## 4\. Steer and queue work ### Choose “change this” or “do this next” While the tan is streaming\: - **Enter\:** “Adjust the work you are doing\.” - **Ctrl\+Q \/ Ctrl\+Enter\:** “After the current work would otherwise finish\, do this next\.” When the tan is idle\, both submission paths start a normal prompt\. A follow\-up key does not create an indefinite holding queue behind nonexistent work\. ### Worked scenario\: correct the audit mid\-flight The label audit is running\. You now want only green\-shelf mismatches\. Confirm the focused Tan ID\. **Plain\-language message — submit to the verified tan with Enter while streaming\:** ~~~text Correction: report only green-shelf label mismatches. Exclude silver-shelf books from this audit. Keep both input files read-only, and do not repair anything Main is changing. State the narrowed scope in your answer. ~~~ **Expected observations** - The submission is accepted into the tan’s steering path\, not Main’s user queue\. - Pending\-message state may be visible before the message appears in the transcript\. - A later response should acknowledge the green\-only scope\. **Fictional acceptance check\:** the narrowed report should identify **A Map of Clouds\: blue → amber**\, without treating the silver\-shelf mismatch as part of this requested audit\. Earlier output may still contain the original broader scope\. Steering does not retract text already produced or reverse tool effects\. ### Why steering may not act instantly Steering is delivered at agent\-loop boundaries\. Its timing depends on queue and interruption settings and on what is currently executing\. In the shown loop\: - Interruptible waits can be interrupted for steering\. - Tools with side effects are not indiscriminately hard\-killed just because steering arrived\. - Cooperative tools may step aside\. - Tools not yet started may be skipped\. - Otherwise\, the message waits for a safe boundary\. Even the setting named `immediate` does not mean “every provider request and external process stops immediately\.” If the correction is urgent enough to stop execution rather than wait for steering\, use the distinctions in [Interrupt\, cancel\, or kill]()\. ### Worked scenario\: queue the next task Keep the same tan focused while it is still working\. **Plain\-language message — submit with Ctrl\+Q or Ctrl\+Enter\:** ~~~text After the audit, list the green-shelf book titles in alphabetical order. Read the current catalog again before answering. Do not edit any files. ~~~ **Expected observation\:** this is queued as a follow\-up rather than steering\. **Fictional acceptance check\:** with the original fixtures unchanged\, the later list is\: 1. A Map of Clouds 2. The Paper Moon Steering is handled ahead of follow\-up work in the normal queue flow\. Multiple messages can be drained one at a time or together according to the session’s queue settings\. **Important result boundary\:** the initial tan job returns the **last assistant text** after its run settles\. If a follow\-up becomes the last turn\, the job’s delivered text may be the title list rather than the earlier audit\. Read the conversation when you need both\. ### Queued does not mean completed A queued message is live scheduling state\, not a durable task ticket or proof that the model acted on it\. After an interruption\, error\, parking transition\, or uncertain submission\: 1. Recheck the current focus\. 2. Check the queue and transcript\. 3. Determine whether the instruction was accepted and answered\. 4. Only then decide whether to submit it again\. Repeatedly sending the same instruction can create duplicate work\. ### Images in focused chat Focused chat forwards pending image payloads for both Enter and follow\-up submissions\, including image\-only drafts represented by their actual attachment chips\. Keep the image’s chip or marker intact\. At submission\, the input controller drops attachments whose inline markers were removed and renumbers the survivors\. Attachment delivery to the session is not the same as native vision support\. The session may normalize images\, describe them through another model\, or omit them from provider input according to capabilities and settings\. **Recovery when dispatch rejects\:** the focused\-submit catch path restores the submitted text\, pending images\, and image links\, and surfaces the error\. That guarantee concerns a **rejected submission call**\. It does not mean every later model error restores a draft\, or that an accepted message was never processed\. If focus changed while the call was pending\, verify the recipient again before resubmitting the restored draft\. ### Focused chat is not a command console Do not issue slash commands while focused on a tan\. The focused input path blocks\: - Slash commands\. - Bash input beginning with `!` or `!!`\. - Recognized Python command input such as `$ …` or `$$ …`\. The draft is left in place with a notice that commands run in Main\. This does **not** prevent the tan itself from using its enabled tools\. Main’s `.` \/ `c` continue shortcuts and queue shorthand are not the focused\-chat control path\. Use an explicit plain\-language prompt instead\. Model\/thinking cycling is also refused while focused\. Other configuration surfaces remain Main\-owned\; this workbook provides no live Tan model\-switch recipe\. Changing Main’s model\, or editing an agent definition in `/agents`\, is not a supported way to retarget an already\-running tan\. **A useful exception\:** the default **Alt\+R** retry action targets `viewSession`\, so it can retry an idle focused tan’s failed turn\. Preserve an unrelated draft first\: a started retry clears the draft and attachments\. The `/retry` slash command is still not something to enter while focused\. ### Optional detail\: the dequeue shortcut currently targets Main The default dequeue keys are **Alt\+Up \/ Shift\+Up**\, but the supplied `restoreQueuedMessagesToEditor()` implementation drains `ctx.session`—Main—not the focused `viewSession`\. **Do not use those keys as a Tan queue\-editing control\.** They can restore Main’s queued text into the shared editor while a tan is visible\. If that happens\, do not submit it to the tan\. Return to Main and reconcile the restored text with its actual owner\. No Tan\-specific queue\-edit slash command is established by these sources\. ---