Prerequisites
- A Cogno workspace where you can create or edit Tasks.
- For agent work, an Environment connected to the Task’s Project. See Set up a Project.
Open a Task
Each full Task has its own page and shareable link. Back returns to the page where you opened it; Forward reopens it. Sidebar links leave the Task in one click. Moving between pages preserves your working sessions. In a browser, selecting a Task opens a side peek over the current page. Drag its left edge to resize it; release to save the width, or press Escape while dragging to cancel. You can also focus the edge and use the left and right arrow keys to adjust the width. Use Expand to full view to open the full Task or Close task panel to return to the list.
Reloading the desktop app preserves your pane arrangement, right-panel visibility,
and each Task’s expanded or folded terminal. While content loads, the work surface
uses your saved arrangement. The address determines which Task opens.
In the desktop work surface, drag a boundary between panes to resize them.
Release to save the layout, or press Escape during the drag to restore it.
A Task bound to another machine shows Runs on <machine> or Runs on
another machine. You can still read and edit the statement from the current
surface.
Understand Cogno-managed work
Cogno can create and start Tasks from connected events. It creates them directly in In Progress and uses an orange treatment while it remains responsible for them.- In desktop List view, Cogno-controlled work sits in a Cogno group under the assignee’s tab in In Progress.
- In Board and mobile List, the Task stays in In Progress and keeps the orange treatment.
- Top-level Tasks keep the source they came from. Show the Source column or read the inline from <source> mark.
suggested:true to see Tasks
whose proposed status remains unresolved. See
Task statuses.
Create a Task
Create and start from Desktop
Select Work and write in What do you want to work on? Choose a Project, base branch, and model, then select Create or press Enter. Cogno creates a Ready Task, opens it, and sends the prompt as the first turn. The person chip beside the Project (Who works on this) names whose machine runs the work. It starts as you. Choose someone else and Create assigns the Task to them and queues a run for their machine instead of opening it here: the run starts at once when they have a folder connected for the Project, and otherwise the Task waits under their tab in In Progress until they connect one. The attachment, model, and base branch controls belong to your own machine, so they step out of the composer for someone else. The + on a person’s tab in In Progress opens this composer preset to that person. You can attach or paste files before creating. One message accepts up to 20 files; a local agent refuses a file over 25 MB. The send waits until every attachment finishes loading. The base branch defaults to the repository default. A direct Environment has no Git branch or automatic pull request. A named local-only branch also shows no automatic PR.Choose an exit from the full form
The full form’s How to proceed panel combines assignee, Environment, and the next action:1
Describe the work
Add a title and description. The editor accepts rich text, mentions,
tables, and images.
2
Choose who and where
The Environment starts at Automatic. Open it to use Automatic
routing or choose one registered Environment.
3
Choose what happens next
- Watch it get built creates the Task and starts implementation.
- Plan it first creates the Task and starts a planning turn.
- Later creates the Task in Backlog without a run.
- Create creates the Task in Ready without a run.
Start and follow work
There is no separate run button. In the desktop app, send a message in the Task conversation. The first message claims an Environment and moves the Task to In Progress. Later messages continue the same Task session. The composer reads Message the agent… for work this surface can send directly. For work owned by another machine it reads Send to Cogno… and queues the turn there. While work starts, the conversation shows Starting…. During the turn it shows Running…, and the send control becomes Stop. Enter on another message adds it to the queue for the next turn; ⌘Enter sends the composer text and the queue into the running turn now. Stop the turn before changing its model. Attach, drop, or paste files into the composer. Images appear as thumbnails that open full size. Failed uploads block the message until you remove them.Start work for a person from the list
Drag a Task onto a person’s tab in In Progress, or onto the rows under the open tab. The Task is assigned to that person and a run is queued for their machine. On a Project page, dropping a Task onto your own name at the top of the sidebar does the same for you.- With a folder connected for the Project, the run starts right away.
- Without one, the row shows a hollow branch mark whose tooltip reads Starts when <name> connects a folder. The run starts on its own the moment they connect one.
- A Task that already runs in an environment stays with its owner. While you hold it over another person, the lane shows Fixed to <name>‘s environment, and releasing it changes nothing.
- While a run is executing, the row’s mark spins for everyone in the workspace, not only on the machine doing the work.
Move through the lifecycle
Change status from the Task, its row menu, or by dragging in List or Board.- Moving into In Progress without starting work is refused with Send a message in the Task to start work. Dropping the Task on a person’s tab in In Progress is the way to start work from the list; see Start work for a person from the list.
- Moving out of In Progress during a live run opens Stop the running agent and move? Select Stop and move to retain partial results and end the run.
- A completed run can propose Backlog, Ready, or In Review. Applying that proposal releases Cogno control. A failed or stopped run leaves the Task in In Progress.
- A clear reply in the Task conversation can decide the state directly. An explicit acceptance moves the Task to Done; a request to defer moves it to Ready or Backlog; a request for review moves it to In Review; and a cancellation moves it to Rejected. If the meaning is uncertain, the agent asks or reports before moving the Task.
- Select Done when the work is complete.
Edit, archive, or delete
The Task statement contains Status, tags, dates, assignees, Project, preview, and actions. Descriptions support rich text, collaborative editing, and version history. Archive removes a Task from active views and is reversible. Delete permanently removes the Task, sub-Tasks, comments, attachments, and history. On a machine that ran it, deletion also removes the local conversation and working copy, including uncommitted changes.Troubleshooting
For other failures, see Troubleshooting.