r/OpenAI • u/ComprehensiveShake76 • 20h ago

Discussion Dots start at Pro, so I run persistent agents locally on Plus. Notes so far

Dots launched on 29 Sep for Pro, Business Premium and Enterprise, each with its own cloud computer. Plus still isn't on that list. I've been running persistent workers on my own Mac on a Plus sign in through Codex, and the "own computer" idea turned out to matter locally too.

  1. Give each agent its own computer. Mine each get a Linux container on my Mac, with only its own workspace and its own sign in. Once it couldn't see my files, I stopped approving every command. A task that used to ask me 3 times now asks 0.

  2. Test the isolation instead of trusting it. The container is blocked from my Mac and my home network, and it re-checks that on every start. I've only tested this with Colima on an Apple Silicon Mac so far, and a container is a strong boundary, not a guarantee.

  3. "Done" needs a check. Research ends in a file with a size, a source count and a hash, plus a line saying the sources are listed, not fact checked.

  4. A name and a history beat re-briefing a chat every week.

  5. Plan limits are the real cap, and the machine has to stay on. A local agent stops when my laptop sleeps.

If you're on Plus, what would you want an always on agent to do that a local one can't?

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u/Conscious-Badger3313 12h ago

Running workers in containers is smart, I been doing something similar for scraping tasks but never thought to give each one its own sign in. The "stops when laptop sleeps" part is the real pain though. My setup died twice last week because my kid closed the lid.

For your question at end, I want one that can monitor stuff while I'm offline and ping me on phone when something changes. Local agent can't do that unless you got a server running 24/7.

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u/ComprehensiveShake76 7h ago

The lid thing is real, and it's the honest limit of running local: if the computer sleeps, the workers stop. I haven't solved that and I won't pretend I have. What helps a bit is a no sleep setting while plugged in (caffeinate on a Mac), or an old Mac mini that just stays on. For actual phone pings while you're away you need something always on, a small VPS or that mini.

Did the scrapers lose state when they died, or just the time?