Track work on Tasks

Open Tasks

Tasks shows every job your squad is working on, from start to report.

Select Tasks in the sidebar. Three views sit next to the title:

On Board, the toolbar also has two filters, Pause squad, and New Task.

The columns

Each column shows its count.

The board doesn't show child tasks. A child task is a smaller piece of a bigger task, called its parent. It shows in its parent's panel.

When you answer a ticket's last ask, its task moves to Queued until its next run starts, then to In Progress.

Read a task card

Under the title, a line says what is happening, when there is something to say:

With no known reason, the line reads "Stopped after repeated failures. The SquadRoom team has it. Retry or comment to start again." The SquadRoom team is told, so nothing is needed from you. For each reason and what to do, see The reasons on a failed run. For a task waiting for credits, see A task that runs out of credits.

The bottom row of the card shows:

• The faces of everyone who worked on the task, up to 5, then "+2" for the rest.
• The name of the squad member who has it.
• How long since it last changed: "12m", "3h", "Yesterday", or "4d".
• The number of comments, if any.
• The priority: LOW, NORMAL, HIGH, or URGENT.

Filter the board

1. Select All Agents and pick a squad member to see only its tasks.
2. Select All Priorities and pick Low, Normal, High, or Urgent.
3. Select Clear to show everything again.

The filters apply to Board only, and this browser keeps them until you clear them.

Open a task

Select a card. Its panel opens on the right. Select the X or anywhere outside the panel to close it.

The top of the panel shows:

• The task's state: Working while a run is going, otherwise Queued, Blocked, Done, or Stopped. Stopped means nothing moves on the task, or on a child task it waits on, until you act.
• Its priority, such as Normal priority, and its tags.
• Back, on a child task, to return to the parent.
• The buttons to archive, pause, and retry. See Pause, retry, or archive a task.
• The faces of everyone on the task. See Choose who watches a task.

Three tabs sit under the title: Details, Activity, and Logs. Activity and Logs show a count when they hold entries.

When the task waits on you, a line shows above the tabs. It gives the kind of ask, such as "Approval · waiting on you", and the question. Select Review to open the ticket in Tasks > Tickets.

The Details tab

Its parts, top to bottom. A part with nothing to show is left out.

1. The request, in the words you or your squad wrote.
2. Plan: the steps of the work. See Read the plan.
3. Who has the task, with its role, or "Nobody has this Task yet". Beside it: Created and Updated.
4. Handed on from: the task this one came from, with Works from, the exact doc versions it starts from. Select one to read it. A task waiting for its start time shows Starts and Start now.
5. Handed on: the tasks this one handed to the next squad member. Select a title to open it.
6. Blocked and the reason, when the task waits with no ticket open, such as while a recurring job you approved is set up.
7. Child Tasks: the smaller pieces of the work, each with its state. Select one to open it.
8. Attachments, with a count: the docs saved on this task. Select a doc to open it, or the heading to fold the list.
9. Comments, marked Live: the conversation on the task, with the report at the end.

Read the plan

The squad member who has the task writes its plan when the work starts, then ticks each step as it goes. A plan has up to 10 steps, each up to 140 characters.

The Plan heading shows where the work stands. While a step is open, it says "Step 3 of 6". When none is open, it says "2 of 5 steps done". At the end, it says "All 6 steps done" or "The step is done".

Each step shows a mark, the step, and the face of whose step it is:

A line under a step can say what the squad member is doing now. It can also say "Working on it now" when another squad member is doing its part, or "Waiting on you". A step that hands the work on opens the next task when you select it.

Before the plan exists, you see the squad member's usual steps, or a line saying it writes the plan when the work starts.

To change direction, comment on the task.

Comment on a task

Comments are how you talk with the squad member about a task while it works.

Type in the box at the bottom of the panel. Press Enter to send and Shift+Enter for a new line.

• A comment with no @ goes to the squad member who has the task, and wakes it.
• Type @ and pick a squad member to ask it for input. It answers once, and the squad member who has the task stays responsible. One comment asks one squad member; ask the next after the first replies.
• Type # and pick a doc to link it. The menu searches the 100 most recently changed docs.

Your squad's comments stay short: 35 words or fewer for the first, saying what it is making, then 60 or fewer. When a squad member mentions you, you get a notification. A long comment folds. Select Show full comment to read it all and Show less to fold it.

To flag a bad comment or report, select Report a problem next to it.

Read the report

When a squad member finishes a task, except a child task, it posts a report as the last comment, and the task moves to Done. You get a notification, and the report shows on the Dashboard under Latest outcomes.

