SageOx is most useful as a habit, not a one-off. This guide walks the arc: connect the right surface, capture often, then put the context to work. Work through it in order.

1. Set up

Pick the setup that matches how you work. Connect a tool over MCP to use SageOx inside an app you already have open. Use the ox CLI when your AI coworker works inside a checked-out repo.

Repo-first setup with ox

If you work in a coding tool that starts from a local repo, connect the repo once. Everyone who joins later inherits the same context.

That is enough for normal onboarding. If the repo setup seems off, ox doctor is the troubleshooting step, not the day-one requirement. See Getting started for the full walkthrough.

Connect a tool over MCP

If you are not working in a repo-first coding tool, start here:

• Use the MCP overview for the model and permissions.
• Connect your tool from Settings > Connections.
• Use Getting the most out of SageOx to learn the prompt patterns and interactive cards.

Set up recording

If your main job is to capture discussions rather than work in a coding repo, start with the recording surface that fits the moment:

• Use the mobile app to record on the go, straight from your phone.
• Use the web app recorder in the browser today.
• Use Ox Dot for dedicated in-room capture.

2. Capture

The context is only as rich as what you feed it. Record the conversations where decisions actually happen.

• Record discussions: standups, design reviews, retros. Record from your phone on the go, the web app recorder at your desk, or Ox Dot for in-room capture. Start with your first discussion.
• Attach a whiteboard photo: from your phone, capture a photo of the whiteboard alongside the discussion it belongs to, so the visual and the conversation stay together.
• Import walkthroughs: paste a Loom, Figma, or Cap link. See video import.
• Narrate as you go: transcript quality drives extraction quality. Silence produces no context.

3. Use the context

Capturing is half the value. The payoff is when your team (and your AI coworkers) read it back.

If you use a connected tool

This is the path for ChatGPT, Claude Cowork, Claude Desktop, and similar MCP-capable desktop tools.

• Ask explicitly for SageOx: "Search SageOx for what we decided about X."
• Use the interactive cards when they appear; they are faster than reading a paragraph and then acting somewhere else.
• Keep the MCP guide close until the prompting pattern becomes habit.

If you use the ox CLI in a repo

This is still the deeper path when your AI coworker works inside a checked-out repo.

After ox init, many coding tools run that automatically at session start. Re-run prime after clearing or compacting context. Ask question-shaped prompts in your editor, ox surfaces relevant prior decisions from your Ledger on its own.

If your desktop tool supports both

In tools like Claude Cowork, the best setup is often both, especially if you ask questions in the desktop app and code in local repos:

• A connected tool over MCP for live SageOx search, team knowledge, and interactive cards.
• The ox CLI in the repos you actively code in, for priming, code indexing, and repo-aware coding workflows.

4. Advanced habits

Once the basics are routine, go further.

For everyone

• Cast a review to the room: put a recording or live meeting on the TV. See cast to a TV.
• Capture short decisions early: a two-minute voice note or hallway recap is often more valuable than waiting for a perfect formal meeting.

If you also code in repos

• Tend your Team Context: edit AGENTS.md and SOUL.md directly. See Team Context.
• Index your code: run ox code index so coworkers get semantic search across your repo.

What's next

• Record your first discussion: start the capture habit.
• Features overview: what the context becomes.
• Troubleshooting: when something doesn't go to plan.