Install & setup

What you need

• Windows 11 with Microsoft Visio installed.
• A supported AI assistant on the same machine; see Connecting your AI assistant.
• Vizspect itself. It is currently in limited private use, with a wider release coming soon.

Installing

Vizspect is not yet publicly available. Current authorized users receive installation instructions directly. Public installation steps will be added here when the wider release is available.

On first launch, Vizspect sets up the local server and the system-tray app that manages it. Where it finds compatible assistants, it registers Vizspect with Claude and ChatGPT Codex or Work so they can reach Visio with no extra steps.

The system tray

Vizspect lives in the Windows system tray (the icons near the clock). Windows often hides new tray icons: click the ⌃ arrow to find the V icon, and drag it onto the taskbar to keep it handy.

Right-click the icon for the menu. The everyday actions are at the top (Check connection… and Reconnect AI assistants), with Drawing preferences and an Advanced submenu (server Start/Stop/Restart, network options, tokens, View logs) below, then Help and About.

• A green icon means the server is running; grey means it’s stopped or not responding. The orange frame is just the Vizspect badge.

First run

The first time Vizspect launches, a welcome window appears showing that it’s running, that Visio is detected, and that your AI assistant is connected, plus where to find the tray icon. The server starts automatically and restarts itself if it ever crashes (you’ll see a notification). Turn on Start with Windows (Advanced → Start with Windows) so it’s ready before you open Visio.

To confirm everything works, open Visio with a drawing and ask your assistant to draw something. Any time you’re unsure it’s connected, right-click the tray icon → Check connection….

Next: Connecting your AI assistant.