How to add Cole to a WhatsApp group

Before you start

• Have a Pocodot account with WhatsApp connected. It is free to start, with 150 one-time credits.
• Make sure you can add participants to the group. If only admins can add members, ask a group admin to add Cole.
• Explain to participants that Cole can receive unaddressed group messages as context. Waiting for a mention to reply does not mean other messages are never processed.
• Choose non-sensitive sample notes for your first test. Review privacy and data handling before sharing sensitive material.

Set up and test your first group

1. Connect WhatsApp from your dashboard. Sign in or create your Cole workspace, then choose WhatsApp (not WhatsApp Business). It opens WhatsApp with a one-time code addressed to Cole's WhatsApp number. Send it, and Cole replies in your private chat.
2. Add Cole's number to the group. Save the number you just messaged as a contact, open the group, tap the group name and add Cole as a participant. Cole cannot join from a group invite link.
3. Tag Cole once from your number. Send @Cole hi in the group from the WhatsApp number on your Pocodot account. Cole answers from your own credits, then asks you once, in your private chat, whether your account should pay for everyone in this group. Say yes, and everyone in the group can ask Cole on your account. Nobody becomes the payer without saying yes, and the group is not told who pays. Until someone says yes, each person with an account pays for their own questions. A WhatsApp group Cole has newly joined can try Cole once for free: someone without an account may get one short answer to a text question, with a line on how to link an account. Requests that need tools, files or live data need an account. To take over paying later, tell Cole so in the group and Cole asks you privately.
4. Share a little context. Have participants contribute a few planning notes after Cole is in the group. Cole cannot see messages from before it joined.
5. Address Cole with a specific request. For example: “Cole, summarize the options we shared and list the decisions still open.” Check the answer against the messages. Add a correction and ask for an updated recap.
6. Try connected tools separately. Confirm the tool owner, permissions and any approval requirements before requesting an external action. Verify the resulting record or message in the destination system. A draft is not a completed action.

What context does Cole use?

The September group update documents context from unaddressed messages in connected WhatsApp and LINE groups. Cole waits to be addressed before replying: someone tags it, calls it by name or nickname, or replies to one of its messages. A follow-up question from the same person right after Cole's answer needs no new tag. This makes a later recap possible using the conversation available to Cole.

It does not establish unlimited retained history, access to messages before connection, or permission to share one person’s private accounts with a group. Supply missing facts explicitly. Slack and Telegram have different message-context flows; do not assume identical behavior across channels.

If something does not work

• No reply: check whether someone has agreed to pay for the group; until then Cole answers only people with their own Pocodot account, apart from the one free answer a new group may get. Check that your request tags Cole or calls it by name. Check that the account still has credits. Try a simple non-sensitive message.
• Incomplete recap: the necessary messages may not be available. Include the missing facts and ask again; do not treat a plausible answer as proof of access to older history.
• Tool action unavailable: check the actual account connection, permissions and plan. Group membership alone is not authorization for someone else’s tools.
• Unsupported setup: contact support@pocodot.ai with the configuration and error, without sending credentials or private chat contents.

Permissions, removal and retention

Decide with your group what information is appropriate to share. Review the connected accounts before asking for email, calendar or other external actions. Confirm the recipient and destination, complete any required approval, and check the result.

From your private chat with Cole, the account owner or an admin can turn Cole off in the group, let only members of the account use it, set a monthly credit limit per person, or leave someone out. Rules for the group, such as "only answer when someone asks you a question", are set in the group itself.

To remove Cole, remove it from the group like any other participant; Cole never leaves a group on its own. Disconnecting and deleting previously stored data are separate operations. Consult the privacy policy or support for the retention and deletion options that apply to your account.

Cost and next steps

Cole's replies and actions in a group use the credits of the group's payer, the account that said yes when Cole asked; until someone has, each person's own credits. If the payer runs out, a member who has their own Pocodot account with credits pays for their own questions until it is topped up. See current plans and limits before testing larger tasks. A channel connection does not change your subscription or grant access to every connected tool.

Explore Cole for WhatsApp chats and groups, or compare the Slack workflow. Start with one conversation and a result the group can check.