Hiring Your First Employee

This guide walks you through hiring your first AI employee, from selecting a template to seeing them come online.

Before You Begin

Ensure you have everything ready:

Checklist

• Active subscription with available employee slots
• API key configured (Settings → API Keys) OR plan to use included credits
• Channel credentials ready:
  • Telegram: Bot token from @BotFather
  • Discord: Bot token from Developer Portal
  • Slack: Bot token from Slack Apps
  • Email: SMTP server credentials
  • Whatsapp: Whatsapp enabled device to link the employee

Step 1: Navigate to Employees

1. Click Employees in the sidebar (or press G then E)
2. Choose a template or create a custom employee. Templates give you a pre-configured starting point. Browse by category or search.
3. Click the Hire button

Step 2: Name Your Employee

Give your employee a memorable, descriptive name.

Naming Tips

Good names:

• "Alex Support" — Clear role identifier
• "Research Bot" — Functional description
• "Content Casey" — Memorable and fun
• "DevOps Helper" — Role-specific

Avoid:

• Generic names like "Bot 1" or "Assistant"
• Names you might confuse with other employees
• Overly long names

Step 3: Select AI Model

Choose the AI model that powers your employee's intelligence.

Configuration Steps

Step 4: Configure Channels

Your employee needs at least one communication channel to function. MakerClaw supports multiple chat platforms through a unified gateway system.

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. Add other information in advanced tab, if needed.
6. Get your user ID from @userinfobot. Add to allowed users list (Optional)

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

Detailed Setup Guides

For step-by-step instructions for each platform, see:

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

Step 5: Add MCP Tools (Optional)

Extend your employee's capabilities with MCP server integrations.

From Marketplace

1. Click Browse Marketplace
2. Search or filter tools
3. Click Install on desired tools
4. Configure required API keys:
   • Use Saved — Select from Security Vault
   • Enter New — Paste and optionally save
5. Complete installation

Common MCP Tools

See Tools, MCP Servers & Skills for complete details.

Step 7: Add Skills (Optional)

Skills define your employee's behavior and knowledge.

Configure skills during hiring

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 8: Review and Hire

Before finalizing, review your complete configuration.

Review before hiring

Review Checklist

Validation

The system validates your configuration:

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

Common Validation Issues

Step 9: Complete Hiring

Click Hire Employee to start provisioning.

Employee being provisioned

What Happens

1. Provisioning starts — Container being set up (30-60 seconds)
2. Status updates — Watch the progress indicator
3. Completion — Status changes to "Running"
4. Redirect — Taken to employee details or list

Provisioning Status

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

✅ Employee is now running!

✅ Employee is now running!

Step 10: Start Using Your Employee

Once running, start interacting!

Your employee is ready

First Interaction

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

Example First Messages

• "Hello! What can you help me with?"
• "Can you summarize your capabilities?"
• "Help me with [specific task]"

Troubleshooting

"No available employee slots"

No slots available error

Solutions:

• Terminate an existing employee
• Upgrade your subscription for more slots

"Invalid bot token"

Solutions:

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

"Provisioning failed"

Solutions:

1. Check API key is valid and has credits
2. Verify channel tokens are correct
3. Try again in a few minutes
4. Contact support if issue persists

"MCP tool configuration error"

Solutions:

• Ensure all required API keys are set
• Verify external service credentials
• Check service is operational

What's Next?

Your employee is running! Now learn to:

• Configuring Your Employee — Adjust settings anytime
• Employee Channels — Channel setup details
• Tools, MCP Servers & Skills — Add capabilities
• Managing Employees — Day-to-day management