<. You don't need to choose for each agent one by one: they all use the "Chat" role. If "Local" already has a model when you click **Next** on this step, "Background tasks" (naming conversations, summarizing long conversations, describing the knowledge base) uses "Local" instead, so that content stays on this computer. You can change this later in "Settings › AI Settings › Agent". This step can also be skipped.
5. **All set**: three links: this page, [Organize Work with Projects](/en/guide/projects.md), and [Models and Roles](/en/guide/models.md). Click **Get started** to enter Home.
### Whether to encrypt the data stored on this computer
If you choose "Encrypt (recommended)", these are stored encrypted: conversations, the record of operations the AI has performed, saved passwords and accounts, and the knowledge base.
- **What it protects against**: if the computer gets a trojan, or the files are stolen, the other party cannot open this data.
- **What it does not protect against**: content sent to the AI model provider is still sent as usual and is not encrypted because of this; if a hacker takes full control of the computer, the data can still leak; ordinary files are not encrypted: files in the folders you and your projects work with stay as they are.
- **Risk**: the key that unlocks the data is stored in this computer's system keychain. If the key is lost (for example after reinstalling the system or changing computers), the data can never be opened again without the recovery key file. So when you choose "Encrypt", you must first click **Save recovery key…** and save the recovery key file before you can continue. Store it somewhere other than this computer.
If you choose "Don't encrypt", the key and the data are in the same folder. Copy that folder to another computer and it opens directly, with no recovery key needed; conversely, anyone who gets the folder can read it.
You make this choice only once, in the first-run setup.
### When no model is connected
If you skipped the model in the first-run setup, you still enter Home when setup ends. On every later start, as long as there is still no model, the app first opens "Connect an AI model": choose a model provider, enter the API key, click **Connect**, then choose a model and click **Get started**.
- If Ollama is already running on your computer, a notice at the top offers it directly; click **Use it**, no key needed.
- To use a model file downloaded to this computer, click the link at the bottom to configure it in Settings.
- You can also click **Skip for now**. Until a model is configured, "Chat" in the sidebar is greyed out, and clicking it brings you back to this page. You can add or change models any time in "Settings › AI Settings".
## 2. Create your first project
Work that goes on for a while (tracking a job search, sorting a batch of invoices, running a small event) belongs in a project.
Your projects are at the top of Home, and gems are below. Click **New project** and an "Untitled project" is created and opened right away; you can edit the name in place. In the assistant panel on the right, tell the assistant what the work is; it will build the tables and lay out the page. After that, both you and the assistant can edit what is in the tables. See [Organize Work with Projects](/en/guide/projects.md) for details.
## 3. Start your first conversation
For things that don't need a project, use a conversation: "Chat" in the sidebar.
- The sidebar is normally collapsed into a column of icons and expands when you move the mouse over it.
- The "Chat" row has two buttons on its right: **New chat**, and **Start a chat around a folder** (choose a folder; the assistant reads and writes files in that folder).
- When the sidebar is expanded, your conversations are listed under "Chat": pinned ones under "Pinned", the rest under "Recent". The "…" menu on each row lets you rename, pin, or delete.
When the assistant wants to use a tool or gem that this conversation has not yet opened up, it asks you first; once you allow it, it can use it for the rest of that conversation. Every email sent needs your confirmation.
## 4. Try installing a Gem
Gems are below on Home, and the first one is "Store". In the Store, click **Install**; when it finishes installing, the gem's page opens, where you do its setup. See [Gems: Install and Use](/en/guide/gems.md).
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