--- title: "FAQ, as markdown" description: "Every question and answer from the FAQ page, in one flat document." canonical: "https://www.diali.ai/faq.md" --- # Diali FAQ Every question and answer from https://www.diali.ai/faq, in one document. ## What is Diali? Diali is a managed hosting platform for personal AI assistants. You create and configure an always-on AI assistant (its personality, what it's for, which features it has) and Diali runs it for you on secure infrastructure. You reach your assistant inside a messaging app you already use. No code, no servers, no DevOps. ## Who is Diali for? Individuals who want a capable, always-available personal AI assistant without managing any of the technical plumbing. Accounts are for a single person. There are no teams, shared seats, or admin roles in the current version. ## What can an assistant actually do? Depending on the assistant type and the features you enable, it can hold conversations, help with tasks, use voice, connect to tools and services you authorise, and (where you enable it) send messages and place calls on your behalf. What it can do is shaped by the assistant type, the skills you turn on, and the AI provider you connect. ## What are "openclaw" and "hermes"? They are the two assistant engines you can run, and you pick one per assistant. OpenClaw connects to your messaging channels and gets on with tasks by itself, and it is the one that can place phone calls. Hermes is the conversational daily driver, built around memory and proactive help. Both take community skills, both reach the same six chat apps, and nothing stops you running one of each. ## Do you build the AI model? No. Diali provides the hosting and the assistant runtime. By default your assistant runs on managed models paid from the AI credits included with your plan, and you can connect your own AI-provider key instead if you prefer. We host and operate; we don't build the underlying model. ## Can my assistants work together? Yes. You can pair two assistants so they can message each other and ask for help, and you can read the whole exchange from your dashboard. You can also connect an outside A2A agent with a token you mint in the dashboard. You choose which assistants and agents are connected, so nothing talks to anything you have not connected. ## How do I set up an assistant? Create an account, go through the onboarding wizard (pick an assistant type, personality, use-cases, and features), and connect a channel. Diali provisions and starts your assistant. It runs on the AI credits included with your plan from the first message; connecting your own AI-provider key is optional. ## Which messaging channels are supported? Telegram, WhatsApp (QR, or Business on Hermes), Discord, Slack, Mattermost, and Matrix are live today, plus SMS on both engines and voice calls on OpenClaw. Check the in-product list for what’s available for your assistant’s engine. ## Can my assistant make phone calls or send texts? Yes, where you enable it. Voice calls run on your own Twilio, Telnyx or Plivo account (OpenClaw assistants), and SMS on your own Twilio number. If your assistant contacts other people, you’re responsible for having the right to contact them and for complying with the law that applies to automated calls and messages (see "Is there anything I’m responsible for?" under Legal & compliance). ## Do I need any technical skills? No. Setup is guided, and Diali handles provisioning, updates, and infrastructure. ## What happens when OpenClaw or Hermes releases a new version? We handle it. Each release is tested on our own assistants before it reaches yours, then we roll it out, so an upstream change never lands on your setup unannounced. Your assistant restarts briefly while it updates, and its configuration, channels and keys carry across. ## Can my assistant send and understand voice notes? Yes. It can transcribe the voice notes people send it, and answer with spoken ones, on your chat channels. Replies work with no setup using a free built-in voice, and you can connect your own speech provider for better voices or more accurate transcription. This is separate from phone calls, which are set up per channel. ## Can my assistant search the web? Yes, out of the box. Web search works with no setup using a free built-in provider, though its capacity is limited. For reliable results at higher volume you can connect your own search provider: you add it once for your account, then give it to any assistant. ## Can I connect my own tools or MCP servers? Yes. There is a directory of preconfigured MCP servers you can add in one click, with no address to track down and no authentication to work out, and you can add any MCP server of your own as well. Credentials are stored once for your account and granted per assistant, so each assistant only reaches what you have given it. ## How do I pay for the AI itself? Two ways, and you choose. With Diali AI credits (the default) we handle the AI side for you: your plan comes with a balance of credits, your assistant spends a little each time it thinks, and you top up whenever you want. Or bring your own key: if you already have an account with an AI provider, plug it in and they bill you directly. ## What are Diali AI credits? Think of them like prepaid mobile data. Your plan includes a credit balance that refreshes each billing period, and your assistant uses a small amount every time it answers you. You