud or Local. Run AIVA in Cloud mode (managed — we supply the model, voice, and storage, no API keys) or Local mode (bring your own model keys; your data stays on your Mac). You pick on first launch and can see your choice in Settings → Account.

How to use this guide

This guide is split into short chapters. Start at Getting Started, then skip around as you need.

  1. Getting started — Cloud vs Local, sign in, onboarding, your first conversation.
  2. Talking to AIVA — chat, attachments, slash commands, the menu bar.
  3. Making AIVA yours — name, values, and the orb's color.
  4. What AIVA remembers about you — memory, pinning, and forgetting.
  5. AIVA's built-in apps — Calendar, Tasks, Notes, Files, Loops, and more.
  6. Connecting your apps — Gmail, GCal, GDrive, Slack, Discord, GitHub, Notion, WhatsApp Business, Twilio, custom email.
  7. Voice and hands-free use — voice modes, wake word, push-to-talk.
  8. Screen awareness — letting AIVA see what you see.
  9. Scheduling and proactivity — Loops, recurring tasks, and the work AIVA does on its own.
  10. Coding mode — using AIVA inside a codebase.
  11. Privacy and trust — what's local, what isn't, what needs approval.
  12. Recipes and use cases — common ways customers use AIVA.
  13. Troubleshooting and FAQ — fixes for common issues.
  14. Skills, tools, and reviews — how AIVA extends itself, and how you supervise it.
  15. Account, plans, and billing — Cloud vs Local, models, usage, and importing from Claude Code.
  16. Approvals — the approval queue and how AIVA asks before it acts.

A note on language

Throughout this guide, when we say "AIVA" we mean the assistant itself — the personality you talk to. You can rename your assistant anything you like; we'll keep calling it AIVA here for consistency.