SENTIENT SYSTEMS LABS

Battle Buddy Manual

How Battle Buddy works, where your records go, and how they are kept safe.

In crisis? Veterans Crisis Line: dial 988, press 1 · 1-800-273-8255, press 1 · text 838255 · 24/7. In danger right now? Call 911.
Getting started

Four steps

  1. Create your account with your own email and a password of at least 8 characters. This is how you sign in.
  2. Make a free Gmail just for Battle Buddy. Open Get started in the ☰ menu and tap Create a free Gmail. Using a separate Gmail keeps your VA records apart from your everyday email.
  3. Connect that Gmail. On Get started, tap Connect my Gmail and sign in. Google shows exactly what Battle Buddy is asking for; tap Allow.
  4. Add your documents and start talking. Tap the mic and tell Battle Buddy what you like to be called, your appointments and your medications. It remembers.
Getting around

Getting around

  • The main screen has the Battle Buddy logo, the round mic button (“Tap to connect”) and the ⌨️ Text Chat button.
  • Tap ☰ at the top left to open the menu: Voice, Get started, Calendar, Remember, Documents, Health, Visits, Claim, My VA, Me, Sign out. Tap × to close it.
  • Voice in the menu takes you back to the main screen.
  • Every page has ‹ Back at the top left, which takes you back to the main screen.
  • Every page has a “Message Battle Buddy” bar at the bottom with its own mic button, so you can talk or type from any page.
Your account

Signing in, signing out, a new password

  • Create your account: on the main screen tap Create account and enter your name, your email and a password of at least 8 characters.
  • Sign in: tap Sign in and enter your email and password. You stay signed in on that phone or computer for up to 90 days, or until you sign out.
  • Forgot your password: on the Sign in screen tap Forgot password?, enter your email and tap Email me a reset link. Open the email, tap the link, type your new password twice and tap Save new password. You are signed in again.
  • Sign out: ☰ → Sign out, or Me → Sign out. Nothing is lost; sign in again any time.
  • More than one phone or computer: sign in with the same email and password. Everything is the same on each one.
Talking

Talking to Battle Buddy

  • Tap the round mic on the main screen, or the mic in the bar at the bottom of any page. The first time, your phone or browser asks to use the microphone — tap Allow.
  • The words under the mic show what it is doing: Connecting…, Connected, Listening…, Thinking…. Talk normally; it answers out loud.
  • The mic turns red while the conversation is on. Tap it again to end the conversation.
  • What you said, and its answer, show in one line under the logo. The whole conversation is in Text Chat.
  • If it says Tap to retry, tap the mic again. If it still does not work, check that the microphone is allowed for Battle Buddy in your phone or browser settings, and that you have Wi-Fi or a signal.
Typing

Typing to Battle Buddy

  • On any page: type in the “Message Battle Buddy” bar at the bottom and tap the round ↑ button. The answer appears right there on that page.
  • Text Chat (the ⌨️ Text Chat button on the main screen) shows the whole conversation, spoken and typed, so you can scroll back. Type where it says “Type to Battle Buddy…” and tap Send. The buttons at the top jump to Calendar, Remember, Documents and Me.
  • Talking and typing are one conversation: what you said out loud is there when you type, and the other way round. If a voice conversation is on while you type, Battle Buddy answers out loud.
Memory

What Battle Buddy remembers (the Remember page)

  • Battle Buddy saves what matters by itself as you talk: what you like to be called, your appointments, medicines, doctors and your claim. You can also say “remember that …”.
  • ☰ → Remember shows everything it remembers, newest first. Each one has a label — said: you told it · document: it came from your documents · inferred: worked out from what you told it — and the date.
  • To remove one, tap Forget this, or say “forget …”. It is gone for good.
  • Ask “what do you remember about my knee?” and it answers from what it remembers, your past conversations and your documents, with dates.
Get started

The Get started page

  • ☰ → Get started has the four steps. A step shows a green ✓ when it is done.
  • Step 1 — Create a free Gmail opens Google’s sign-up page.
  • Step 2 — Connect my Gmail. Once connected it shows “Connected:” with your Gmail, Open my Battle Buddy folder, Disconnect, and links to My VA Claim Summary and My VA Timeline.
  • Step 3 — Open Documents, and your own forwarding address for VA emails (tap it to select it, then copy it).
  • Step 4 — Go to the mic takes you to the main screen.
Your Google account

What happens when you connect your Gmail

Battle Buddy makes a folder called Battle Buddy in that account’s Google Drive, with a folder inside it for each kind of document:

VA Letters · Decisions · Ratings · Claims · Medical Records · Appointments · Benefits · Bills · Legal · Military Records · Personal · Other

From then on, every document you add to Battle Buddy is also copied, as the original file, into the matching folder. Anything you added before connecting is copied over too. In Battle Buddy, each document shows “copy in your Google Drive” once it’s there.

