The Questions Tab

The Questions tab of the Tasks tool lists everything that is waiting on you, most blocking first, with an orange count on the tab. Most of the time an item has all you need to answer it. Every item also offers Show Session, to see the whole conversation. Answers you sent recently are listed at the end of the tab.

Autonomous decisions at the top of the tab sets how autonomous tasks handle decisions. With Decide and Report, the default, a task makes its judgement calls itself and lists them in its report on the Review tab, asking only when it cannot go on. With Ask Me First, it does what it can and then asks before any significant decision. Alert Me When Questions Arrive in the tool's options menu, on by default, bounces or flashes Wing's icon when something new arrives while you are in another application.

The tab lists the following kinds of item.

Task Questions

A task that ended with questions waits for your answers. Its item starts with the task's ID, which you can click to show the task, and lists its questions with the options each offers. Pick an option, type your own answer, or click Let Agent Decide. Hover over the task's title to see its queue and the summary it reported. Send Answers sends your answers into the task's session, and the work continues.

A waiting task counts against the Tasks Manager's Maximum writing workers only if it has uncommitted changes, so other work can go on while it waits. If you answer while every writing slot is taken, the item leaves the tab and the task resumes once a slot is free. Until then its status reads Answer sent; waiting for a writing slot.

Move to Review, on task questions and on stopped tasks, stops the task waiting and puts it on the Review tab with whatever it changed, to review, commit, or complete there.

Questions from Plan-Mode Tasks

A plan-mode task waits here each time it asks you something or finishes its plan. Answer its questions, if any, add comments in the box below them, and click one of:

When the Tasks Manager runs the task, Implement Plan accepts the plan, and the Manager decides whether to carry it out as the same task or as separate tasks. If the task still has questions, it first revises its plan with your answers, and the revised plan goes to the Manager without asking you again. Outside the Manager's queues, the task carries out its plan in its own session. An answer that keeps the task planning never waits for a writing slot.

When such a task is blocked until you do something, its buttons are Done, Implement Plan and Done, Keep Planning.

The Manager's Questions

The Tasks Manager asks you here for decisions it wants you to make, and passes on questions from tasks, often with context or a suggested answer. It also asks here when the queues are waiting on something only you can do, such as signing in to an agent. With Decide and Report, the Manager answers many task questions itself, and records each answer as a decision you can review. While the Manager is still working on a question, its item says so; if you answer first, your answer is used.

Other Items