The task list and standing plan

While DataMind Oda works through a task with several steps, it keeps a task list: one item per concrete step, marked as the work moves. This page covers how the list is recorded, what its rules are, and how the plan behaves in the chat. What you see in the chat is on Oda's to-do list; the tool behind the list is on The agent task list.

How the list is recorded

Every update is the whole list. Oda sends the entire list with each update, and the update replaces the previous one. There are no partial updates and no per-item edits: to change one item, Oda sends the complete list again, and to drop an item, it sends the list without it.
An item is its text and its state. Each item carries a short line naming the task, plus one of the three states below. Nothing else travels with it: there is no id, no priority and no other per-item field.
The text is trimmed first. Oda trims each item's text before recording it.
Empty or repeated text is refused. An item whose text is empty once trimmed, or a list that repeats the same text, is refused, and nothing is recorded. The refusal names the problem, such as Error: invalid todos: duplicate content "<content>".
The newest update is the list. Each update is recorded in the chat, and the most recent one is the list that counts, including after the chat is reopened.

Where the list lives

One chat, one list. The list belongs to the chat that recorded it: nothing is shared between chats, and each helper agent keeps its own list.
It needs a chat to record into. An update from a run with no chat behind it is refused with Error: todo_write requires an owning agent session, before anything is recorded.

The three states

State	Meaning
`pending`	The task has not started.
`in_progress`	The task is being worked on now.
`completed`	The task is finished.

Every item carries exactly one of the three, and each update states the state of every item in the list. In the chat the states read Pending, In progress and Completed.

One task in progress, or several

How many items may be in progress at once depends on how DataMind Oda is set up. Some setups allow several items at once, for example when helper agents or background commands run in parallel; others keep the list to one active task at a time.
With the one-active rule on, an update that marks two items as in progress is refused: Error: invalid todos: at most one task may be in_progress (got <n>), and nothing is recorded.
The rule is checked when an update is sent, so a list that was recorded earlier is kept as it is.

The plan in the chat

Every recorded update appears in the chat as a row titled Update to-do list, holding the list that was sent.
While the work runs, the chat shows the plan from the latest update; nothing shows before the first update.
When the next turn starts, the standing plan clears; after a turn ends, the finished checklist stays visible until then.
The row's full reading, the checklist and the change recap are on Oda's to-do list.

Messages an update can return

A recorded update answers with the counts of the whole list; a refusal carries an Error: prefix and nothing is recorded.

Message	What it means
`Updated todo list: <n> pending, <n> in progress, <n> completed.`	The update was recorded; the three counts describe the whole list after it.
Error: invalid todo: `content` must be a non-empty string	An item had no text left once its text was trimmed.
`Error: invalid todos: duplicate content "<content>"`	The same task text appears twice in the list.
`Error: invalid todos: at most one task may be in_progress (got <n>)`	The one-active rule is on, and the update marks more than one item in progress.
`Error: todo_write requires an owning agent session`	The update came from a run with no chat to record into.

The list and plan mode

The task list is not plan mode. Plan mode is a posture you switch on before work: Oda presents a plan and waits for your approval before carrying it out, covered on Plan mode. The task list is the running checklist of steps while Oda works. The two are separate features.

Questions, answered

Who decides what goes on the list?

Oda does: it breaks the work into concrete steps and records them itself as it goes. The list is its plan for the task, not something you fill in.

Why is there no plan in the chat yet?

Nothing shows before Oda records the first list; the plan appears with the first update. The standing plan also clears when the next turn starts, and it comes back with the next update.

If the list updates twice, which update is the list?

The later one. Each update replaces the whole list, so the most recent update is the list that counts.

Can a change to how Oda is set up affect a list already recorded?

No. A list that was recorded is kept as it is: the one-active rule, where it applies, is checked when an update is sent, so a later change to the setup does not rewrite what was already recorded.

Is the task list the same as plan mode?

No. Plan mode is a posture you switch on before work: Oda presents a plan and waits for your approval, covered on Plan mode. The task list is the running checklist of steps while Oda works. The two are separate features.

What happens when an update is refused?

Nothing is recorded, and the list keeps its previous state; the refusal names the problem, such as Error: invalid todos: duplicate content "<content>".