The same connection also does this, all inside that Google account:

  • Google Calendar: your appointments, and repeating reminders such as daily medications.
  • Google Tasks: one-time to-dos, and every deadline found in your documents (for example “send evidence by December 1”), on a list called Battle Buddy with a checkbox on your phone.
  • My VA Claim Summary (a Google Doc) and My VA Timeline (a Google Sheet) in your Battle Buddy folder. Battle Buddy rewrites them each time you add a document: what’s coming up, your conditions, ratings, decisions, claim numbers, payments, medications, doctors, and every document by date. Print them or share them with your VSO.
  • Google Contacts: when a doctor, VA office or your VSO comes up, Battle Buddy will ask if you want them saved to your contacts. It only adds people you say yes to; it does not read your contact list.
Battle Buddy can only see the folders and files it creates. It cannot see, open or change anything else in that Google account: not your other Drive files, and not your email. Google enforces this, not just Battle Buddy.
Your documents

Adding documents

  • Open Documents and tap the box to choose files, or choose a whole folder. On a computer you can drag them in.
  • PDFs (including scanned ones), photos of letters, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, email files and text all work. Up to 100 MB at a time.
  • Battle Buddy reads each one, gives it a title, sorts it by type, and pulls out the dates, deadlines, amounts, claim numbers, ratings, conditions, medications, doctors and offices in it. Tap a document to see what it found.
  • Adding the same file twice is skipped. A scan is read by computer, so double-check names and numbers that matter.
  • Then ask things like “Is there a deadline in my VA letter?” or “Which letters mention my knee?” Battle Buddy answers and names the document it used.

On the Documents page

  • ☰ → Documents lists your documents by kind (VA Letters, Decisions, Ratings and so on), with how many of each. Each one shows its title, the date on it, when you added it, how many facts were found, the folder it came from, and “copy in your Google Drive” once it is copied.
  • Tap a document to see the facts found in it; tap it again to hide them.
  • To delete one document: tap it, then tap Delete this document. It is removed from Battle Buddy along with what was found in it. The copy in your Google Drive stays, and appointments already put on your calendar stay until you cancel them.
Email and directions

Forwarding VA emails, and drive times

  • Your own forwarding address. On Get started you’ll find an address like support+bb…@battlebuddyvet.com. Forward a VA email to it and, within a couple of minutes, Battle Buddy files every attachment (or the email itself) like an upload, copies it to your Drive, and emails you what it filed.
  • It only accepts emails sent from your own email or your Battle Buddy Gmail, so nobody else can add records to your account.
  • Drive times. Add your home address on the Me page (or tell Battle Buddy). Appointment alerts then say how long the drive is, when to leave (drive time plus extra for traffic and parking), and include a Google Maps directions link. Your address is encrypted, and only your address and the appointment’s address are used to work out the route.
Security

How your records are kept safe

In Battle Buddy

  • Your conversations, memories, the text of your documents, their summaries, the names in them and your calendar details are encrypted before they are stored. Your original files are stored encrypted too.
  • To be able to search and sort, a few things are kept readable: document types, dates, money amounts, and a search index made from your documents.
  • Battle Buddy runs on its own server and its own database in the United States, separate from any other product. Every connection uses encryption (HTTPS).
  • Your password is never stored, only a scrambled one-way version of it.
  • To understand your messages, voice and documents, the relevant content is sent securely to the AI service Battle Buddy uses to answer you. Nothing is sold or used for advertising.

