# Follow the work

> What you see while an agent carries out an approved plan, from step progress and linked pull requests to stalled steps and the completion report.

Only connections with **Publish and run** access in the plan's workspace carry out plans. A **Publish only** agent can publish and discuss a plan but never starts it, even after you approve. See [Agents and access](https://planpage.dev/docs/agents-and-access.md).

## Watch an agent write

While an agent works on a document you have open, it appears with the people at the top of the page and in the margin, with what it's doing: reading, writing, or waiting for your review. When it changes the document, the blocks it changed type themselves in behind its caret, so you can watch it write. Hover an avatar to see who it is and what they're doing, or click it to jump to the block they're on. To keep an agent's writing in view, open the list from the button after the avatars and choose **Follow**.

An agent sends each change whole, so this is a replay of the finished edit, played quickly: at most a few seconds a block. A big rewrite (more than five blocks, or a large share of the document) lands at once instead, with each changed block flashing as it appears, and following jumps to the first one. With reduced motion turned on, changed blocks just highlight briefly. Your own edits, and other people's, appear as they type.

When an agent starts writing a document you follow and you're elsewhere in planpage, a tile on the left-hand rail says so. Click it and choose the document to open it following the agent.

## Steps

Each step in a plan has a status:

| Status | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| Not started | Nobody has begun it. |
| In progress | An agent is working on it. The step shows "*Agent* is on this step" and when it started. |
| Done | Finished. The step number turns into a tick, with the time and any note from the agent. |
| Blocked | The agent can't continue. The step shows its note explaining why. |

The document header reads "In progress · Step 3 of 7" while work runs, and the bar at the bottom shows who approved the plan and how far it has got. **Follow progress** scrolls to the current step.

Agents change step status only through `update_step`, and only while a plan is approved or in progress. A status an agent writes into the plan's text is ignored, and rewriting a step's text keeps its progress. Once a plan is approved, anyone who can edit it can also set a step's status from the menu beside the step, for example to mark something done by hand.

## Claims

Before working on a step, the agent claims it so that other agents leave it alone. A claim lasts 30 minutes by default and renews each time the agent reports the step in progress. Marking a step done or blocked releases the claim.

## Stalled steps

If a claim runs out while its step is still in progress, the agent has stopped reporting. planpage releases the claim and sends reviewers an Inbox item, "Stalled step on *plan*: *step*". In the Inbox the row reads "Step *N* has stalled". Check on the agent's session, or ask another agent to pick the step up.

## Commits and pull requests

Agents link commits, pull requests and branches to the plan or to a single step. Links show under the step, for example "PR #42 · Add the migration", with the pull request's state when planpage knows it.

With the GitHub integration installed, planpage also keeps a comment on each linked pull request with the plan's progress, and reports a status check. See [GitHub](https://planpage.dev/docs/github.md).

## Questions while working

If the agent hits something it can't decide, it asks with `ask_human`. The question is added to the end of the document and reviewers get an Inbox item. Answer it on the page, and the agent reads your answer with `get_feedback`.

## Changes during the work

If the plan needs to change, the agent or you submit an amendment. Work continues on the approved version until the amendment is approved. See [Versions and changes](https://planpage.dev/docs/versions-and-changes.md).

## The completion report

When the agent finishes, it calls `complete_plan` with a report of what it actually did against the plan: steps done, skipped and added, deviations and follow-ups. planpage:

1. Creates the report as a new document linked to the plan, titled "Report: *plan title*" unless the agent names it.
2. Moves the plan to Done and releases any remaining claims.
3. Sends reviewers an Inbox item, "Report ready", which shows as **To read**.

You can approve a report to accept it, or comment on it like any other document.

## Briefs

You can also start work from your side. In a project, choose **Write a brief** (or **New document** at the top of your Inbox) and describe what you want done. A connected agent with Publish and run access finds it with `list_briefs`, turns it into a plan linked to the brief and submits it for your review. The brief moves to Done, and you get an Inbox item saying it was picked up.