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Help with Gus

Gus is a Useful Spirit Buddy for bringing what feels tender, tangled, stuck, practical, or simply alive for you. You do not need to know the right way to begin. A question, a feeling, a situation, or “I don’t know where to start” is enough.

Finding your way around

At the top of Gus

Gus logo — G: Return to your conversation home.
Your name: The name Gus uses for you. You can change it in Settings.
Circled question mark — ?: Open this Help.
Settings gear: Change your name, Gus’s reading voice, and your saved Background.
Sign out: Sign out of Gus on this browser.

At the top of a conversation

Conversation history — three lines with a small circle: Open your list of conversations.
Plus — +: Start a new conversation.
Lock: This is your private conversation space, not a public post.
Three dots — •••: Open the options for the whole conversation.

Near the message box and responses

Conversation mode: Choose Chat, Small Steps, Go Deep, or Let’s Tap!
Paperclip: Add or remove conversation files.
Microphone: Speak and turn your recording into editable text.
Information icon — i: Explain nearby response or credit details.

On a phone or smaller screen, some words may make room for the icons. Their labels are also available to screen readers and when you pause over them with a pointer.

Talking with Gus

Type what is here for you and choose Send. Press Enter to send, or Shift+Enter to make a new line.

Gus may reflect, ask a question, offer a useful distinction, suggest a small step, or tap with you. You remain the authority on your life. Keep what is useful. Correct Gus, redirect the conversation, or say what did not fit.

Starting a new conversation gives you a separate thread. Gus uses the recent context in the conversation you are in; it does not quietly build a hidden profile from your other conversations.

Conversation modes

Use the mode beside the message box when you want to shape the pace:

Chat: Natural back-and-forth.
Small Steps: A steadier pace with room for what comes next.
Go Deep: More room for nuance and synthesis across turns.
Let’s Tap!: Tap together with what is here now.

The mode stays with that conversation until you change it. You can also begin a message with a command:

/chat — use Chat mode
/steps — use Small Steps mode
/deep — use Go Deep mode
/tap — use Let’s Tap! mode
/fresh — continue without your saved Background
/background — use your saved Background again
/help — open this Help

The conversation and Background commands can stand alone or begin a message, such as /deep I want to understand why this keeps happening. Use /help by itself.

/fresh turns off your saved Background and preferred name for this conversation. It does not erase the conversation you are already in. Start a new conversation when you want a separate thread.

Your name and Background

Open the Settings gear to tell Gus what you would like to be called. Gus can use your name where it adds warmth without putting it into every response.

Your Background is for things you would rather not keep re-explaining in every new conversation: people, roles, current circumstances, preferences, or anything else that helps Gus meet you well.

Background is written and controlled by you. You can edit it, clear it, turn it off for one conversation under the three-dot menu, or use /fresh. What you say now matters more than anything saved there. You can also write instructions such as “Do not call me by name.”

Do not put passwords, access keys, financial account details, or other secrets in Background or a conversation.

Files and speaking instead of typing

Use the paperclip to add up to three images or documents to a conversation. Active files are included with every new message until you remove them. Check the paperclip shelf when you no longer want a file included.

You can also drag files into the conversation. Gus accepts common images, PDFs, text and Markdown files, Word documents, spreadsheets, and a few other document formats. The app will tell you when a file type or size is not supported.

Use the microphone to speak. Tap it again when you are done. Gus places the transcript in the message box so you can review or edit it before sending. Keep recordings reasonably brief: recordings over 25 MB cannot be transcribed, and the number of minutes that represents varies by browser.

What you can do with a response

The small icons below a Gus response let you:

Copy response: Copy formatted text for pasting into email, a document, or another rich-text editor.
Copy Markdown: Copy the underlying Markdown when you want portable headings, emphasis, lists, or tapping-point formatting.
Envelope: Email that response to yourself. The email includes your question and a way to open the conversation in Gus. Reply to the email to continue the same conversation.
Useful / Needs Improvement: Send quick feedback to Thriving Now. You may add a note, but the note is optional. Feedback helps improve Gus over time; it does not change the response or Gus’s behavior in the current conversation.
Read to Me: Hear the response in your selected Gus voice. Once the reading is prepared, you can pause, restart, stop, or download the MP3.

When Gus used material from the knowledge base, a Gus Source references section may appear below the response. Open it to see which Gus Source materials helped inform the answer. For now, you will see their titles; links to the source files are not available yet.