In your Google Drive

  • The copies in your Battle Buddy folder belong to you. They sit in your Google account, protected by your Google password and Google’s own security.
  • Turn on 2-Step Verification for that Gmail (in your Google account settings, under Security) so no one else can get in even with the password.
  • Only you can see those folders unless you choose to share them.
You are in control

Disconnecting and deleting

  • Disconnect Google: on Get started, tap Disconnect. Battle Buddy stops copying and stops using that calendar. You can also remove its access any time at myaccount.google.com/permissions.
  • Your Drive copies stay yours. Disconnecting, or deleting your Battle Buddy account, does not delete the copies in your Google Drive. They are your records; delete them in Google Drive if you want them gone.
  • Connect a different Gmail later? Battle Buddy makes a new set of folders there and copies all your documents into it.
  • Forget something: ask Battle Buddy to forget it, or remove it on the Remember page.
  • Delete everything: on the Me page, type DELETE. Your Battle Buddy account, conversations, memories, documents, files, calendar and reminders are erased for good.
Calendar and reminders

Appointments and reminders

  • Tell Battle Buddy about an appointment and it goes on your calendar with a reminder.
  • Appointments in your documents go on your calendar by themselves. Add a letter for a C&P exam and the date, time, place and what to bring are put on your calendar (and your Google Calendar if connected). If the letter gives no time, it says so; check the letter.
  • Deadline warnings. For every deadline found in your documents (for example “send evidence by November 1”), Battle Buddy warns you 30 days, 7 days and 1 day before, and on the day, by email and in the app.
  • Reminders and appointment alerts are emailed to you from support@battlebuddyvet.com and pop up in the app.
  • With your Gmail connected they also appear in that Google Calendar. Not using Google? The Me page has a calendar link any calendar app can subscribe to.

On the Calendar page

  • ☰ → Calendar shows the month; days with something on them are marked. Tap ‹ or › for the month before or after.
  • Coming up lists your next appointments with the date and time. Reminders lists your reminders and how often they repeat.
  • To add something, tell Battle Buddy: “put my C&P exam on November 3rd at 9:30” or “remind me to take my meds every morning at 8”.
  • To change something, tell it: “move my C&P exam to 10:30”, “cancel the dentist appointment”, or “stop the morning meds reminder”.
Health

Check-ins, medicines and your chart

  • Daily check-in. From the time you pick on the Me page (9:00 AM unless you change it, or Off), Battle Buddy asks how you slept, your pain (0–10), your mood (1–10) and whether you took your medicines — in conversation, a question or two at a time. Or fill it in on Health.
  • Your medicines. Tell Battle Buddy, take a photo of the pill-bottle label on Health, or let it read them from your documents and visit notes. If the label shows the quantity and fill date, it counts down the days and reminds you to order the refill a week and two days before you run out.
  • About a medicine. “About this medicine” shows the general facts from the FDA drug label (what it is for, side effects, warnings). It is not advice for you: your pharmacist or VA doctor is the one to ask about your dose, side effects or mixing medicines. If one of your medicines’ labels mentions another of yours, Battle Buddy lists it as a question for your pharmacist.
  • Symptoms. Mention a symptom and it goes in your diary (or add it on Health); “how has my knee been this month?” works.
  • Before an appointment. The day before, a one-page brief is ready on Health: why you’re going, what changed, your questions, your medicine list — and for a C&P exam, how to get ready (describe your worst days, bring your evidence). Afterwards Battle Buddy asks how it went and keeps the notes.
  • Your chart. Every night Battle Buddy rewrites one page about you — conditions, medicines, care team, what is normal for you, what changed, what to watch, what to bring up tomorrow — so it knows your whole story each time you talk. Read it on Health; “Update my chart now” rewrites it on the spot. It never diagnoses and never changes medicine.

On the Health page

  • Today’s check-in: Sleep (hours), Pain 0–10 and Mood 1–10 (slide them), Took my meds — Yes, Some or No, and Anything else? (optional). Then tap Save check-in.
  • Last 14 days shows your recent check-ins.
  • Medicines: your list. About this medicine shows the FDA label facts (Full label → for all of it). Remove takes a medicine off your list.
  • 📷 Add a medicine from the bottle label: take a clear photo of the label. Or type the medicine name and tap Add.
  • Symptoms: type what it is (for example knee pain), how bad from 0 to 10, and tap Add.
  • Appointment briefs: the brief for your next appointment, ready the day before.
  • My chart: your chart. Update my chart now rewrites it — about half a minute.
Doctor visits

Recording a doctor visit

Ask first. Before you record, ask everyone in the room: “Is it OK if I record this so I don’t forget anything?” Battle Buddy asks you to confirm they said OK and saves that with the recording. Some offices, including VA facilities, have their own rules about recording — if they say no, don’t record; tell Battle Buddy how it went afterwards instead.

