Ways to reach Pepper

The best computer is the one you already have with you, so Pepper doesn't ask you to carry a new one. You reach it the way you already reach people: a text message, a WhatsApp thread, an email, a chat window — or your terminal, if that's where you live.

There are seven, and they are one assistant, not seven. The conversation and the memory are shared across all of them, so you can start something over text and pick it up in the web chat without repeating yourself.

Text message (SMS)

Text the Pepper number, the Pepper number shown in Settings, and it texts back, usually within a few seconds.

Getting started: sign up at /signup with your phone number and confirm the one-time code Pepper texts you. To add another phone, go to Settings → Phone numbers on the web or in the iPhone app.
Format: plain text only — no bold, italics, or links styling. Very long replies are trimmed (around 1,600 characters) with a [truncated] marker, so Pepper keeps texts tight.
Long messages Pepper starts get shortened, not cut off. When Pepper texts you first — a morning brief, a scheduled task — and it has more to say than fits comfortably in a text, it sends a short version with a Full version: link at the end. Tap that to read the whole thing on the web. Replies to something you texted are never shortened this way.
Send photos (MMS). Attach a picture and Pepper reads it — "what's in this photo?", or just send it with no message at all. Send several in one message and it reads them all. Anything you send is saved as an artifact, so you can find it again later (see Artifacts). Audio clips and PDFs work the same way where your carrier supports sending them.
What doesn't come through: videos and contact cards aren't read yet, and file types Pepper can't open are skipped — you'll be told in the reply rather than left guessing. Very large files are skipped the same way.
Pictures come back as pictures. Ask Pepper to make an image over text and it arrives as an MMS in the thread, not as a link to tap. A permanent link to the picture in your library comes with it, for when you want to find it again later. Carriers can still strip or shrink an MMS on the way, so if one doesn't arrive the picture is always waiting in the web chat.
You can text Pepper in a room too. Put Pepper's number in a group message with other people and it takes part in the thread rather than replying to you privately — see Rooms for what that involves.
Opting out: reply STOP (or CANCEL, UNSUBSCRIBE, END, QUIT) to stop all messages, including any scheduled briefs. Reply HELP for info. Stopping doesn't delete your account — you can opt back in from /signup. Standard message-and-data rates may apply, per your carrier.

Message Pepper's WhatsApp number and it replies there, same as SMS.

Getting started: your WhatsApp number has to be the phone on your Pepper account — sign up at /signup if you haven't. Message from a number Pepper doesn't recognize and it replies with a signup invitation instead.
Format: replies use WhatsApp's styling — bold, italics, bullets — so they read better than plain SMS, and they can run much longer before trimming.
Send photos, voice notes, and documents. Attach an image, record a voice note, or send a PDF and Pepper reads it — "what's in this photo?", "summarize this", or just send it with no caption at all. Anything you send is saved as an artifact, so you can find it again later (see Artifacts). Add a caption and that becomes your message; send it bare and the file speaks for itself.
What doesn't come through: videos, stickers, and locations aren't read yet, and file types Pepper can't open (a zip, say) are skipped — you'll be told in the reply rather than left guessing. Very large files are skipped the same way.
Pictures come back as pictures here too. As with SMS, ask Pepper to make an image and it arrives in the thread rather than as a link. A short reply rides along as the picture's caption; a longer one arrives as its own message just before it, so nothing gets cut to fit.
Replies only, not scheduled messages — WhatsApp can't deliver a message Pepper starts on its own reliably, so briefs, scheduled tasks and other announcements aren't sent there; pick main chat, email, text or a phone call instead. Message Pepper first and it answers on WhatsApp as usual.
Your WhatsApp thread and your SMS thread are separate conversations, even when you use the same phone of yours for both.

Email

Email Pepper's address, the Pepper address shown in Settings, and it replies in the same thread.

