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Ready-made Programs
A ready-made Program is a room that comes set up for one job. It arrives with the AI teammates who do the work, the routines they run, the rules they follow and the connections they need, all set up to work together. Install one, answer a question or two, and it starts working.
New to rooms? Read Programs and rooms first.
The four ready-made Programs
| Program | What it does | What you need | How to start |
|---|---|---|---|
| RFP Operations | Finds federal and state and local bids, scores each one against what you sell, and drafts proposals for the ones you pursue. | One sentence about what you sell. No keys: it uses Pencel's shared access to the bid sources. | Home ▸ Find government RFPs |
| Email Chief of Staff | Reads your Gmail, clears the noise and prepares replies for the messages that need you. | A Gmail account. | Home ▸ Handle my inbox |
| Morning Stock Watch | A factual morning brief on the stocks and ETFs you hold: price, news and analyst views. | Your ticker symbols (up to 25). | Home ▸ Stock watch |
| QuickBooks Accountant (Beta) | Answers questions from your live books and drafts expenses that you approve one at a time. | A QuickBooks Online company. | Programs ▸ + New program |
Every Program also needs AI access: credits on a Pencel plan, or your own API key. How many Programs you can run depends on your plan: one on Free and Solo, three on Pro. See Accounts, plans and credits.
Install one from Home
The quickest way in is the What should Pencel find for you? card on Home.
- Choose Find government RFPs, Handle my inbox or Stock watch.
- Answer the one question it asks (what you sell, your Gmail, or your tickers).
- Pencel installs the Program and starts its first piece of work right away.
Each Program's page walks through its card in detail. If you skipped the card, go to Settings ▸ General ▸ Getting started and click Restart getting started to bring it back.
Install one from Programs
- Click Programs in the left sidebar.
- Click the tile of a Program you haven't installed yet (it says Use this program), or click + New program and scroll down to the ready-made list.
- Click a row to expand it. You'll see what the Program does, What this installs, and anything needed Before it can run.
- Click Install. For Email Chief of Staff the button reads Use this program.
Each row shows its status on the right: Available, Installed, or a reminder such as 1 to finish setup when a connection or key is still missing. Expand the row to see a Finish setup panel with a Fix link for each missing piece.
RFP Operations is two rows
The list shows Federal RFP Scout and SLED RFP Scout (state, local and education bids). They are the two halves of RFP Operations. Installing either one installs both, into one room.
If you describe a new Program in your own words and a ready-made one already does the job, Pencel suggests it so you don't build the same thing twice.
After you click Install
A confirmation window shows what was added: the teammates, workflows, guidelines and connections. Depending on the Program, it may also:
- Offer to run on a schedule. A Run this every day? prompt with a Run daily button turns on the Program's scheduled routine. You can skip it and turn the schedule on later from the room.
- Name a missing key. If a source needs a key before it can run, the window tells you what to add in Settings ▸ Connections.
Click Open followed by the Program's name to go to its room, or Stay here to keep browsing.
Re-sync
When a Program is already installed, its row shows Re-sync instead of Install. Re-sync applies the latest setup from Pencel, such as new data sources and fixes. Installing or re-syncing never creates duplicates.
What installing creates
| Part | What it is |
|---|---|
| A room | The Program's own space, named with a #, like # rfp-ops. It appears on the Programs page and in the Programs panel of the sidebar. |
| Teammates | The AI crew who do the work. See the table below. |
| Routines | Workflows the room runs. Some run when you ask. Scheduled ones stay off until you turn them on. |
| Rules | Guidelines for how the room scores, writes and behaves. You'll find them in room settings under About. |
| Connections | The data sources the Program needs. Ones that need your sign-in, like Gmail and QuickBooks, wait for you to connect them. |
| Program | Room | Teammates |
|---|---|---|
| RFP Operations | # rfp-ops | Scout finds and files opportunities. Qualifier brings you the calls only you can make. Drafter writes the proposals. |
| Email Chief of Staff | # mailroom | Mailroom sorts what needs you and holds drafts for your review. |
| Morning Stock Watch | # stock-watch | Analyst briefs price, news and analyst consensus for your tickers. |
| QuickBooks Accountant | # quickbooks | Accountant reads your financials and logs the expenses you approve. |
You can change any of it after you install: the goal, the instructions, the crew, the schedule and the budget. See Programs and rooms.
Remove a ready-made Program
- Open the room and click its name at the top to open room settings.
- Go to Advanced. Under Danger zone, find Remove room and click Remove….
- Click Remove to confirm.
Removing deletes the room, its conversation, its results, its schedules and the Program's own workflows. Its teammates, guidelines and connections stay in your workspace. You can install it again at any time from Programs ▸ + New program.
Not ready to remove it?
Start over… (in the same Danger zone) clears the conversation and results but keeps the setup. Pause room (under Schedule) stops all scheduled work until you resume it.
Want something else?
Ready-made Programs cover four jobs. For anything else, describe the work in your own words and Pencel drafts a room for it. See Set up your own Program.