While the terminal works

Task lists

Before multi-step work, the terminal posts a task list. Items tick off as they complete, and new work discovered along the way appears as new items.

The status line and background work

The status line shows one of three states: ready, thinking, or awaiting approval. Work that runs in the background shows up below it as one-line summaries. Press Ctrl+G or run /watch to see the full picture, including how far along each piece is; any key puts it away again.

If nothing seems to be happening

Check the status line first. "Thinking" with a long pause is normal, especially on Fable, which reasons at length before responding. "Awaiting approval" means the terminal asked you something; the prompt is above the composer. If work has genuinely stalled, press Esc to stop it and say what you want changed.

Ask questions while it works

Questions typed into the composer wait and are answered at the next break. Two commands answer immediately, without touching the running work at all:

• /help answers questions about Cap Orbit itself: features, commands, shortcuts. On its own it opens the Ask tab, where you type a question and get an answer on the side; Basics and Commands are one arrow key away. Anything you type after /help goes straight to the answer, and /help keys opens Basics.
• /btw answers a quick question from your conversation ("what cap rate did the OM quote?"). It doesn't steer or interrupt the running work.

Both are for looking things up only: they can't edit files or run commands. Put requests for work in the composer.

Answer a question the terminal asks

When the terminal puts a numbered list of choices in front of you, an option can carry a preview of what picking it would mean, shown as you move through the list. On a question with previews, press n to add a note in your own words; it goes back with your answer. To answer without picking any of them, move to the "Type something." row at the bottom of the list and type.

See what is filling the session

/context breaks the session down by what is taking up room: the conversation, your firm and deal context, commands, and your connected accounts, each with its size and its share. Free space is listed with them, so you can tell when to start a fresh session.

Visibility controls

• /show-thinking: shows or hides the terminal's thinking display.
• /show-tools: sets how much of the terminal's working output you see: verbose (everything), on (short previews), or off (names only, the default).

Learn more

• The composer: steering a running task and stopping with Esc.
• Permission modes: what "awaiting approval" is waiting for.