Getting started: just email from an address on your account. Pepper recognizes you by your "From" address — and that includes any Google address you've connected, not only your primary one, so mail from your work Google account counts too.
Pepper only acts on mail it can verify really came from your address. Because your "From" is how it knows it's you, a message whose sending domain can't be verified (the standard DKIM/DMARC checks mail providers run) is dropped without a reply, so nobody can email Pepper pretending to be you. Gmail, Outlook and iCloud all pass. If Pepper never answers mail from a custom domain, that domain probably isn't signing its outgoing mail; whoever runs its email can turn on DKIM.
Format: replies are nicely formatted (bold, lists, etc.) and threaded under your original message.
Pepper reads the new part of your message and ignores quoted reply history, so replying on top of an old thread is fine.
Forwarding works too. Forward someone else's email to Pepper — an invitation, a newsletter, a receipt — with a short note like "add this to my calendar," and it acts on the forwarded content, not just your note.
Attachments work here. Attach an image, a PDF, a text file or an audio clip and Pepper reads it — "what's in this invoice?", "summarize the attached report". Attach several and it reads them all, and each one is saved as an artifact so you can find it again later (see Artifacts). Files it can't read (spreadsheets, Word documents, zip archives) and anything over the size limit are skipped, and Pepper tells you which ones rather than staying quiet about it. Google Drive attachments — the kind Gmail inserts as a link rather than a file — aren't readable yet.
Mail Pepper sends you on its own ends in a way back in. Anything Pepper starts — a scheduled task's result, your morning brief, a booking confirmation, a nudge — carries a button back into Pepper. Where it lands depends on whether that thing has a page of its own you can open: a task's result points at the task's page and a brief at that morning, while everything else gets the general Open in Pepper. A task pointed at a room is the case worth knowing: its page belongs to the owner, so the mail every member receives carries the general button rather than one only the owner could open. Replies to something you asked carry no button at all; the thread you're already in is the way back.
If a stranger emails Pepper out of the blue from an address it doesn't recognize, they won't get a reply (this prevents spam loops). That's about cold mail, though — someone you've looped into a thread is a different case: when Pepper emails a person on your behalf, their reply comes back into that conversation whether they hit Reply or Reply All. See Rooms.

Web chat

One continuous conversation at pepper.vycari.ai.

There's no "new chat" button and no need for one — it's a single ongoing thread, and Pepper carries context forward.
Attachments work here. Use the paperclip in the composer to send images, audio files, or PDFs with your message — "what's in this photo?", "summarize this PDF", "what's this recording about?". Attached files are saved as artifacts automatically, so you can find them again later (see Artifacts).
Best place for longer back-and-forth, reviewing your profile, and the settings pages (connected accounts, scheduled tasks, skills, to-dos, memory summaries).
Pepper speaks and writes your language. Under Settings → Profile, Language sets the language Pepper talks in when you use live voice and the language it writes its replies in — chat answers, your brief, and email it sends you. It's set to Automatic to begin with, which in voice mode follows your browser's language — so if your browser is in Spanish, Pepper speaks Spanish without you changing anything. Written replies only switch when you pick a language explicitly; on Automatic they stay in English. Pick a language explicitly, too, if you'd rather voice not follow the browser, or to speak with Pepper in a language you don't browse in. The rest of the app — pages, buttons, settings — is still in English.

Phone call

The number you text Pepper on also takes calls, and they go both ways: you can ring Pepper, and Pepper can ring you. Either way it's an ordinary conversation once you're on the line — answer back, interrupt, keep talking. Pepper says at the start that the call is transcribed so it can understand you.

This is separate from Answering — forwarding the calls you miss on your own number so Pepper picks them up for you. See Answering.

Your phone has to be verified, in both directions: the number on your account, confirmed with the one-time code, the same verification signing up by text uses.

Calling Pepper

Dial the same number you text and Pepper picks up. It knows you by the number you're calling from, so it has to be one verified on your account — the one you signed up with already is. Call from any other number and Pepper texts that number a link to verify it, then hangs up.

