Key ideas
Hosts, bots, the workspace, turns and approvals: the few ideas the rest of the docs build on.
Hosts
Every bot lives on a host: This PC (inside the app) or an InkBot server. A host keeps its own bots and chats, workspace folder, connected providers and API keys, plugins, logins, routines, webhook triggers, skills and team memory. When you pick a server in the app (the Runs on setting in the bot editor, or the host picker on the Models, Plugins and Logins pages), you're changing that server.
Bots on different hosts are still one team: they see each other and can hand work back and forth. The app passes those hand-offs between machines, and servers can also reach each other directly.
Bots
A bot is a teammate with a name, a job, instructions, a model and a reasoning effort (Quick, Balanced, Deep or Max). It keeps one ongoing conversation. Long chats are condensed as they grow, and pinned messages are always kept. A bot can also have long-term memory, skills and its own computer.
A group chat has members instead of a model of its own. Messages that @mention a member go to that member, and the rest go to the group's coordinator.
Turns
A turn is one reply: from your message until the bot is done. During a turn the bot may think, use tools, ask for approval or ask you questions. You can steer a running turn with another message, or stop it. Everything a turn does is shown as steps under the reply, and file changes get a card with Undo.
The workspace
Each host has a workspace folder where bots read and write files. It defaults to an InkBot folder in your Documents (on a server, in the service user's home) and can be moved in Settings → General. Anything outside the workspace always asks first unless the bot has Full access.
Approvals
Before a bot changes files, runs a command or uses the web, InkBot can ask you. Pick how much it asks: Ask for approval, Auto accept edits, Let the model decide or Full access. Approval cards wait 30 minutes by default; after that the bot is told nobody answered and goes on without it. See Approvals and questions.
Where things are kept
- Bots, chats and settings are in InkBot's data folder on each host.
- API keys, tokens and passwords are kept in Windows Credential Manager on your PC, or encrypted in the server's data folder. They are never written into exports.
- Bot settings, routines and triggers have a sealed (encrypted) copy, so a change made by editing the files directly is noticed and undone.