FAQ

About the product

What is Vellum?

A personal AI assistant that lives on your computer. It has its own identity, its own email, and the ability to take real actions on your behalf: reading files, sending emails, building apps, ordering food, managing your schedule, and more. See What is Vellum? for the full overview.

How is this different from ChatGPT or Claude?

Those are conversation tools. You type, they respond, you copy-paste the answer somewhere. Vellum is different because it has tools (it can actually do things), memory (it remembers you across conversations), its own identity (separate email and accounts), and it lives on your machine (with access to your files and apps). More detail in What is Vellum?.

Is Vellum free?

[TBD: Pricing information, free tier details, subscription plans]

What platforms does it support?

macOS only, for now. Apple Silicon and Intel. Windows and Linux support is on the roadmap.

Can I use it on my phone?

Not yet. Mobile is on the roadmap. For now, the desktop app is the primary interface.

About privacy and data

Is my data safe?

Your workspace, memories, and configuration are stored locally on your machine. They're plain text files that never leave your computer. However, your conversations and context are sent to a cloud AI model provider (like Anthropic) to generate responses. That's the trade-off we're transparent about. Full details in Privacy & Data.

Does Vellum train on my data?

No. From our side, your data is not used for training or fine-tuning. For the AI model provider's policies, we recommend reading their terms directly. See Privacy & Data.

Can my employer see what I do with Vellum?

Vellum runs locally on your machine. We don't have a dashboard, an admin panel, or any way to see your usage. Your workspace is a folder on your hard drive. That said, if your employer monitors your network traffic or your machine, they could potentially see the API calls. Use your judgment based on your work environment.

What happens if I delete the app?

Your workspace folder (~/.vellum/) remains on your machine unless you delete it manually. If you want a clean removal, delete the app and the workspace folder. See Security Best Practices for the full reset process.

Can other people access my assistant?

No. Your assistant is local to your machine and your user account. There's no multi-user mode, no shared access, no team features. It's personal.

About capabilities

What can it do?

A lot. Email, calendar, weather, food delivery, image generation, web browsing, coding, app building, document writing, task management, and more. See the full Skills Reference for details on each capability.

Can it access my files?

Only with your explicit permission, every time. When your assistant needs to read or write a file on your machine, you see an Allow / Don't Allow prompt with an explanation. See Permissions & File Access.

Can it send emails as me?

No. Your assistant has its own email address (through AgentMail). When it sends email, it sends from its own address, not yours. Recipients know they're talking to your assistant. See Email (AgentMail).

Can it control my computer?

With your permission, yes. Screen recording and accessibility permissions allow your assistant to see your screen and interact with UI elements. These are opt-in and require macOS system permissions. See Permissions & File Access.

Can I teach it new things?

Yes, in two ways. You can tell it facts and preferences naturally in conversation (it saves them to memory). And you can build custom skills that give it entirely new capabilities. See Building Custom Skills.

Can I use it offline?

Partially. Your workspace and tools are local, but your assistant needs an internet connection to think (it sends your messages to a cloud AI model). Without internet, it can't generate responses.

About the assistant itself

Can I change its name?

Yes. Say “I want to rename you to [name]” or edit IDENTITY.md directly.

Can I change its personality?

Yes. Tell it what you want (“be more casual,” “stop being sarcastic”) or edit SOUL.md directly. Changes take effect immediately. See Making It Yours.

Can I change how it looks?

Yes. Your assistant has a customizable avatar with body color, hat, shirt, accessory, and held item. Say “put on a wizard hat” or edit LOOKS.md. See Making It Yours.

What AI model does it use?

Configurable. Currently defaults to Anthropic's Claude models. Model selection can be changed in config.json.

Does it have feelings?

No. It's very good at sounding like it does, though. Don't let the personality fool you. It's a language model with a good costume.