spyden

How to use Spyden

Features · How to use Spyden

This page is a desk manual. Follow the website steps if you prefer clicking. Follow the email steps if you prefer Outlook or Gmail. The result is the same kind of job.

On this page

1. Website: log in
2. Website: code job
3. Website: research job
4. Website: script job
5. Website: enter the confirmation code
6. Website: watch progress and files
7. Website: continue a previous job
8. Email: code job
9. Email: research job
10. Email: script job
11. Email: confirm, or use the one-click button
12. Email: follow-up thread
13. Email: attachments
14. If something goes wrong

Website: log in

1. Open Spyden in your browser (your office will give you the address).

2. Click Log in.

3. Type the username and password you were given. There is no public default password.

4. You land on Jobs. Logging in does not start anything. You should see New job in the menu.

Website: code job

Use this when the request is to change an approved project (tenders screen, login page, and so on).

1. Click New job.
2. Operator — the email that should receive the finished summary. Pick the allowlisted address.
3. Instructions — write the request as you would in an email to a developer, in full sentences. Spyden infers whether this is a code, research, or script job. Name the project in the text when you have more than one (for example beit-bid); the Root field stays hidden unless Spyden cannot tell.
4. Leave Continue thread (under optional extras) blank unless this is a follow-up (see below).
5. Click Create job.

Spyden creates a job that is waiting for confirmation and mails a code. You are taken to the job page. Do not close that tab if you still need to type the code.

Example instructions:
On tenders, grid mode, wrap the action buttons so they fit on a phone and on a desktop.

Website: research job

1. New job — write a research question in Instructions (for example “summarise the latest … from the web”). Spyden infers research; you do not pick a type.
2. Optional extras — paste known pages, one per line, and a max page count if you already have links.
3. Create job, then confirm as usual.

Example instructions:
Summarise the main new features in Python 3.13 for a non-programmer. Include source links.

Website: script job

1. New job — open Optional extras and paste the Python in the script box. If you have no instructions, Spyden will use a short default.
2. Create job, then confirm. The printed output is the result.

Website: enter the confirmation code

Open the OTP email (it goes to the office confirmation mailbox, which may not be your own inbox). Copy the digits.

1. On the job page, type the code in the OTP box.
2. Click Confirm and run.
3. The status should move from waiting, to queued or running, then to done or failed.

If the OTP email has a long link, you may open it instead. You will see the job id and a brown Confirm and run button. Opening the page does nothing until you click. That is so junk-mail scanners cannot start work by merely fetching the link.

Website: watch progress and files

The job page shows status, a progress percentage, and a list of stages (otp, retrieve, infer, post, mail). When the job is done, the Result box holds the summary. Related jobs in the same thread appear under Thread. Attachments and PDF reports appear as download links.

Jobs is the full list: id, type, root, status, and when it was last updated.

Website: continue a previous job

1. Copy the old job id from the Jobs table (it looks like job-20260825-a1b2c3).
2. New job — fill the new instructions as usual.
3. Paste that id into Continue thread.
4. Create job. Confirm the new code. Spyden will re-read the earlier conversation.

Email: code job

Send from an allowed office address to the Spyden watch inbox. The first word of the subject must be JOB after any Re: / Fwd:. Spyden infers the project root when there is only one allowed root, or when the body names that root. A JOB that is clearly web research (and does not name a root) is handled as research.

To: spyden@your-office.example
From: you@your-office.example
Subject: JOB tenders grid buttons

On tenders, grid mode, wrap the action buttons so they fit
on a phone and on a desktop.

You may still put root: and prompt: at the top. The | after prompt means “the next indented lines are the request”. You can also leave a blank line after root: and write the request in ordinary paragraphs.

Email: research job

Subject: RESEARCH latest Python 3.13 release notes

prompt: |
  Summarise the main new features and breaking changes for a non-programmer.
max_pages: 5
urls: https://docs.python.org/3/whatsnew/3.13.html

max_pages: and urls: are optional. Subject SCRAPE still works; it means the same as RESEARCH. Do not put a root: on research mail.

Email: script job

Subject: JOB monthly totals

script: |
  print(sum(range(10)))

You can also write run_script: true and include a fenced Python block in the body. After confirmation, Spyden prints whatever the script prints.

Email: confirm, or use the one-click button

After you send JOB or RESEARCH, watch the OTP mailbox. Then either click the button in that email, or send:

Subject: CONFIRM job-20260823-a1b2c3

482193

The number is the code from the OTP email. You may write otp: 482193 instead of a bare number. If several jobs are waiting, include the job id in the subject so Spyden confirms the right one.

A JOB that already includes both job: and otp: is treated as a confirm (and may replace the prompt). That is for retries, not for everyday use.

Email: follow-up thread

Subject: JOB tenders wrap table

thread: job-20260823-a1b2c3

Same thread — now wrap the table on mobile.

This creates a new job that still needs OTP. job: without a code means the same as thread:. Replying to a Spyden mail (Re: JOB) also attaches the thread when In-Reply-To contains the job id. Do not put the confirmation digits on this message unless you intend to confirm an existing job.

Email: attachments

Attach files to the JOB (or confirm) message as you would for a colleague. Spyden stores them with the job and can show them to the coding assistant. Keep to a handful of files; very large files are skipped. After the job runs, you can also download them from the job page.

If something goes wrong

• No OTP email — wait a minute, check junk, confirm you used an allowed From address, and ask whether Settings still show a red “incomplete” banner.
• Job stays pending_otp — the code was not accepted. Check digits, expiry, and that you confirmed the matching job id.
• Job stays queued — Spyden is busy with other jobs. Refresh later. This is expected when several people confirm at once.
• Job failed — open the job page and read Error. Common causes: unknown project name, expired code, or the research/coding service being down.
• Mail ignored — subject did not start with JOB, RESEARCH, or CONFIRM (after stripping Re:/Fwd:), or the sender is not on the operators list.
• Job stays needs_input — the agent asked a question by email. Reply with a new JOB in the same thread and confirm the new code.
• Follow-up refused — the thread id does not exist, or it belongs to a different operator email.

For a plain-language map of every feature, see Help — what Spyden can do.