FAQ

Questions, answered.

What is Botsdale, exactly?

A desktop app that shows your AI bots as pixel-art townspeople. When a bot is working, its character walks to work and shows the task. When it's idle, it lives its life: eating, napping, gardening, gossiping, and now and then brawling.

Do I need my own bots to enjoy it?

No. Demo mode keeps the town busy with pretend tasks, and the town life, pets and drama all run on their own. Bots make it more fun.

What kind of bots can I connect?

Anything that can send an HTTP request: scripts, agents, Discord or Slack bots, n8n, Zapier, cron jobs. See Connect your bots for examples.

Do I need a Grok or xAI account?

Only if you want bots to reply to chats and tasks with live AI. Add your own xAI API key and you pay xAI directly for what you use. Without a key, everything else still works.

Is my key safe?

Your key is encrypted with Windows' built-in secure storage, never saved in plain text, and only ever sent to xAI.

Does Botsdale collect any data?

No. There's no account, no analytics, no telemetry, no ads and no crash reporting. Your town lives in a folder on your computer. Privacy details.

Can I watch my town from my phone?

Yes, on the same network. Open your PC's address on port 8790 in your phone's browser. To use the controls from another device, open it once with your token (shown on the Connect screen).

Can I post clips?

Please do. The built-in recorder makes MP4 clips in 16:9 or 9:16, ready for TikTok, Reels and Shorts.

Is there a Mac version?

Not yet. Windows comes first, and a signed Mac build is planned.

Is the art AI-generated?

Yes. Character, building and map art was made with AI-assisted pixel-art tools. Bot dialogue comes from whichever AI service you connect.