  • Get the Battle Buddy app — one app with everything in Battle Buddy plus the recorder. Android: battlebuddyvet.com/app/android (allow installing from your browser when your phone asks). iPhone: coming soon.
  • Record. ☰ → Visits → Record visit. It checks your battery, space and microphone, asks if everyone said OK, then records. Put the phone on the counter and let it run — the screen can be locked, there is a red RECORDING bar at the top, and it needs no signal: everything is saved on your phone every few seconds. A phone call pauses it and it picks back up by itself. If anything ever stops it, your phone buzzes and tells you.
  • Stop with the red bar or the Stop button. The recording uploads by itself whenever your phone has Wi-Fi or a signal — even if you close the app. Your phone keeps its copy until Battle Buddy has every piece, then frees the space. On Visits you see: saved on phone / uploading / uploaded ✓ / notes ready.
  • Afterwards Battle Buddy writes out who said what (Doctor, Nurse, you, family — tap a name to fix it) and the visit notes: what the doctor said, instructions, new or changed medicines, tests, referrals and follow-ups. New medicines go on your list, a follow-up with a date goes on your calendar, a referral gets a reminder to check it was booked, and the notes are filed in Documents (and your Drive’s Visits folder if connected).
  • No app yet? Record with Voice Memos (iPhone) or Recorder (Android), then on Visits use Upload a recording — same notes.

On the Visits page

  • In the app, tap ● Record visit. It checks your battery, space and microphone, then asks “Did everyone in the room say OK to recording?” — tap Yes — start, or Not yet.
  • Stop recording ends it (or tap the red bar at the top).
  • On this phone lists recordings that are still on your phone. Upload now sends one right away; Try again if an upload did not finish.
  • Upload a recording: type What visit was it?, tick Everyone in the room said OK to the recording, then tap 🎙 Choose the recording.
  • My visits: tap a visit to see its notes, Who was talking (fix a name and tap Save names), the Transcript, and the Google Doc if your Gmail is connected. Delete this visit removes the recording, transcript and notes.
Your VA claim

Claim tracker, statements and your claim packet

  • Claim tracker (☰ → Claim): one line per condition — where it stands (not claimed, filed, waiting, granted, denied, appeal), the rating, what evidence you have and what a Veterans Service Officer (VSO) may ask for. Battle Buddy fills it from your documents every night; change anything yourself and your change stays. It organizes — it never decides anything about your claim.
  • Writing for you: a draft personal statement (VA Form 21-4138), a buddy statement for someone who knows you, questions for your doctor, or a symptoms sheet for a C&P exam — in your own words, from your records. Read it, fix anything marked CHECK, and go over it with your VSO before you sign or send anything. Drafts are saved in Documents (and as a Google Doc in your Drive if connected).
  • Claim packet: tick the documents you want and tap Make the PDF — a cover page, your claim summary, then the documents — ready to hand to your VSO.
  • Send to my VA claims file: send that same packet straight into your VA claims file through the VA’s own document service. Type your first and last name as the VA has them, your VA file number or Social Security number and your ZIP code, tick I have read this packet and I want it sent to the VA, and tap Send to the VA. Your file number is used for that one send and is never saved. Below the button you can see where each send stands at the VA: waiting to upload, received by the VA, being processed, accepted, and in your VA claims file. Go over the packet with your VSO before you send it. Right now this goes to the VA’s test system while the VA reviews Battle Buddy, so nothing reaches your real file yet.
  • My whole story: one printable page for a new doctor, the ER or a VSO — conditions, medicines, allergies, care team, what’s coming up.
  • VA rules: ask how a condition is rated (for example “how is knee instability rated?”) and Battle Buddy answers from the VA’s own rating schedule and claims rules (38 CFR Parts 4 and 3) and va.gov, and names the rule it came from (for example “38 CFR 4.71a, Diagnostic Code 5257”). For the percentages it quotes the rule word for word, because small words like “and/or” change the rating. How your own condition is rated is decided by the VA — a free Veterans Service Officer can go over it with you.

On the Claim page

  • My conditions: change where a condition stands from the list next to it; Remove takes it off. To add one, type it (for example tinnitus) and tap Add.
  • Update from my documents fills the tracker now, instead of waiting for the night.
  • Writing for you: choose what to write, type Which condition?, add Anything to include? if you like, and tap Write the draft. Your drafts appear below it, with a Google Doc link if your Gmail is connected.
  • Claim packet: tick the documents you want, then Make the PDF.
  • Send to my VA claims file: fill in your name, your VA file number or SSN and your ZIP code, tick the box, then tap Send to the VA. Each send and its VA status show below it.
  • My whole story: tap Open my one-page summary.
Family

The family loop (only if you turn it on)

  • On the Me page you can add someone you trust (a name and an email) and choose what they get: a short evening note saying whether you checked in with Battle Buddy and took your medicines that day, and/or a note if Battle Buddy has not heard from you for 2 days.
  • That is all they ever get — never your health details, conversations, documents or recordings.
  • They get an email first and nothing else until they tap Confirm. Every email has a stop link. You can switch the family loop off, or remove a person, at any time.
My VA

Your own VA records, from the VA

Coming soon for real records. Battle Buddy is connected to the VA’s official data service (VA Lighthouse). While the VA reviews Battle Buddy, it is connected to the VA’s test system, so your own records will show up here once the VA approves it. Everything below is built and tested.

