Team tasks

When a DataMind Oda chat works with a team of agents, the team keeps one shared list of tasks: what is to be done, who owns what, and what is finished. This page covers that list and its rules; how a chat gets a team is on Agent teams, and watching the list while the team works is on The Team panel in Activity.

One shared list per team

• Each team keeps its own list, tied to the chat the team works in. A different chat has a different team and a different list.
• The team's agents create tasks and move them along as they work. The list is read-only where you see it: nothing on the panel changes a task.
• A task carries a title of up to 200 characters and a fuller description. It can also name an owner, the tasks it waits for, and file hints for the files its work is expected to touch.

Claim a task

• A task with no owner is free to take. A teammate claims it and becomes its owner; the panel then names the owner on the task.
• A task can be claimed only when everything it depends on is complete. Until then it stays unowned and reads Blocked by dependencies; once the tasks it waits for are done, it reads Ready.
• A teammate can release a task only while it is in progress; releasing leaves the task unowned.
• A task has one owner at a time. Other teammates do not take a task that someone owns. Only the Lead can move a task to another teammate, or return it with no owner.

Finish, reopen and delete

• A task can be completed only while it is in progress. Once it is done, it reads Completed.
• Only a completed task can be reopened. Reopening clears its owner, so the team can take it up again.
• Deleting a task takes it off the active list but keeps its record in the team's history. The board holds up to 256 active tasks, so deleting is how a place is freed.

Dependencies between tasks

• A task can wait for one or more other tasks; that is what puts the team's work in order.
• Dependencies can be changed after a task is created. Oda checks them as a whole and refuses a change that would make a task wait for itself, or tie tasks in a loop.

File hints

• A task can carry file hints: the files or folders its work is expected to touch. The panel lists them under Write scopes.
• Hints are relative paths, tidied when they are saved: backslashes become forward slashes, and a leading ./ and a trailing / are dropped. An empty hint, an absolute path, a drive-letter path, or a path with a . or .. part is refused.
• When two tasks hint at files that overlap, Oda notes the overlap and names the other task. Hints are advice, not locks: they never block a claim, an edit or any work.

Changes are checked against the copy they started from

• Every change to a task is applied to the copy it was based on. If someone changed the task first, Oda refuses the out-of-date change and reports both the revision it expected and the current one. Read it as: someone changed it first; refresh the list and retry.
• An edit must change something. A task edit that changes nothing is refused.

Questions, answered

Who keeps the shared task list?

The team's agents do. They create tasks and move them along as they work, and the panel only shows the result; nothing on it changes a task.

Can two tasks wait for each other?

No. A task cannot wait for itself, and Oda refuses dependencies that would tie tasks in a loop.

How do I know when a task is done?

A finished task reads Completed in the panel. A task can be completed only while it is in progress; if it turns out the work is not finished, a completed task can be reopened, and it goes back to the team with no owner.

Can a task have more than one owner?

No. A task has one owner at a time, and while it is owned other teammates do not take it over. A teammate can release a task only while it is in progress, which leaves it unowned; moving a task to another teammate is the Lead's call.

Why was a task change refused as out of date?

Because someone changed the task first: every change is applied to the copy it was based on, so a change that arrives after the task has moved on is refused. Oda names the revision the change expected and the current one; refresh the list and retry from there.

What happens to a deleted task?

It leaves the team's active list and its place is freed, while its record stays in the team's history. The board holds up to 256 active tasks; deleting is how room is made for new ones.

Do file hints lock the files they name?

No. Hints are advice for the team. When two tasks hint at files that overlap, Oda notes the overlap and names the other task, but a hint never blocks a claim, an edit or any work.

Why was a file hint refused?

Hints must be relative paths. An empty hint, an absolute path, a drive-letter path, or a path with a . or .. part is refused. Valid hints are tidied first: backslashes become forward slashes, and a leading ./ and a trailing / are dropped.

Is a team task the same as a scheduled task?

No. A team task is a piece of work on this chat's team board. A scheduled task is a prompt Oda runs on its own at a time you set; that is a different feature, covered on Schedule recurring tasks.