Getting Started with Ranch.Bot

Setup verified: August 24, 2026. Phone dictation and delayed-send guidance reviewed: September 16, 2026.

The current product path is SMS first: create the account and farm in the web app, enable Text-in, text notes from the registered phone, and review proposed records in the web dashboard.

1. Create the account

  1. Open ranch.bot/login.
  2. Enter your mobile phone number.
  3. Enter the eight-digit sign-in code Ranch.Bot sends by SMS.
  4. Add your name if this is a new account.

Ranch.Bot uses passwordless phone sign-in. The sign-in text and the Text-in record channel are separate parts of the product.

2. Start the plan and create a farm

New accounts continue to onboarding:

  1. Choose Solo or Team. Current amounts and billing intervals are on the pricing page.
  2. Add a payment card in Stripe Checkout.
  3. Return to Ranch.Bot and create the farm with a name and species.
  4. Choose how to start your first note: Write a note here to open the web chat, Send a note by text to set up texting, or Explore Ranch.Bot to look around first. Nothing is saved until you review and confirm it. Your new farm appears in the farm control.

Writing or texting the first record is optional, not a gate on using the app. If you choose Explore Ranch.Bot, Home shows a Resume your first record entry until the task is finished (or you can ignore it and use the app normally).

Once you text, the task panel distinguishes Text received, Review your draft, and Record saved. While it waits on a note it checks the status every few seconds; use Check status or focus the panel again at any time. That never restarts the wait. If the recent sign-in proof has expired, verify your number with a fresh code; you can change the number or resend the code. The task is done only when a record is saved, and it stays done even if that record is later removed.

Activation can take a moment after Checkout. If it is still waiting after 30 seconds, choose Check subscription again or use the support link. Your entered farm details stay in place; you do not need to start another checkout.

If your account details fail to load, choose Reload account. The page retries your profile, plan and farm reads together and keeps anything you already entered.

The free trial lasts 30 days. A card is required, and nothing is charged until day 31. Crew is handled directly for operations with more than eight people.

3. Enable Text-in

From the first-record task, choosing Send a note by text shows the number you will send from, Ranch.Bot's number, and the farm the notes will go to. If you verified your phone when signing in, you can enable texting in one step; otherwise you verify your number first.

You can also enable it later from Settings:

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Choose Account.
  3. Find Text-in (SMS) and turn on Text-in.
  4. Copy the shared number shown on the page.

Text the shared number from the same phone registered on the Ranch.Bot account. Text-in requires cellular SMS service for delivery. A note held on your phone has not reached Ranch.Bot.

4. Text a field note

Send a short note in the language you already use. For example:

Messages to Ranch.Bot · SMS

  • Ewe 327 lambed twins this morning.

  • Moved the yearlings to the west pasture.

  • Tag 4012 needs a weight added from today.

Use your phone’s keyboard dictation

Type your note or use your phone’s keyboard dictation. On iPhone, tap the message field, tap the keyboard microphone, and speak. If needed, enable Dictation in Settings → General → Keyboard. Check the text before sending, especially tag numbers and dates. See Apple’s dictation guide. Dictation availability and use without an internet connection depend on your device and language. Your phone turns speech into text; Text-in receives that text.

Send after coverage returns

Make the note while the details are fresh. If you’re out of service, keep it in your messaging app and send when coverage returns. Check that the draft is still there before leaving it. Include the actual event date when sending later, rather than “today” or “yesterday.”

If iPhone Messages shows Not Delivered, check that service has returned, tap the red exclamation point, then Try Again. See Apple’s message troubleshooting. Check the message status yourself; do not assume it will retry automatically.

A draft or undelivered message is still on your phone. Ranch.Bot receives the note only after delivery, then prepares any proposed records for review before saving. Your familiar message history lets you look back at what you sent; check the Ranch.Bot dashboard for saved records.

Ranch.Bot replies by text and puts the note in the farm conversation with its via SMS source. If the note calls for a write, Ranch.Bot prepares a proposal instead of saving silently.

Photos by text

Texted photos are stored for the account, but are not currently shown in the conversation or extracted into structured records.

5. Review before saving

Open the web dashboard and review the proposal. Check the animal or group, date, record type, and details. Confirm it when it is right, correct the note when it is not, or reject it.

Saved records appear in the animal, group, and Records views. Recent changes remain visible in Change History.

6. Export when needed

Open More → Import/Export, select Generate archive, then download the ZIP when it is ready. See the Data Export guide for included records, access requirements and limits.

Bring existing records

Open More → Import/Export to send spreadsheets, PDFs, documents, or photos of paper records. Ranch.Bot extracts a proposed import, then a person reviews the source, sensitive-data anomalies, counts, samples, and ambiguities before any writes are approved. See Data Import.

External assistants

You do not need Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, an MCP client, or an API key to use Ranch.Bot. The public CLI supports terminal and shell-capable assistant use. The local MCP package supports stdio clients. Hosted connections are not public yet. ChatGPT access is a private pilot. Ranch.Bot’s Claude connector is in review; you can still connect it privately as a custom connector. Gemini has no publicly available Ranch.Bot connection.

Common questions

Does Text-in work without service?

Delivery needs SMS service, which can work where mobile data is weak. With no service, keep the note on your phone and send or retry it when coverage returns, as described above. Account setup and dashboard review need a data connection.

Can another phone text records into my farm?

Not until that person has their own account access and completes the supported setup. Unknown numbers cannot write to a farm.

Can Ranch.Bot load the files I already have?

Yes, through the supervised process in Data Import. Uploading a file does not write records by itself.

Where do current prices live?

Only on the pricing page, which reads the configured plans.

Get help

The primary next step is to schedule a walkthrough. You can also start the 30-day trial.

For account or product help, email support@ranch.bot.

Terminal access

The public CLI setup guide covers installation, browser OAuth login, farm selection, and a first read. CLI login needs no API key. CLI writes run directly under your permissions, without the app confirmation screen or its Action-backed Change History.

Additional sign-in and Text-in options

If your sign-in page offers Email, enter your address and verify the emailed code. Google is available on the web when enabled. Email accounts do not need a phone to complete setup or accept a farm invitation. In Settings → Account, check your signed-in identity, choose Switch account, or verify an additional sign-in method. Editing contact email does not change sign-in. An emailed code is single-use: an incorrect entry spends it, so request a new code instead of retrying the same one. A text-message code can be retried until it expires.

If Text-in Settings offers Send activation code, enter the number you want to use and verify the fresh SMS code. Activation disables farm SMS for its previous account. Phone sign-in continues to open the phone's original account. You can release Text-in without changing any login method.

After a number moves between accounts, review, save, discard and correct drafts in the app. This stays in effect even after moving the number back. Old drafts remain in their original account. Moving a number does not clear STOP; text START to the shared number to resume. Messages already accepted by the carrier may still arrive after a transfer.