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. Below it, one-line summaries track background tasks and running workflows; press Ctrl+G or run /watch to see them in full, and any key puts them away again. Workflows appear as cards with a phase plan and update as they run.

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. Bare /help opens the command overlay; /help plus a word searches commands; /help plus a question gets an answer on the side.
• /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.

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.