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What Rondell needs

Rondell runs on Windows and needs Microsoft’s WebView2 Runtime for Settings and the chat panel. If your PC doesn’t have it, Rondell shows “Settings needs the WebView2 Runtime” and opens Microsoft’s download page.

The Rondell download is coming soon. Rondell is paid software with a free trial; see Trial and license.

Use the welcome window

The welcome window opens the first time you start Rondell and has 5 steps. You can skip any step and change your choices later in Settings. To see the window again, open Settings, then System, and choose Welcome.

1. 1AI for your pills: pick an AI provider and paste your key, or skip and set up AI later. See Set up AI.
2. 2Search your files: choose Recommended (your home folder), Choose folders, or Not now.
3. 3Your languages: pick the languages you write in.
4. 4Hold to open the ring: keep Ctrl + Space or record another key combination.
5. 5Start with Windows: leave the switch on to start Rondell when you sign in, then choose Finish.

What you start with

A ring is the circle of pills that opens around your cursor. Rondell starts with 4 rings, and the one that opens depends on what you have selected.

• Text selected: Spelling, Improve, Ask, Reply, Translate.
• Nothing selected: Ask, Play / Pause, Chat panel, Find files, Programs, Notes. Tapping Ctrl + Space with nothing selected plays or pauses (its Quick tap; see Tap or hold).
• File selected: Ask, Summarize.
• Programs: File Explorer, Browser, Notepad, Calculator.
• File search is off until you turn it on in the welcome window or in Settings, under File search.

Use the ring

A pill is an item in the ring. Each pill runs one or more actions, the steps you set up for it.

1. 1Select some text in an app.
2. 2Hold Ctrl + Space. The ring opens around your cursor.
3. 3Move your cursor toward a pill. You don’t need to reach it.
4. 4Release Ctrl + Space to run it. Spelling and Improve need an AI provider; see Set up AI.
5. 5To close the ring without running anything, press Escape or release over no pill.

Tap or hold

Hold Ctrl + Space and release over a pill to run it. A quick tap either leaves the ring open so you can click a pill, or runs the ring’s Quick tap pill if it has one. You set a Quick tap pill for each ring in Settings, under Rings.

A pill that needs a question from you opens the prompt bar. Type, then press Enter to send or Escape to cancel.

Status messages

A status message shows progress or says why a pill couldn’t finish. These two are the most common.

• No API key set, or Add an AI provider in Settings: add a key in Settings, under Models. See Set up AI.
• Couldn’t reach the provider, or the provider didn’t accept the key: check your internet connection and paste the key again.

Open Settings

Double-click the Rondell tray icon, or right-click it and choose Settings… from the menu. The tray menu also has History, Last answer, Start with Windows, Pause hotkeys, Restart and Exit. While file search is indexing, it adds Pause file search, and while Rondell keeps your PC awake it adds Stop keeping awake.

Pause hotkeys turns the ring off until you click it again, and the tray icon turns grey while paused. Settings pages save as you change them. Edits to rings and pills wait until you choose Save at the foot of the page.