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How to set up your first AI agent in Grok Bot, ChatGPT, Claude or n8n

Short answer: To set up your first AI agent, pick one recurring job, paste ready-made instructions into Grok Bot, ChatGPT, Claude or n8n, set a schedule, run a test and tune it once. Our two free recipes, the Bitcoin Price & News Daily Brief and the AI & Agent News Daily Digest, are good first agents.

Step by step

1. Pick one recurring job. Start with something you check every day, like a bitcoin brief or an AI news digest.
2. Choose your tool. Grok Bot (scheduled routine), ChatGPT or Claude (project instructions; free plans work with limits), or self-hosted n8n Community Edition (free).
3. Paste the instructions. Copy the recipe's prompt or instructions into your tool and fill in your preferences, such as delivery time or a watchlist.
4. Run a test. Ask for a test run now, for example "Send me today's brief now."
5. Tune it once. Reply with what you'd change, such as shorter, more mining news, or less research.

Grok Bot

Paste the recipe's Grok Bot prompt into your Grok Bot assistant. It sets up a scheduled routine (for example, daily at 7:00 AM for the bitcoin brief) and asks where to deliver it: chat or email. Change the time any time by asking.

ChatGPT or Claude

Paste the recipe's portable instructions into ChatGPT's Custom Instructions, a Project if your plan has one, or the start of a new chat. Turn on web browsing or search, then type the trigger word (for example "brief"). Free plans have daily message limits and browsing may be limited; if it can't browse, paste the data in.

n8n

Use self-hosted n8n Community Edition (free) on your own computer, for example with npx n8n or Docker; n8n Cloud is paid. A typical outline: Schedule Trigger → HTTP Request nodes for free APIs (CoinGecko, mempool.space) → RSS Feed Read nodes → Merge and Filter to the last 24 hours → an AI node (a free-tier Gemini API key or a free local model via Ollama) → Send Email, Telegram or Slack. Workflows only run while that computer is on.

Rules that keep a first agent useful

• Use only data the agent actually fetched; if a source fails, it should say so instead of guessing.
• Link every story or number to its source.
• Keep anything public or outgoing as a draft until you approve it.

Start with a free recipe

• Bitcoin Price & News Daily Brief: price, fees, hashrate, next difficulty adjustment and 3 to 5 linked stories each morning.
• AI & Agent News Daily Digest: top AI and agent stories, new builder tools, one research pick and your watchlist.