Getting Started
Sign up, open your Matrix workspace, connect your tools, and make your first useful request.
Matrix OS is designed for normal people first. You should not need to install packages, run servers, or understand databases to use it. Start with your account, your tools, and the outcome you want.
First Five Minutes
Sign up
Create your Matrix OS account and choose a handle. Your handle identifies your workspace and becomes the name other people can recognize when you share, message, or publish.
Open your workspace
After signup, Matrix opens your personal workspace. This is where you chat with your AI, open apps, manage files, use Canvas, and connect services.
Connect the tools you already use
Open Integrations and connect the services you want Matrix to help with, such as Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, GitHub, Slack, or Discord.
Ask Matrix for a concrete outcome
Use plain language. Good first requests are specific and useful:
- "What needs my attention today?"
- "Summarize my unread important emails."
- "Make a task board for planning my move."
- "Build me a simple budget tracker."
- "Draft a polite reply to this message."
You stay in control
Matrix can read, draft, organize, and build with connected tools, but sensitive actions should be permissioned and visible. Treat Matrix like a capable assistant: give it goals, review important outputs, and approve actions that matter.
What To Try First
Plan My Day
Ask Matrix to combine calendar events, emails, reminders, and notes into a short plan with priorities.
Build A Personal App
Ask for an app that fits your life: budget tracker, habit tracker, trip planner, recipe book, medication log, CRM, or study planner.
Organize A Project
Give Matrix a goal and ask it to create tasks, notes, files, timelines, and a workspace canvas.
Clean Up Information
Paste messy notes, upload files, or point Matrix at connected data and ask it to summarize, classify, and turn it into next steps.
Communicate Better
Draft replies, prepare meeting notes, write follow-ups, or summarize long threads before you respond.
Remember Context
Tell Matrix preferences, recurring routines, people, projects, and decisions so it can use them later.
The Main Parts Of Matrix
Chat
Chat is the fastest way to ask for work. You can ask Matrix to answer questions, create apps, summarize files, use integrations, organize projects, or explain what it is doing.
Apps
Apps are tools inside your Matrix workspace. Some come pre-installed, and Matrix can create new apps when you describe what you need. First-party apps are built as Vite + React apps and can store structured data in your Matrix database through the bridge API.
Canvas
Canvas is the main workspace surface. Use it to arrange apps, files, tasks, notes, terminals, projects, and review loops spatially so you can return to the same context later.
Integrations
Integrations connect Matrix to the services you already use. Once connected, Matrix can search, summarize, draft, schedule, post, or organize through those services.
Files And Data
Your files live in your Matrix home. Your app and workspace data lives in your Matrix Postgres database. You do not need to manage this manually; Matrix uses it so your work survives reloads, upgrades, and recovery.
Example Requests
Personal Life
- "Create a weekly meal plan and grocery list for two adults."
- "Make a moving checklist and track what is done."
- "Build a habit tracker with streaks and notes."
- "Summarize this PDF into plain English."
- "Plan a weekend trip under this budget."
Work
- "Summarize what happened in Slack while I was away."
- "Find the emails I need to respond to and draft replies."
- "Create a lightweight CRM for these leads."
- "Turn this meeting transcript into decisions, owners, and due dates."
- "Make a dashboard for invoices and follow-ups."
Creative
- "Plan a month of content ideas."
- "Turn these notes into a script outline."
- "Make a portfolio tracker for projects and links."
- "Build a moodboard app for this campaign."
Technical
- "Create a project canvas for this repository."
- "Find failing tests and explain the cause."
- "Draft GitHub issues from this plan."
- "Build an internal tool for this workflow."
Good Prompts
Matrix works best when you include:
- the outcome you want;
- any important constraints;
- where the relevant information lives;
- how polished or rough the result should be;
- whether Matrix should ask before taking external actions.
Examples:
"Build me a personal budget tracker. I want categories, monthly totals, recurring expenses, and a simple chart. Keep it clean and mobile-friendly."
"Look at my calendar and unread email. Give me a 5-item priority list for today. Do not send anything without asking."
"Create a task board for launching my newsletter. Include writing, design, publishing, and sponsor outreach."
Next Steps
Integrations
Connect services so Matrix can work with your email, calendar, files, chat, and code.
Apps
Use built-in apps and ask Matrix to build new tools for your work and life.
Channels
Understand the web workspace and upcoming messaging surfaces.
Storage
Learn where your files, app data, and workspace state live.
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