Tencent's WorkBuddy Puts an AI Coworker Directly on Your Desktop

This is a "WorkBuddy Getting Started" series.

I'll start from the most basic understanding and gradually write about how to make it help you handle Word, Excel, PPT, how to use it to organize files on your computer, and how to truly make it a colleague on your desk.

If you're just starting with WorkBuddy (pronounced "wò kè bā dī"), you can follow this series article by article.

I previously wrote 72 Obsidian getting-started tutorials (with a goal of updating to 100).

That series had one core principle, hanging there from the very first article and never changed: Let someone who knows absolutely nothing be able to use it just by following the steps.

No assumption of prior knowledge, no assumption you understand code, no assumption you've subscribed to any overseas services. As I wrote later on, I started thinking about one thing: When would there be a domestic AI desktop assistant that "requires no VPN, no credit card, and works right after installation"?

Then WorkBuddy (pronounced "wò kè bā dī") came out.

After using it for a while, my deepest feeling is that it's exactly what I imagined "if only an AI could really sit next to my computer" would look like, suitable for most ordinary people.

But I also see another side. Many people don't even dare to install it, because the name "WorkBuddy" itself is already a wall: an English name, payment, unfamiliar terms like Agent, etc. Each one is a deterrent.

So I decided to position this series the same as the Obsidian Getting Started series, starting from the first article, letting you follow along step by step until the end, turning WorkBuddy into that colleague on your desk who truly does the work for you. From the first task, to an AI team.

This article only does three things.

This Article Only Does Three Things

I don't plan to start by talking about how to install or use it. First, I'll spend one article clarifying three things.

1. What exactly is WorkBuddy
2. How is it different from the AI on your phone
3. Why we're doing this 100-article series and what the roadmap looks like

What is WorkBuddy

WorkBuddy is produced by Tencent. You should be able to see its ads in the subway now. Its Chinese transliteration means "I'll help you."

The official introduction says this: It is a desktop AI assistant that can understand human speech, figure out how to do things on its own, and actually operate the files on your computer, finally handing the completed work back to you.

That still sounds a bit abstract. Let me put it another way.

It's like a colleague who truly sits next to your computer.

You say something to it, and it will figure out on its own how many steps this task needs. If it needs to open Word, it opens Word. If it needs to read Excel, it reads Excel. If it needs to extract an image from a PDF, it extracts it. In the end, it will place a genuinely usable file on your desktop.

Or to put it in an even more easy-to-understand way, the very popular Xiaolongxia (Little Lobster) also released a desktop version during the New Year period. You can understand this as Tencent making a Tencent version of Xiaolongxia for you. But in reality, it has made more expansions on top of Xiaolongxia's foundation.

How It's Different from the AI You Usually Use

You might already be using AI like Doubao, Kimi, or Qianwen on your phone or computer web browser. They're already quite useful, able to answer questions, write things, and chat with you.

But you'll notice one thing. They can really only give answers, not do the work for you. They can only stay within a webpage or an app.

Let me give three specific differences.

First, it takes action. The AI on your phone gives you a piece of text; you need to copy and paste it out. WorkBuddy gives you a genuinely revised Word file, a genuinely made PPT, a genuinely summarized spreadsheet.

Second, it's right on your computer. That folder on your computer, that pile of screenshots, those dozen Word documents—it can see them all directly. You don't have to upload files one by one like with other AIs, then download them back after use. It operates directly on your computer.

Third, it's domestic. This is the most important point. WorkBuddy comes pre-connected with domestic large models by default. Tencent Hunyuan, DeepSeek, GLM, Kimi, MiniMax can all be switched in. No VPN, no overseas account subscription, no ladder needed, no credit card. Install and use.

In one sentence: The AI on your phone chats and converses with you. WorkBuddy does the work for you.

Why I'm Doing This Series

You might have heard many people mention Claude Code or Codex before. Claude is produced by Anthropic, and Codex is by OpenAI, the company that made ChatGPT.

They are considered the originators of this kind of AI assistant, but to use these two tools, the direct way is to subscribe to the official plans of Claude or ChatGPT.

But the problem is, many people are still stuck at the first step. English names, VPNs, subscribing to overseas accounts, credit cards... these terms, for the vast majority of ordinary people domestically, are themselves a high wall.

If you don't subscribe to the official plans, there are other ways to connect to domestic models, but you still need to fiddle with an intermediary connection in between. For details, you can see this article from my Obsidian Getting Started series [[Obsidian Getting Started 29: Claude Code is just a "sports car," you can fill it with any "cheap fuel"]]

The third point introduced above has torn down half of this wall. And what this series of mine aims to do is tear down the other half.

Let someone who has never been exposed to an AI desktop assistant, by following this series article by article, finally be able to truly make WorkBuddy help them make spreadsheets, revise Word documents, organize files, and collect information.

Where It Will Go From Here

Let me briefly talk about the roadmap.

Getting Started 1 to 10, get it running first. From downloading, installing, logging in, to completing the first real task, to understanding Skills, connectors, APIs, and automation. The goal of this section is to get you to install it, dare to use it, and be able to use it.

Getting Started 11 to 21, make it do the work for you. Handling Word, Excel, PPT, organizing computer files, remote controlling the computer, collecting information, taking meeting minutes, doing investment research, making videos, doing self-media... Each article starts from a specific small task, and after explaining it, you can follow along and do it.

After Getting Started 22, assemble it into your own workflow. When you've already made it capable of doing many things in the previous stages, the next step is to bundle these familiar practices into Skills, into automation, into workflows that a team can reuse.

At the beginning, I said I've been waiting for an AI desktop assistant that "requires no VPN, no credit card, and works right after installation."

Now it's here. In the next article, we'll install it.

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I will create a WorkBuddy discussion group. Interested friends can follow the public account and click the menu "Chat Together" to contact me.