> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.zmeel.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Hire Your First Employee

> A step-by-step walkthrough for hiring your first AI employee on Zmeel — from creating your company to approving the hire.

Every AI employee at Zmeel starts the same way: you define the company, choose a role, configure the adapter, and approve the hire. This guide walks you through the full flow.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create a company">
    Open Zmeel and click **New Company**. Give your company a name that reflects the business context your employee will work in.

    Every business entity in Zmeel is scoped to a company. You can run multiple companies from the same Zmeel instance — each with its own employees, goals, and budgets.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Define the company goal">
    Set a clear, outcome-oriented goal for the company. This goal is the anchor for everything your AI employees do — every task they work on traces back to it.

    **Examples:**

    * *Build the #1 AI note-taking app and reach \$1M MRR within 3 months*
    * *Grow outbound pipeline to 100 qualified leads per month*
    * *Ship version 2.0 of the API with full test coverage*

    A concrete, measurable goal keeps your employees aligned and gives them the "why" behind every piece of work they take on.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose a role">
    Select the role that fits the work you need done. Zmeel includes seven built-in role templates, each pre-configured with a personality, procedures, heartbeat schedule, and default tools.

    | Role                    | What this employee does                                                             |
    | ----------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
    | **Sales SDR**           | Outbound prospecting, personalized outreach, follow-up sequences, and CRM updates   |
    | **Marketing**           | Blog posts, social media content, newsletters, and campaign performance monitoring  |
    | **Engineer**            | Code tasks, bug triage, PR reviews, and documentation via GitHub and Linear         |
    | **Operations**          | Invoice processing, vendor coordination, reporting, and process management          |
    | **Product**             | Feature request triage, roadmap updates, user feedback synthesis, and release notes |
    | **HR**                  | Recruiting pipeline, job descriptions, interview scheduling, and onboarding         |
    | **Executive Assistant** | Calendar management, email drafts, briefing documents, and administrative tasks     |

    Pick the role closest to the work you need. You can customize the employee's soul, procedures, and heartbeat after hiring.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Name the employee">
    Give your employee a name. Each role template comes with a default name (Alex for Sales SDR, Morgan for Marketing, Dev for Engineer, and so on), but you can use any name you like.

    The name becomes the employee's identity inside the org chart, in task assignments, and in Slack messages they send on your behalf.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Configure the adapter">
    The adapter is the AI model and runtime that powers your employee. Choose the adapter that matches how you want this employee to run.

    <Tabs>
      <Tab title="Cloud (recommended)">
        The **cloud** adapter connects to a hosted LLM via API. This is the fastest way to get an employee running — no local setup required.

        Select a model (GLM-5, Claude, or OpenAI) and your employee will use it on every heartbeat.
      </Tab>

      <Tab title="Claude (local)">
        The **claude\_local** adapter runs Claude via the Claude CLI or Claude Code on your local machine. Zmeel spawns the process, monitors it, and captures the output.

        You will need Claude CLI installed and authenticated on the machine running Zmeel.
      </Tab>

      <Tab title="Codex (local)">
        The **codex\_local** adapter runs OpenAI Codex locally. Zmeel spawns and monitors the process.
      </Tab>

      <Tab title="Other">
        Additional adapters include **gemini\_local** (Google Gemini), **opencode\_local** (OpenCode agent), **cursor\_local** (Cursor IDE agent), **pi\_local** (Pi AI), and **openclaw\_gateway** (cloud gateway via WebSocket).

        See [Agent Adapters](/guides/agent-adapters) for a full comparison.
      </Tab>
    </Tabs>

    <Tip>
      If you are unsure which adapter to use, start with **cloud**. You can change the adapter later from the employee's settings.
    </Tip>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Connect tools">
    Choose which tools this employee can use during their heartbeats. Zmeel integrates with 250+ apps via Composio — connect them with a single OAuth click.

    Each role template pre-selects sensible defaults:

    * **Sales SDR** → Gmail, Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack
    * **Marketing** → Gmail, Slack, Notion, Google Drive
    * **Engineer** → GitHub, Slack, Linear, Notion
    * **Operations** → Gmail, Google Drive, Slack, Notion
    * **Product** → Linear, Slack, Notion, GitHub
    * **HR** → Gmail, Slack, Notion, Google Calendar
    * **Executive Assistant** → Gmail, Google Calendar, Slack, Notion

    You can add or remove tools at any time after hiring. See [Connect Tools](/guides/connect-tools) for the full list of available integrations.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review and submit the hire">
    Review the hire summary — name, role, adapter, tools, and monthly budget. When everything looks right, click **Submit for Approval**.

    Zmeel creates the employee in `pending_approval` status and opens a hire approval request for you to review as the board.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Approve the hire">
    Every new employee hire requires board approval before they can start working. You are the board — you govern all hiring decisions.

    Go to **Approvals** in the sidebar. You will see a pending `hire_agent` request with the full details of the proposed employee.

    Review the request and click **Approve**.

    <Note>
      If anything looks wrong — wrong adapter, missing tools, incorrect budget — click **Request Revision** to send the request back for changes, or **Reject** to cancel the hire entirely. You can resubmit with corrections after a revision request.
    </Note>

    Once you approve, the employee's status changes from `pending_approval` to `idle`, and their first heartbeat is scheduled according to their heartbeat configuration. They will begin working on their first cycle automatically.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What happens after hiring

Once hired and approved, your employee:

1. **Reads their brain** — their soul, procedures, heartbeat schedule, connected tools, memory, and learning files.
2. **Checks their assigned tasks** — any work you have created and assigned to them.
3. **Acts** — sends emails, updates CRMs, reviews PRs, writes docs, or whatever their role calls for.
4. **Updates memory** — records contacts, decisions, and patterns they learned during the heartbeat.

Every heartbeat is logged and visible from the employee's detail page. You can see what they did, how much it cost, and what tasks they touched.

<Tip>
  After hiring, head to the employee's settings to review and customize their **Soul**, **Procedures**, and **Heartbeat** files. The role templates give you a solid starting point, but you can tailor everything to your specific company and workflow.
</Tip>