can see exactly what you have spent (which model, how much, and when) on your usage page, and top up in a couple of clicks. If the balance runs out, your assistant simply tells you it cannot reach a model right now: nothing is deleted, your subscription carries on, and topping up brings it straight back. ## What does "bring your own key" mean? Your assistant runs on your own account with an AI provider (like Anthropic, OpenAI, or Google). You give Diali a key for that provider, your assistant uses it, and the provider bills you directly for that usage. Your Diali plan then covers hosting alone. ## Which AI providers can I connect? A range of major providers, for example Anthropic, OpenAI, Google/Gemini, OpenRouter, DeepSeek, Mistral, Groq, xAI, Perplexity, and self-hosted Ollama. The current list is shown in-product. ## Why would I bring my own key instead of using credits? Mostly if you already have a provider account you want to keep using, or you want the AI relationship and its costs to sit directly with the provider rather than on your Diali bill. Credits are simpler and are the default; bringing your own key gives you a direct relationship. You can switch between them. ## How is my API key stored? If you bring your own key, it is encrypted (AES-256) and stored as a secret in Google Secret Manager. Your running assistant is given a temporary stand-in token rather than the real key, and Diali staff don't use your key to read your conversations. We validate a key when you add it, to confirm it works. With Diali AI credits there is no key for you to manage at all. ## Does Diali read or store my conversations? No. Diali does not read your conversations or use them to train models. Messages in your messaging apps are not stored by Diali. Conversations you hold in the dashboard chat, and messages between your assistants, are stored so you can see your history across devices; deleting a thread removes it from your history, and deleting the assistant erases them. When you use Diali AI credits, your messages pass through our systems on the way to the AI provider, and we record only the billing basics: which model, how much it cost, and whether it worked. If you enable a feature that deliberately persists context, such as a long-term-memory add-on, that feature's behaviour is described where you turn it on. ## Do you train AI models on my data? No. Diali does not use your data to train models. Note that your chosen AI provider's own training practices are governed by that provider's terms, worth reviewing when you pick one. ## Do you sell my data? No. Diali does not sell your personal data and does not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising. ## What personal data does Diali actually collect? In short: your account details (name, email, a securely hashed password), sign-in identifiers if you use Google/GitHub/GitLab, session and security information, billing metadata (via Stripe, not your full card number), your assistant configuration, your encrypted AI-provider key, and channel connection details. The full list is in the Privacy Policy. ## Where is my data stored? Primarily in the EU (Belgium) on Google Cloud. Some service providers we use (payments, email, error monitoring) are based in or transfer data to the US and elsewhere; the Privacy Policy explains the safeguards. Phone calls run on your own Twilio, Telnyx or Plivo account and SMS on your own Twilio number, under your agreement with that provider. ## My assistant messages other people. What about their privacy? If your assistant contacts other people (by message or call), their information is handled to deliver that communication. You are responsible for having a lawful reason to contact them. Your assistant identifies itself as AI to the people it contacts, and offers a way to opt out (for example, replying STOP). ## Will people know they're talking to an AI? Yes. Assistants are AI systems, and Diali builds in a notice that identifies the assistant as AI to the people it interacts with, including anyone it messages or calls. You're not allowed to disable that disclosure or use an assistant to make someone believe they're talking to a human. ## How does Diali protect my account and data? Passwords are stored as strong one-way hashes (argon2id), never in plain text. AI-provider keys and other secrets are encrypted (AES-256) in Google Secret Manager. Traffic is protected in transit (TLS) and at the edge (Cloudflare), and secrets and card data are excluded from our logs. ## What happens if there's a data breach? We work hard to prevent one. If a personal-data breach occurs, we notify the relevant authorities and affected people as required by law. ## Can Diali staff access my assistant or conversations? Diali does not store your conversation content, and staff don't use your AI key to read it. Administrative access to the platform is restricted and access-controlled. ## Are community skills safe to install? Skills come from a public community, so treat them the way you would any third-party code. Every skill in our catalog shows ClawHub's security review where one exists (a verdict, a plain-language summary of what the skill actually does, and the date it was checked) and says so when it hasn't been audited yet, all before you install. You choose which skills an assistant gets, and it runs them inside its own sandbox. ## How does pricing work? Diali is sold as a per-assistant