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SMS

SMS quickstart

Use alfred_ entirely over text. Connect your phone, send your first text, and start managing email and calendar from your messages.

You can run alfred_ entirely over SMS — no app, no logging in, just text the assistant from any phone. It’s the closest thing to having a real assistant in your pocket.

Brief me
3 things this morning:
• Sarah at Acme is waiting on a contract update (5 days)
• You owe Marc a reply on Q3 budget
• 2 drafts ready for approval
Schedule lunch with Marc next Wednesday at noon
Heads up — you have a 12:00 call with Sarah. Want me to schedule lunch at 1pm instead, or move the call?
1pm works
Done. Lunch with Marc is on Wed Apr 30 at 1:00 PM. I drafted an invite — approve?
A real SMS exchange — multiple capabilities (Brief, calendar, conflict detection, draft creation) in one thread.

Connect your phone

  1. Settings → SMS → Connect
  2. Enter your phone number
  3. alfred_ texts you a verification code
  4. Reply with the code — you’re connected

Once connected, alfred_ uses your phone number for outbound texts and recognizes incoming messages from it.

What you can do over SMS

Pretty much everything the Web Chat can do, with some exceptions for things that need a rich UI (compose previews, kanban cards):

  • Email — read, reply, archive, draft, search
  • Calendar — schedule, reschedule, find availability, get briefed
  • Tasks — capture, list, complete
  • Notes — capture, search
  • Settings — change preferences (“set my morning brief to 7am”, “turn on quiet hours”)
  • Memory — “remember that…”

What’s different on SMS

  • Shorter responses — alfred_ texts in SMS-friendly chunks
  • No rich previews — compose previews and card UI happen in Web Chat
  • MMS attachments — send photos, alfred_ can read receipts, screenshots, business cards, etc.
  • Quiet hours respected — alfred_ won’t text during your configured quiet hours unless urgent

Common first commands

  • “What’s on my calendar today?”
  • “Brief me”
  • “Add a task: send proposal to Acme by Friday”
  • “Reply to John’s last email saying I’ll get back to him tomorrow”
  • “What am I waiting on?”
  • “Remember that Sarah prefers async over meetings”

Save alfred_ to your contacts

Easiest way to text alfred_: save the number with a friendly name. Ask alfred_:

save yourself to my contacts

alfred_ texts you a contact card (.vcf) with the right number(s) and emails. Tap to save.