Agent Status Tracking

  • Desktop, mobile and web
  • All plans
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What it does

Every agent carries a live status you can read from anywhere in the app: Working (the agent is processing or editing, with an elapsed timer counting up), Done (it finished its turn; unread completions are highlighted), Needs input (it is blocked on a question or a permission, the most urgent state) and Idle (ready for a prompt). While an agent works, its card shows a short summary of what it is doing (editing a file, running tests). Projects aggregate their agents: the sidebar shows how many are working, done or waiting, so you can run a dozen agents across projects and always know who needs you first.

Where to find it

  • Agent cards and terminal headers inside a project: colored dot, timer and activity summary.
  • Sidebar: per-project badges (2 agents waiting for input, 3 unread agents) and, on hover, the last message of each agent.
  • Agents rail: open agents grouped by what they need from you, Needs you, To review, Working, Available, Done, above Inactive; each section shows its count and folds (except Needs you). Three counters above the list (Needs you, To review, Working) filter it to that state, and Mark all as seen clears the To review pile. Each row reads « title » then « short role · last message »; an open agent with nothing to report says Ready and the title of its previous session.
  • Title bar: the needs-input pill; Open Space and the Dynamic Island show the same states outside the project.
  • Session info panel on an agent: Status, how long it has been in that state, exchanges, tool uses, tokens.

How to use it

  1. Glance at the dot: pulsing means working, red pulsing means it waits for you, green means done, none means idle.
  2. Click a project badge or the needs-input pill to jump to the blocked agent and answer it.
  3. Use the elapsed timer to spot a step that runs unusually long, and the activity summary to see what it is doing without opening the terminal.

Settings

  • notificationSound and needsInputSound (global, Settings > Notifications): sounds on the transitions to Done and Needs input.

Agent tools (MCP)

  • agents_list_live: list the agents currently running with their status.
  • agents_report_status: an agent publishes its own progress or blocking question so the status is accurate even when its output is hard to parse.
  • agents_get: details of one agent, status included.

Providers

All providers. Status is detected from the terminal stream of each CLI (tool calls, file writes, prompts, completion) with per-provider rules; on a full-screen CLI the summary may be shorter. The "needs input" detection covers permission prompts and questions of every supported CLI.

Mobile

Yes. The phone shows the same statuses and colors on agent rows and terminal screens, and the Companion tab mirrors the global state (Idle, Working, Needs input) with a history of Done and Needs input events.

Limits

  • The timer measures the current working step; it resets when the agent finishes or changes state.
  • The activity summary depends on what the CLI prints; a silent tool call shows no summary.
  • Statuses are per machine; another desktop's agents appear through Remote Fleet.

Common questions

  • How is the status detected? Each agent runs in a real terminal and AgentsRoom reads its output continuously for tool calls, questions and completion signals.
  • Several agents need input at once? Each shows its own red dot; the project badge gives the count, and the needs-input pill lists them so you can answer in any order.
  • Why is an agent "Done" but highlighted? You have not looked at it since it finished: the highlight is the unread marker.
  • Can I see status on my phone? Yes, the mobile app syncs the same statuses over the encrypted relay.

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