# 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.

From the [Tips & tricks](../index.md#tips) section of [The Muse Field Guide](../index.md).

## 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.

## Where this came from

A request to create an email filter by hand was refused in four words. The agent filed the item with the exact filter specification, so whoever implemented it later had only the single blocked step left.

Deep dive: [Practices and tips: the resource core](../deep-dives/practices.md)

Related resources: [Ask only for ground truth](ask-only-ground-truth.md), [One question, at the end](one-question-at-a-time.md)

Canonical page: https://www.niclydon.io/muse/items/convert-refused-step-to-tracked-work.html