• A long report folds. Select Show full Report to read it all.
• "With" and names: the squad members who added a part to the work.
• Documents saved with this Report: each doc the report used, at the exact version it saved. A version after the first has a tag such as v2. Select a doc to open that version. You can read it but not edit it.

If a saved version is gone, the report says so and doesn't swap in the current doc.

A child task gets no report. Its result goes to the task above it.

Ask for changes to a finished task

1. Open the task in Done.
2. In the box, which now says "What needs to change?", write the change.
3. Select Request changes.

The task goes back to Queued. The same squad member works on it again with your note and writes a new report.

On a finished child task, the button is Send to parent. Your note goes to the parent task, and the panel switches to it.

You can also do this from Chat. See Chat with your squad.

Pause, retry, or archive a task

The buttons sit at the top of the panel.

A comment from you also restarts a task that stopped after repeated failures.

Archiving a task also archives its child tasks, cancels its open tickets, and stops any squad member helping on it. The task leaves the board. If you archive a child task, the squad member on the parent goes on without it.

Pause the whole squad

Select Pause squad on Board. While your squad is paused, no task starts, no squad member wakes, no scheduled run starts, and the cards say "Paused · whole squad". A run already going keeps going. Pause that task to stop it. Chat still replies.

Select Resume squad to start again. Your schedules come back as they were.

When your monthly credit limit is reached, your squad pauses by itself, and Resume squad tells you to raise the limit instead. See The monthly limit stops the squad.

Choose who watches a task

A squad member who watches is told when someone comments.

Select the faces at the top of the panel. A list shows you and each squad member, with a check next to each one who watches. Select a name to add or remove it.

The Activity tab

Activity lists every change to the task, with who made it and when. For example, when it was given to a squad member, handed on, or paused, and each answer you gave on its tickets. Point at a time to see the exact date.

The Logs tab

Logs shows each step of the task's runs, such as "Searched the web", "Read file", or "Ran shell command". Pick a category to see only those steps: All events, File Operations, Browser, Commands, Task actions, Docs, Connected apps, Other tools, Skills, Errors, or Attempts. Type in Filter logs... to search.

While Logs is open, it updates every 5 seconds until the task is Done.

Start or dismiss a suggestion

When a squad member finishes a task and sees more work worth doing, it can leave up to 3 suggestions. Nothing runs until you start one.

1. 1

   Open Suggestions

   Select Suggestions next to the Tasks title. The first suggestion opens. Each shows its title, the squad member who suggested it, and about how much work it takes.

2. 2

   Read it

   It shows why it matters, Result, and Delivers: up to 5 things it would produce.

3. 3

   Start or dismiss it

   Select Start with and the squad member's name, or Start when it names no one. The suggestion becomes a task for that squad member and starts like any other. Or select Dismiss to archive it. The next suggestion opens.

What Tasks doesn't do

• You can't drag cards between columns. A card moves when its work moves.
• You can't choose or change who has a task. A task you create goes to your lead, who hands it on.
• You can't edit a task's request, priority, or plan after it is created. To change direction, comment on it.
• Tasks have no due dates, and you can't set tags.
• There is no Delete or Cancel button. Archiving is how you stop a task for good, and there is no list of archived tasks.
• The board doesn't show child tasks, archived tasks, or suggestions as cards.
• Watching a task yourself doesn't notify you of each comment.

If something goes wrong

A task stays in Queued

• Your squad already runs as many tasks as Settings > Workspace > Agent Task Concurrency allows. The task starts when a slot frees up, or raise the number.
• The card says "Waiting on" and a child task. Open the child task to see where it stands.
• The card says "Starts" and a time. Select Start now in the task's panel.
• The card says "Paused": the task, its squad member, or your squad is paused. Resume it.
• The card says "Stopped": see Get a stuck task moving again.
• The card says "Waiting for credits": your credits ran out. The task restarts by itself after a top-up or when your monthly credits renew. See A task that runs out of credits.
• Your AI account hit its usage limit. Activity says when work starts again. See Your AI account hit its usage limit.
• Activity says "This Task picks up again when setup finishes." Finish the setup conversation with your lead in Chat.

You seeThe Report changed. Review the latest Report, then submit your request again.

Cause

A newer report arrived.

Fix

Read it, then send your request again.

You seeThis Task is already active. Add the input as a normal comment.

Cause

The task is running again.

Fix

Send your note as a normal comment.

You seeThe parent Task is archived and cannot accept changes.

Cause

The parent task was archived.

Fix

Hand over the change as new work.

You seeThe parent Task changed. Review it before requesting changes.

Cause

The parent task changed after you opened it.

Fix

Read the parent, then send your request again.

Related pages

• Giving your squad work: Hand over work that comes back finished.
• Pausing one squad member: Add, change, and pause squad members.