A $5 VPS assistant that lives in Telegram and runs a morning briefing
Michal Kraus open-sourced Rook, which runs on a $5 VPS. It manages Google Calendar, triages Gmail, controls Spotify and a TV, sends a 7am briefing and 15-minute reminders, and remembers preferences. He has used it for several months. Self-reported.
- Agent or tool
- Rook (open-source assistant)
- Topic
- Personal Assistant
- Reported on
- Blog (DEV Community)
- Added
- 2026-10-29
Why it matters
This is the classic promise of AI agents: a helper that handles errands and reminders on your behalf. Real cases like this show how close that promise is today. It is one of 57 sightings filed under Personal Assistant on Agent Sightings (number 36 by interest), and one of 1 involving Rook (open-source assistant).
How you could try it
Here is a reusable prompt, written by us in our own words, that captures the task. Paste it into Rook (open-source assistant) or any similar agent and adjust the details to your situation.
Each morning at 7, send me a briefing of today's calendar and any urgent email. Remind me 15 minutes before each meeting.
Tip: Start small: run it once on a low-stakes example, read what the agent did, and only then let it run on real work.
Source
Read the original first-hand account on Blog (DEV Community): https://dev.to/michal_kraus_151c2a53e667/i-built-an-open-source-ai-assistant-th…. Our summary is a paraphrase; details are in the source.
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