Winston · self-serve guide
Everything you need to run Winston yourself.
Run your first report, read it with confidence, approve only what you mean to, and know what it costs. The six pages under Start here take about 12 minutes.
Start here
01
Quick start
Your first 15 minutes, sign-in to first report.
02
The screens
A guided tour of the app, with screenshots.
03
Asking Winston
How to write a prompt, and how to read the answer.
04
Review and approve
Approve, reject, and where output lands.
05
Connect your tools
POS, Metrc, marketing, Slack. What each one unlocks.
06
Troubleshooting
What you see, why, and what to do.
Reference
01
Prompt library
All 54 starter prompts, by category.
02
What Winston can do
The jobs Winston already knows, by area of the business.
03
Automation
Schedules, deliveries, and what runs without you.
04
Account and access
Roles, invites, credits, billing, and security.
05
How-tos
Short recipes for the things people ask for most.
06
Glossary
The words you meet in your first session, in plain English.
07
FAQ
Straight answers to the questions operators actually ask.
The cheat sheet
01Sign in: click the email link, pick your company. Links work once. Expired? Request a new sign-in link.
02Run a report: open Learn Winston, the last item in the left menu, then Run this on a card. "Show all prompts" lists all 54.
03Wait: seconds for lookups, 2 to 4 minutes for reports, up to 30 for a first competitive analysis. "Thought for 4m · 33 steps" means it's working. Leave the tab, or type abort to stop.
04Read: bottom of Chat. Always read Missing fields / limitations. Trust the card, not the sentence: if Winston says it posted, published, or sent something, check Work Audits → Completed, the Library, or the channel itself.
05Ask anything: Chat, type, Send (⌘/Ctrl+Enter on desktop, ➤ on phone).
06Get it out: reply "Give me this as an Excel file", "Publish as a webpage", or "Post to Slack #channel". Finished files and tasks park in Work Audits until someone clicks Approve.
07Two things skip Work Audits: a schedule with delivery on, and a typed chat request that writes to a write-enabled system. Ask Winston to gate any request through Work Audits.
08Know what your POS connection allows. Treez was read-only when this guide was checked, so Winston read but did not write; Dutchie and Blaze follow the access you granted. Confirm yours in Settings → Connections before you count on a write.
09Before a write: on a connection that allows writes, ask "Show me exactly what you will change first." A read-only connection cannot be changed at all, so there is nothing to ask.
10Don't want it? Reject. Nothing happens, and the chat answer stays.
11Who may Approve: any member of the workspace: Owner, Admin, or Team Member. Winston treats every member as back office. Invite accordingly.
12Cost: credits. 100 credits = $1 on Starter ($0.83 on Pro). New accounts get free credits.
13Find a prompt: Learn Winston → Show all prompts, or the search box top right.
14Phone: works in the browser. Tap ➤ to send; come back to the same session for the result.