Hiring Your First Employee

This guide walks you through hiring your first AI employee, from selecting a claw type and completing payment to configuring channels and skills.

Before You Begin

Checklist

• [ ] Account created — Sign up at makersfuel.com

• [ ] Channel credentials ready (optional, can add later):
  • Telegram: Bot token from @BotFather
  • Discord: Bot token from Developer Portal
  • Slack: Bot token + App token from Slack Apps

Step 1: Navigate to Employees

1. Click Employees in the sidebar (or press G then E)
2. Switch to the Available tab and browse employee templates

Step 2: Select Claw Type

Choose the runtime engine for your AI employee. Each claw type has different capabilities and pricing.

Select your preferred claw type and click Continue.

Tip: Moltis is recommended for most use cases. PicoClaw is better if you need email channel support.

Step 3: Select Storage

Choose how much persistent storage your employee needs for files and workspace data.

Note: 5 GB storage is included with every employee at no extra cost.

Step 4: Top Up Wallet (Optional)

Your AI employee uses an Assistiv USD wallet for AI model inference (token usage). You can fund it now or skip and top up later.

• Top-up is commission-free via Paddle
• You can skip this step and fund later from Settings > Wallet
• AI usage is billed per-token based on the model you choose

Tip: You can start with the free trial and top up your wallet before it expires.

Step 5: Payment & Subscription

Complete payment via Paddle to activate your employee subscription.

Pricing

Each AI employee is $20/month with a 3-day free trial for your first employee.

After payment, the system redirects you to the Configure page.

Step 6: Name Your Employee & Choose Model

After payment confirmation, you land on the configuration page.

Employee Name

Give your employee a memorable, descriptive name.

Good names: "Alex Support", "Research Bot", "Content Casey", "DevOps Helper"

Model Selection

Select the AI model that powers your employee.

Step 7: Configure Channels

Your employee needs at least one communication channel to function (required for PicoClaw, optional for Moltis).

Supported Platforms

Quick Start: Telegram (Recommended)

1. Message @BotFather on Telegram
2. Send /newbot and follow prompts
3. Copy the bot token
4. Paste in MakersFuel
5. Get your user ID from @userinfobot
6. Add to allowed users list

Important: Each employee needs unique bot tokens. You cannot share tokens between employees.

For detailed setup guides, see:

• Telegram Setup
• Discord Setup
• Slack Setup
• WhatsApp Setup
• Email Setup
• Other Platforms

Step 8: Configure Built-in Tools

Enable web search and other built-in capabilities.

Web Search Providers

Note: For Moltis, only one paid web search provider can be active at a time.

Step 9: Add App Integrations / MCP Tools (Optional)

Extend your employee's capabilities with MCP server integrations from the marketplace.

Common MCP Tools

See Tools, MCP Servers & Skills for complete details.

Step 10: Add Skills & Instructions (Optional)

Skills define your employee's behavior and knowledge through markdown instructions.

Template Skills

If you chose a template, you'll see pre-configured skills. You can:

• Keep as-is — Use the template's default skills
• Edit — Modify to fit your needs
• Disable — Turn off skills you don't need

Adding Custom Skills

1. Click Add Skill
2. Choose Custom Skill
3. Write your markdown instructions
4. Save

Example Skill Structure

# Customer Support Agent

## Your Role
You are a friendly customer support agent for [Company].

## Guidelines
- Always greet customers warmly
- Acknowledge their issue before solving
- Use simple, clear language
- Offer to help with anything else

## Escalation Rules
Escalate to human support when:
- Customer requests human agent
- Issue involves refunds over $100
- Technical issue persists after 3 attempts

Step 11: Review and Complete Hire

Review your complete configuration and click Complete & Hire.

Validation

The system validates your configuration:

• Green — Ready to hire
• Yellow — Optional improvements
• Red — Must fix before hiring

Common Validation Issues

Provisioning

After clicking hire, your employee is provisioned (30-60 seconds):

Initializing container...
├── Setting up workspace
├── Configuring model
├── Connecting channels
├── Installing MCP servers
└── Applying skills

Employee is now running!

Step 12: Start Using Your Employee

Once running, start interacting!

First Interaction

1. Open your channel (Telegram, Discord, etc.)
2. Send a message to your employee
3. Watch them respond based on their skills

For Moltis Employees

Click Open on the employee detail page to access the web dashboard directly.

Troubleshooting

"Invalid bot token"

• Double-check you copied the complete token
• Generate a new token from the platform
• Ensure no extra spaces before/after the token

"Provisioning failed"

1. Check wallet balance (Settings > Wallet)
2. Verify channel tokens are correct
3. Try again in a few minutes
4. Contact support if issue persists

"Payment failed"

• Check your payment method in Paddle
• Ensure sufficient funds
• Try a different payment method

What's Next?

Your employee is running! Now learn to:

• [Configuring Your Employee](/docs/configuring-your-employee) — Adjust settings anytime
• [Employee Channels](/docs/employee-channels) — Channel setup details
• [Tools, MCP Servers & Skills](/docs/tools-and-skills) — Add capabilities
• [Managing Employees](/docs/managing-employees) — Day-to-day management