subscription. You pick a size for each assistant, plus any optional paid add-ons. See the in-product pricing page for current amounts. ## What billing cycles are available? Monthly, semi-annually, or annually. You choose. Payments are processed by Stripe. ## Is there a free trial? Not right now. Every plan includes Diali AI credits from day one, so you can try a real assistant rather than a demo. Your first payment is also covered by a 3-day money-back guarantee: if Diali is not for you, cancel within 3 days of that first charge and request the refund right from your dashboard, and we refund it in full. ## What add-ons are available? Optional paid add-ons extend an assistant: Computer, a private Linux desktop your assistant can use; Backups, included with the Max plan and available on the others; Extra Storage; a browser Web Terminal for OpenClaw assistants; and chat dashboards (Open WebUI or Hermes WebUI) for Hermes assistants. Web browsing is included in every plan. Availability and pricing are shown in-product. ## Are backups included? Yes. Backups are included with the Max plan, and available as a paid add-on on the other plans. Your assistant is snapshotted daily with 30 days of history, and you can also back it up on demand. See the pricing page for the current add-on price. ## Do subscriptions renew automatically? Yes. They renew for the same period until you cancel. You can cancel any time. ## How do I cancel, and what happens? Cancel any time; cancellation takes effect at the end of your current billing period, and you keep access until then. ## Do you offer refunds? Your first payment is covered by a 3-day money-back guarantee: cancel within 3 days of that charge, then request the refund right from your dashboard (or contact us); we return that payment in full, no reason needed. Beyond that, fees are generally non-refundable and we don't provide partial-period refunds; if we end your subscription through no fault of yours, we refund the unused, prepaid period pro rata. Some consumers have additional statutory rights. Full details in the Refund Policy. ## Will prices change? We may change prices with advance notice; changes apply from your next renewal, and you can cancel before they take effect if you don't agree. ## What about taxes? Prices are exclusive of taxes; you're responsible for any that apply. ## Can I get a copy of my data, or have it deleted? Yes. Depending on where you live, you can request access, correction, deletion, portability, and object to certain processing. Email privacy@diali.ai. We may need to verify your identity first, and some records (like billing) are kept for legally required periods. ## I'm in the EU/UK. What are my rights? The full set of GDPR rights (access, rectification, erasure, restriction, objection, portability, withdrawing consent), plus the right to complain to your data-protection authority. See the Privacy Policy for details. ## I'm in California. What are my rights? The CCPA/CPRA rights (know, delete, correct, opt out of sale/sharing (which we don't do), and non-discrimination). See the Privacy Policy for details. ## Do you use cookies? We use cookies that are strictly necessary to sign you in and keep the service secure, and (where the law requires it) we ask for your consent before setting any non-essential cookies. See the Privacy Policy for details. ## How old do I have to be? At least 16. Because Diali is a paid subscription, if you're under the age of majority where you live (usually 18), a parent or legal guardian needs to agree to the Terms and provide the payment method. ## Can I sign in with Google, GitHub, or GitLab? Yes. You can use those to sign in. We store the provider's user identifier and the email tied to it, but not the provider's access tokens. ## Can I have more than one account, or share one? Accounts are for a single person. There are no teams or shared logins in the current version. You can run more than one assistant under your account. ## Who operates Diali? Diali is operated by Diali AI LLC, a Wyoming (USA) company. Contact details are in the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. ## Is Diali covered by the EU AI Act? Assistants are AI systems, so transparency obligations apply, which is why your assistant identifies itself as AI. You're responsible for not configuring an assistant for prohibited or high-risk uses (for example, decisions about employment, credit, or access to essential services) without meeting the applicable legal requirements. See the Terms of Service. ## Is there anything I'm responsible for? Yes. In short: keeping your account secure; how you configure and direct your assistant; complying with the law when your assistant contacts other people (including consent for automated calls/texts and honouring opt-outs); and your own AI-provider account and its costs. The full list is in the Terms of Service. ## Can I use an assistant for my business? You can, but if you use it for professional purposes you may take on additional legal responsibilities of your own under laws like the EU AI Act. You're responsible for meeting them. ## What uptime can I expect? We target 99.9% monthly availability. We don't guarantee uninterrupted service, and we sometimes perform maintenance. ## How do I get help? Email support@diali.ai. ## How do I ask a privacy question or make a data request? Email privacy@diali.ai. ## General enquiries? Email hello@diali.ai.