Caller ID isn't proof it's you, so the first time something private, or something that changes anything, comes up in a call, Pepper asks you to prove it. Set a Phone-call PIN under Settings and you type that on the keypad right away, no waiting on a text; without one, Pepper texts you a one-time code to type instead, and mentions once that a PIN would be quicker next time. Ordinary questions don't need either, and once you've entered it the rest of that call is unrestricted. Get the PIN wrong a few times in a row and Pepper falls back to texting a code — pressing * does the same on the spot if you'd rather not keep guessing.
If the keypad itself is the problem — you're driving, on a headset, or typing mid-call is awkward for any reason — Pepper offers to take the digits by voice instead, after giving the keypad a fair chance first.
From a number Pepper doesn't know, it says so and texts that number a link to get set up, rather than answering a stranger's questions.
Replying STOP doesn't stop you from calling Pepper. STOP withdraws permission to text you; calling in still works from a verified number. From a number that isn't verified yet, Pepper can't text you a link, so it says so on the call: add the number in Settings → Phone numbers on the web, which turns texts back on. STOP does stop Pepper from calling you — see "When Pepper calls you" below.

When Pepper calls you

Ask for a call. "Call me" in any conversation and Pepper rings your phone, opens with what it was going to say, and stays on the line. It can't do this while you're already on a call with it.
Or have something arrive as a call. Phone call is a destination wherever email and text are — a scheduled task's delivery, your daily brief, feed briefings, and your default for anything Pepper brings to you. Pick it on the Scheduled tasks page, in the Brief or Following app, or just ask.
It calls your verified primary phone, and only that. If you haven't verified a number, or the verified one isn't your primary, the option is greyed out where you'd pick it, with the reason next to it.
Replying STOP also turns this off. It's the same opt-out SMS uses, so it closes both: re-opt-in from /signup restores calls along with texts.
One ring, and no voicemail. Pepper dials once — it doesn't leave a message, try again, or fall back to email — and it rings for about 25 seconds. The result itself is never lost; it's in that task's own thread like every other run. But nothing will tell you that you missed the call, so if it's something you rely on, pick a second destination alongside it.
Whoever answers hears it, unrestricted. Pepper already confirmed the number before dialing, so a call it places starts fully verified — no PIN or texted code, even for something private or state-changing. That's also why it can't tell whether it's you or someone else in the house who picked up: whoever answers gets that same access, so don't leave a call like this on speakerphone around someone you wouldn't hand your phone to.

The iPhone and iPad app

Pepper from the App Store: the same conversation as web chat, your rooms, and the apps drawn as proper phone screens, plus what only a phone does — notifications with buttons on them, the Brief widget, sharing from any app, and a voice call from the Action button or Siri. Signing in, getting around and all of that is its own topic: see The iPhone and iPad app. The Apple Watch app comes with it.

Command line (`pepper` CLI)

For terminal users, there's a pepper command-line client — sign in once (browser sign-in with your Google account, or a personal access token on a headless box), then pepper <message> for a one-off or just pepper for an interactive session. Output renders as rich markdown in a terminal and plain text when piped.

Full setup (installing it, logging in, the command list) is its own topic — see the command-line app guide.

Rooms

You can bring Pepper into a conversation with other people: CC it on an email, add its number to a group text, or start a room in the app. How rooms work, who can take part, scheduling together, a room's own apps and settings, and reading your rooms from your own chat are all in Rooms.

Things to try

Add something without opening the app. Need to add something quickly? Text it to the Pepper number shown in Settings — "add dentist Thursday at 3" — and it lands in the same conversation as the web app.
Forward the confirmation. The concert tickets, the flight confirmation, the school notice: forward it to the Pepper address shown in Settings with a note like "add this to my calendar" and it's on your calendar, no copying and pasting.
Get your brief as a wake-up call. Your morning brief can arrive as a phone call: Pepper rings at the time you pick and reads you the day while you make coffee. Stay on the line and "remind me to grab the snacks" works mid-call, hands free.
Try it: "Send my morning brief as a phone call"
Make a polite exit. Need a way out of something? Text Pepper "call me in 10 minutes" and it rings you then — a real call to step out for.
Try it: "Call me in 10 minutes"
Text a photo of the flyer. The school flyer on the fridge can become calendar entries: text a photo of it to the Pepper number shown in Settings with "add these" and the dates are on your calendar.
Call from the car. In the car with no free hands? Call Pepper on the Pepper number shown in Settings and ask "what's next and when do I need to leave?" — you get the answer spoken.