Response details may show the conversation mode, response time, tokens, and Gus Credits used. These are operating details, not a score for the meaning or value of the response.

Open the three-dot menu for actions that apply to the conversation:

Rename Conversation: Give the thread a title that will help you find it later.
Copy Conversation: Copy the full exchange with rich formatting.
Copy Markdown: Copy the full exchange as portable Markdown.
Email this — Email me: Send the full conversation to your account email. Reply to continue it with Gus.
Email this — Send to Rick: Add a note and send Rick a private, read-only link. Rick’s reply comes directly to your account email.
Download Markdown: Save a portable Markdown file.
Download Plain Text: Save a simple text file.
Delete Conversation: Permanently remove the conversation from Gus and its response service. This cannot be undone.

Copying or downloading keeps the conversation under your control. Send to Rick deliberately brings one conversation to Rick’s attention. Gus does not automatically send or present every conversation to him, although Rick’s administrator access lets him open conversations when needed. See Privacy, memory, and good judgment below for more about that boundary.

Continuing by email

You can begin a new conversation by replying to a Gus welcome email. When you email yourself a response or conversation, replying to that message continues the same conversation.

Email continuity depends on writing from the email address connected to your Gus account. If you reply from a different address or alias, Gus will not match the message to your account. The message will be ignored rather than added to a conversation.

Email is convenient, but use the app when you want to attach files, use speech input or Read to Me, see the complete conversation, use response actions, or check credit details.

Your account and access

Gus accounts are invited directly. Your invitation confirms the email address, lets you choose a password and preferred name, and then welcomes you into the app.

Use the email address connected to your invitation and your password to sign in. If you forget your password, use Forgot password? on the sign-in page. Use Sign out in the top-right when you are finished on a shared device.

Your preferred name is separate from your login. Change the name Gus calls you with the Settings gear. To change the email address you use to sign in and reply to Gus, coordinate with Rick so your Gus account and contact record stay connected.

Gus Credits

Gus Credits support access to Gus. They help account for the services used to create responses and Read to Me audio. They are not a measure of a response’s personal value.

Your current balance appears on your conversation home and in the conversation list. Each response can show the credits it used. If your balance reaches the current stopping point, your conversations remain available, but sending pauses until Rick adds credits. Email Rick@ThrivingNow.com when you need help with access or credits.

Privacy, memory, and good judgment

Your Gus account and conversations are not public. They are not automatically emailed or presented to Rick as a routine feed. They are stored in Gus, and Rick’s administrator access means he can deliberately open account and conversation information when needed for support, maintenance, or a review you request. Send to Rick is the clearest way to call his attention to a particular conversation.

This is private access within an online service, not a promise of end-to-end secrecy. As with any internet-connected AI or online service, use your judgment about highly sensitive information. Delete Conversation permanently removes a conversation from active Gus and its response service. As with most online systems, protected backups—and any emails or files you created—may retain copies for a time.

Gus uses recent context from the conversation you are in, plus your saved Background when it is on. It will not retain every detail as a conversation grows long. Starting another conversation does not carry the old conversation over; saved Background is the person-authored bridge you control.

Gus is designed to be thoughtful and useful, and it can still misunderstand, miss context, or be wrong. It is not a substitute for qualified medical, mental-health, legal, financial, or emergency help. For urgent danger or a time-sensitive crisis, contact appropriate local help or a trusted person who can act with you now.

A few useful questions

What if Gus does not understand me?

Say so plainly. Try “That isn’t quite it,” “Ask me one question,” “Please be more practical,” or “Stay with the feeling instead of solving it.” Your correction is useful context.

Can I ask Gus to tap with me?

Yes. Choose Let’s Tap!, begin with /tap, or simply ask. You can change the words, skip a point, pause, or stop at any time.

Why did Gus not use my name or Background?

Check whether the conversation says Starting fresh or whether Use my background is unchecked in the three-dot menu. Gus also tries to use your name selectively rather than mechanically.

How can I copy or save something from Gus?

Yes. Use rich copy for ordinary pasting, Copy Markdown for portable structure, or download the whole conversation as Markdown or plain text.

Email Rick@ThrivingNow.com. Your login email is also how Gus recognizes authorized email replies, so Rick will coordinate the change with you.

What if something is broken or I need a person?

Email Rick@ThrivingNow.com. If the issue is in a particular conversation, Send to Rick and include a short note about what you noticed.

One last thing

You do not need to use every feature. Begin where you are. The best way to learn Gus is to bring something real, notice what helps, and shape the conversation from there.