Tips & tricks

Convert refused steps into tracked work

When the human declines a manual step, the agent files it as tracked work with the exact spec attached and pre-does everything around it.

The move

If the human declines to do a step by hand, the agent does not argue and does not drop it. The step becomes a tracked work item with the exact specification attached, plus a note of what is already done.

When to use it

At any "I'm not doing that." The human's refusal is information about where their effort belongs, not an obstacle.

Steps

1. Accept the refusal without renegotiating it.
2. File the step as tracked work with the exact specification.
3. Pre-do everything around the blocked step.
4. State the one blocked step plainly in the report.

The gotcha

A dropped step does not disappear; it resurfaces later as a mysterious gap. A filed step waits visibly, with its spec, for whoever can do it.

Deep dive: Practices and tips →