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Getting started

archie takes a few minutes to set up. You need the installer (download) and the login for the mailbox your customers write to.

1. Install and open archie. Run the file you downloaded (on a Mac, open the disk image and drag archie to Applications). If Windows or macOS shows a warning, see Windows warning Mac warning or Mac warning.
2. Choose your business type. See below. You can change it later.
3. Enter your website and choose Scan my site, or choose to skip it if you don't have one.
4. Enter your customer-service email address and choose Look up settings. archie finds your provider and shows the right way to connect. See Connect your email.
5. Start the scan. Choose Scan emails to extract tone and further knowledge. archie learns from your recent replies. This takes a few minutes.
6. Review your tone. Edit the rules and style guide until they sound like you, then choose Looks good, continue. Nothing is saved until you approve.
7. See your drafts. archie shows replies it already drafted to your own recent customer emails. From here, work from Tickets.

Choosing your business type

Change it any time in Settings → Business type. Nothing you have connected is lost by switching.

Connect your email

After you enter your address and choose Look up settings, the button changes to match your provider.

Outlook, Microsoft 365, Hotmail

1. Choose Connect with Microsoft.
2. Sign in on Microsoft's own page and approve access.
3. Return to archie. It confirms the connection.

Gmail and Google Workspace

1. Choose Connect with Google.
2. Sign in on Google's page and approve access.

Other providers (IMAP and SMTP)

Enter your mail server details if archie can't detect them, then choose Test connection. Many providers (including Microsoft and Google) no longer accept your normal password this way and need an app-specific password or the sign-in buttons above.

If your Outlook account won't connect the usual way

archie has a fallback that signs in once through a visible browser window and then works with Outlook on the web. It is slower and can break if Microsoft changes its pages, so use it only if the normal connection isn't possible.

Your tone of voice

During setup, archie drafts two things from your real replies: classification and reply rules (how to handle different kinds of message) and a formatting and style guide (formality, warmth, sign-off, structure).

• Edit them freely. They are plain text. If archie got something wrong, change it and approve.
• It keeps learning. When you edit a draft before sending, archie notices and adjusts over time. Every version of your tone is kept in Settings, and hand-editing and reverting versions are plan features after the trial.
• Retrain from Settings → Email Training if your style changes.

Tickets and replies

1. Open Operations → Tickets. Each customer message is a ticket with a status and a draft.
2. Open one, read the draft and the original message.
3. Edit if you want, then approve to send. archie sends nothing until you do.

Mail rules: create sender-based rules to keep automated notifications and spam out of your queue.

Sandbox: under Operations → Sandbox, paste any subject and message to see how archie would reply. No ticket is created and no real mailbox is touched. Useful for checking your tone or testing a tricky case.

Knowledge base

The facts archie uses to answer questions, from your site's FAQ and policy pages and from how you have replied before. Open Settings → Knowledge base to read, edit or remove any fact. Choose Extract from my website to re-read your site after you change a policy.

Customer accounts (invoices and estimates)

1. Turn it on in Settings → Business type → Customer Accounts (it is off by default). You can set your business name and address for generated PDFs and choose whether you say estimate, proposal or quotation.
2. Open Customer Accounts and upload an invoice or estimate (PDF or Word, or a photographed scan).
3. Review the draft archie fills in: customer, line items, totals, dates. Correct anything.
4. Save. The document joins that customer's running account.

The Reports tab shows value by customer, this year against last, how often estimates convert, how long customers take to pay and what is overdue.

Connect a store

Available on the online-store business type. In Settings → Sales channels, pick your platform and follow the steps shown: they list exactly what each platform needs. Supported: WooCommerce, Shopify, PrestaShop, BigCommerce, Squarespace, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Amazon, eBay and Etsy. Shipping (Royal Mail, DPD, DHL) and warehouse (ShipBob, Huboo, Mintsoft and others) connections are in Fulfilment; advertising accounts are in Marketing.

After you connect, archie imports your order history in the background. It is paced to be gentle and resumes where it left off if interrupted, so a large store can take a while the first time.

Several companies

In Settings → Companies, open Add a company, give the new business a name and contact email, choose its type and add it. Switch between companies from the same page. Each company has its own mailbox, tickets, invoices and plan.

Plans and allowances

What “premium” means: the full report suite and Customer Accounts are premium tools. Both are free for your first 7 days; after that they come with any paid plan (Solo Service, Growth Studio or Full Store). The reports fill in once you have connected a store.

Your current plan and what you've used are shown in Settings → Plan and on the plans page (See plans & upgrade). The roundel in the app and gentle banners warn you as an allowance runs low. Moving to a lower plan never deletes anything. See pricing.

If Windows warns you about archie

archie's installer isn't code-signed yet, so Windows doesn't recognise the publisher.

• SmartScreen (“Windows protected your PC”): choose More info, then Run anyway.
• “Part of this app has been blocked” or “can't confirm who published it”: this is Smart App Control. It may block the installer, or a part of the app, on some PCs. You can check the download against the SHA-256 on the download page. If it keeps blocking, email us. Turning Smart App Control off in Windows Security → App & browser control is a permanent change that can only be reversed by reinstalling Windows, so we don't recommend it unless you understand that.

If your Mac won't open archie

archie isn't notarised by Apple yet, so macOS may say it can't check the app for malware.

• Open it once the long way: in Applications, right-click (or Control-click) archie and choose Open, then Open again. After that it opens normally.
• Still blocked: open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll to the message about archie and choose Open Anyway.
• You can check the download against the SHA-256 on the download page.

Troubleshooting

archie says it can't reach the Hub

AI features need an internet connection to the archie Hub. Check your connection and try again. Your dashboards, orders and tickets keep working offline.

My drafts stopped appearing

You may have used your allowance (Free: 5 a day, on a rolling 24 hours). Check Settings → Plan. Your data is never deleted when an allowance runs out.

The mailbox test fails

Check the address and server details, and whether your provider needs a sign-in button or an app password instead of your normal password. Use the Microsoft or Google button when it is offered.

An invoice came back with fields missing

Fields are filled in by AI and can be wrong or blank. That is why you always review the draft. Fill in what is missing and save. If a scanned page reads badly, try a clearer photo or the original PDF.

I can't sign in after the Hub was reset

If your account details were lost on the Hub side, contact us and we will help restore or recreate it.

I switched business type and some pages vanished

That is a display choice only. Switch back in Settings → Business type and everything is there.

Frequently asked questions

Does archie send emails without asking me?

No. Every reply is a draft until you approve it. The same goes for invoices and estimates it reads.

Will it sound like me?

It learns from your own replies and shows you its tone guide to edit. It improves as you correct drafts. You judge the result on your first set of drafts, before anything is sent.

Where is my data stored?

Your business database is an encrypted file on your computer. The AI features use the archie Hub, which holds your tone profile, knowledge base and case history, encrypted and separate from other businesses. See Security & data.

Does it work offline?

The core (dashboards, orders, tickets, action list) does. AI drafting and document reading need the Hub.

What languages does it support?

The interface is in English, French and German.

What if I stop paying?

You return to the permanent free plan. Nothing is deleted, hidden or locked.

Can more than one person use it?

archie is built for one person or a very small team, with one install per business. You can run several companies from one computer.

Is there a Mac or mobile version?

There is a Mac version (Apple silicon, macOS 11 or later) alongside Windows. A mobile companion and a Linux version are planned.

Still stuck? Get in touch: we read every message.