  • What you can see: your veteran status, disability ratings (combined and each condition), service history, your claims and intent to file, your appeals, your VA health record (conditions, medicines, allergies, appointments, vital signs, lab results, immunizations), community care eligibility, your official VA letters (for example the benefit summary letter, as a PDF), your Post-9/11 GI Bill, and your VA health care charges.
  • How to connect: ☰ → My VA → Connect next to each VA service, or Connect everything. Each one takes you to the VA, where you sign in with your own VA login (Login.gov or ID.me) and say yes. Battle Buddy never sees your VA password.
  • Exactly what the VA says: every number and date is shown just as the VA sent it, with “From the VA” on each section. Ask Battle Buddy too: “what is my combined rating?”, “what medicines does the VA have for me?”, “where do my claims stand?” — it answers from your VA records and says so.
  • Also on My VA: find a VA facility (by state or ZIP) and find any VA form by number or name, with its latest version.
  • You are in control: tap Disconnect on any VA service at any time. Delete everything (Me page) removes all VA connections and copies. Battle Buddy only reads your VA records; it does not change anything at the VA.

On the My VA page

  • VA connections lists each VA service with Connect (or Disconnect once connected), and Connect everything to do them all, signing in once per service.
  • Your VA records show below the connections, each marked “From the VA”.
  • Find a VA facility: type a state (CA) or a ZIP and tap Find.
  • Find a VA form: type a form number (21-4138) or words (travel pay) and tap Find. Each form has a PDF link.
Me

The Me page

  • Your name and email.
  • Calendar link: using Google Calendar? Connect it on Get started (step 2). Any other calendar app can subscribe to this link.
  • Home address: type it and tap Save. Only used for drive times to appointments.
  • Daily check-in time: pick a time and tap Save, or tap Off to stop the daily check-in.
  • Family loop: tick Family loop is on. Add someone: Their name, Their email, choose Evening note and/or Alert if no word for 2 days, then tap Add this person. Each person shows “waiting for them to confirm”, “confirmed” or “stopped”; Remove takes them off.
  • Sign out.
  • Delete everything: type DELETE and tap Delete. This cannot be undone.
Phone app

The Battle Buddy phone app

  • Android: on the phone, open battlebuddyvet.com/app/android in Chrome and tap Download. Open the file; when the phone asks, allow “Install unknown apps” for Chrome, then tap Install. Open Battle Buddy and sign in.
  • The first time you tap Record visit, allow the microphone and notifications.
  • The app has everything the website has, plus the visit recorder.
  • iPhone: coming soon. Until then, use battlebuddyvet.com in Safari, and record visits with Voice Memos and Upload a recording.
Help

If something is not working

  • “Please sign in”: you were signed out. Sign in again; nothing is lost.
  • The mic says Tap to retry, or “Connection error”: tap the mic again. Check that you have Wi-Fi or a signal and that the microphone is allowed for Battle Buddy.
  • “Google did not connect — try again”: go to Get started and tap Connect my Gmail again.
  • “The VA sign-in did not finish — try again”: go to My VA and tap Connect again.
  • A visit recording has not uploaded: it uploads by itself when you have Wi-Fi or a signal. On Visits, tap Upload now, or Try again.
  • A reset email has not arrived: check your spam folder, then tap Forgot password? again.
  • Anything else: email support@battlebuddyvet.com.
Important

What Battle Buddy is not

Battle Buddy is not part of, or endorsed by, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. It is not a doctor, a lawyer, an accredited VA representative, or an emergency service. For decisions about your health or your claim, talk to your VA care team or a free Veterans Service Officer.

In crisis? Veterans Crisis Line: dial 988, press 1 · 1-800-273-8255, press 1 · text 838255 · 24/7. In danger right now? Call 911.

Questions or problems: support@battlebuddyvet.com · Privacy Policy · Terms of Service