Subagents and the Activity panel

DataMind Oda can hand part of a task to a helper agent, called a subagent, and run multi-step work as a workflow. Both leave a trail you can follow: open a subagent's conversation, move between a chat and its helpers, and catch the runs that have finished. How Oda delegates the work itself is described in Delegating work to subagents.

Follow a chat's subagents

• The Session hierarchy bar above the chat has one crumb per related session, each named Switch subagent: <label>; press one to switch to that subagent.
• The Subagent sessions tree lists the chat's subagents, each with its status; Expand <label> descendants unfolds what that subagent started.
• To open a subagent's conversation, press its row in the tree or in the Activity panel: it opens beside the current chat. To open it in the main view instead, hold Ctrl (or Cmd on a Mac) as you press.
• Opening a saved conversation only shows it; it does not start the subagent again. It starts when a new message reaches it.

Talk to a subagent

• Send a follow-up in a subagent's conversation: a message steers the subagent while it works, or starts its next turn when it is not working. Waiting messages run oldest first.
• A one-shot task is the exception. Its conversation is for reading only, and says so: One-shot tasks do not accept follow-ups; review the full execution record here.
• When the chat that started a subagent is offline, sending there is unavailable until you reopen that chat: The parent session is offline; reopen it to continue sending messages.
• The rules for follow-ups are on Continuable subagents: follow-ups and control.

Stop one subagent without stopping the rest

• Press Stop generating in a subagent's conversation to stop its current turn. The chat that started it, and anything else running, keeps going.
• Messages that were waiting there stay parked, not lost. The next message you send wakes the subagent and takes them up, oldest first.
• Stopping still works when the chat that started the subagent is offline.

Follow a workflow run

A workflow that runs in your chat leaves one record of itself, beside the step that started it. The record shows identities and statuses only.

• While the run goes, its levels stay open: the run, each phase, and the members under a phase (the helper agents the run starts). A phase row carries a member count, such as 2 members, and a short status tail, such as Running 2; a phase that never got members says No members started.
• A member row is labelled Open with the member's brief; press it while the run goes to look into that member's conversation.
• The status words are Running, Completed, Failed, Cancelled and Interrupted.
• Choose Open in Activity beside the record to jump to the run in the Activity panel.
• When the run ends, the record folds to a settled summary that opens to the phase. A run that ended Completed stays folded; one that failed, was cancelled or was interrupted keeps its levels open. Reopening the chat later rebuilds the same record from its history.

The Activity panel

The Activity panel gathers the work running in and around the chat: running agents, background jobs, shared tasks and the runs that have finished.

• Open it from the header pill, which shows what is running, for example Activity: 1 running, or press Ctrl+Alt+B.
• Running agents appear as rows; settled subagents gather in the Finished band, where each row reads Open with the subagent's label and how it ended: Done, Failed or Stopped. Press one to reopen that conversation. Whether the band is folded or open is remembered across chats and reloads.
• Activity covers the panel itself, band by band.

Questions, answered

How do I open a subagent's conversation?

Press its row in the Subagent sessions tree or in the Activity panel: it opens beside the current chat. To open it in the main view instead, hold Ctrl (or Cmd on a Mac) as you press.

What does Switch subagent mean?

The Session hierarchy bar above the chat moves between related sessions. Each crumb is named Switch subagent: <label>; press one to switch to that subagent.

Does opening a subagent's conversation start it again?

No. Looking at a saved conversation only shows it; the subagent starts again only when a new message reaches it.

Why can't I send a message in a one-shot task's conversation?

A one-shot task does not take follow-ups. Its conversation is for reading only and says so: One-shot tasks do not accept follow-ups; review the full execution record here.

Why does a subagent's conversation say the parent session is offline?

The chat that started the subagent is not open, so sending there is unavailable: The parent session is offline; reopen it to continue sending messages. Reopen that chat to send again. You can still stop the subagent while it is offline.

How do I stop a subagent without stopping my own task?

Press Stop generating in the subagent's conversation. It stops only that subagent's current turn; the chat that started it, and anything else running, keeps going.

What happens to messages waiting in a subagent's conversation when I stop it?

They stay parked, not lost. The next message you send wakes the subagent and takes them up, oldest first.

What does the record of a workflow run show?

The run's identities and statuses: its phases, the members under each phase, and a status for each member. While the run goes, a member row opens that member's conversation, and Open in Activity jumps to the run in the Activity panel.

Why did the workflow record fold up after it finished?

Completed runs fold their levels away; runs that failed, were cancelled or were interrupted keep theirs open. Open a folded record to see its phase and members again; reopening the chat later rebuilds the record from its history.

Where do finished subagents go?

They gather in the Finished band of the Activity panel. Each row reads Open with the subagent's label and how it ended: Done, Failed or Stopped. Press one to reopen that conversation.

How do I open the Activity panel?

Press the header pill, which shows what is running, for example Activity: 1 running, or press Ctrl+Alt+B. The Activity page covers the panel itself.