Watch the work move

Your team works through tasks, one run at a time, and every piece of work is an execution you can follow from team to team. You see all of it as it runs, and step in only where it needs you.

Tasks, executions, and runs

A task is the definition: the job, with its goal, guardrails, and tools. A run is one pass through a task, start to finish. An execution is every run one piece of work takes, across tasks and teams.

ExecutionsWeekly post

5 tasks / 5 runs / 1 gate

Weekly postExecution

Keyword researchTask v4 / Jules
- Run 207FailedSearch Console timed out
- Run 208CompletedThe retry
Content creationTask v12 / Ava
- Run 209Completed
Audit reviewTask v6 / Jules
- Run 210Completed
Publish the postTask v8 / Ava
- Run 211Waiting for approval
Share on socialTask v3 / Ava
Not reached yet

Task: The definition
Run: One pass, start to finish
Execution: Every run one piece of work takes

Example: Northstar

Five ways a run begins

On a schedule, from another run, from a webhook, by hand, or from the chat. Every run says what started it and where it stands: running, waiting on you, waiting on another run, paused on spend, failed, or finished.

Runs

Today / 6 runs

Six runs: what started each, and where it stands
Run	Started by	Status	Time
Fix page titlesRiley / Product engineer	Another runHanded on by Triage the issue	Running	12 min
Publish the postAva / Content editor	ChatYou, in the chat with Ava	Waiting for approval	Waiting 9 h
Audit reviewJules / Onsite SEO	By handRun now, by you	Waiting for a run	Behind Jules’s current run
Check search rankingsJules / Onsite SEO	ScheduleDaily at 06:00	Spend paused	Marketing’s cap for today is used
Run the testsForge / QA	WebhookGitHub: pull request #512 opened	Failed	2 tests failed
Content creationAva / Content editor	ScheduleMondays at 08:00	Completed	4 min 10 s

Example: Northstar

Whatever starts it, the same gates hold.

Open any run

Read what happened: the job it was given, every tool it called, the gate it stopped at, and who approved it, with where it came from and what it handed on to beside it.

RunsPublish the post

v8 / $0.14

FromAudit review

Publish the postcms-publish-post

Ava / Content editor

Marketing

Completed1 run

Handed on toShare on social

Run: Completed
Took: 3 min 12 s, and 9 h waiting on you
Version: v8, the one it started on

run.running09:02
Job assembled
Goal, metric, guardrails, the skill, 3 tools, the brand kit, and 4 memory notes
tool.memory.ask09:02
memory.ask
4 notes, including “lead with the price”
tool.cms.read_draft09:03
cms.read_draft
The draft Content creation wrote
gate.waiting09:05
cms.publish held at the gate
The payload is stored. Nothing is sent until you decide.
gate.approved18:11
Approved by you
From the chat with Ava
tool.cms.publish18:11
cms.publish
The payload you approved, as stored
successor.started18:12
Share on social
The next task in the execution
improvement.skipped18:12
Nothing to learn
A clean run: self-improvement leaves it alone

Example: Northstar

Every run leaves a record you can read.

Work crosses teams

One team’s finding becomes another team’s task. A handoff moves ownership to the other team, and the run that waits on it does not keep poking. The execution follows the work, and comes to you only at the gate.

ExecutionsHomepage titles

5 tasks / 2 teams / 1 gate

Marketing

Finds it

Engineering

Fixes it

You

Only at the gate

Recorded handoffPR readywhen merged

Audit reviewseo-audit-review

Jules / Onsite SEO

Marketing

Completed1 run

Triage the issueeng-triage-issue

Morgan / CTO

Engineering

Completed1 run

Fix page titleseng-implement-issue

Riley / Product Engineer

Engineering

Completed1 run

Ask CEO to go liveeng-merge-pr

Morgan / CTO

Engineering

Awaiting approval1 run

Re-audit the pageseo-audit-review

Jules / Onsite SEO

Marketing

Not visited0 runs

Marketing
Audit reviewseo-audit-review
Jules / Onsite SEO
Marketing
Completed1 run
- Taken: Triage the issueRecorded handoff
Engineering
Triage the issueeng-triage-issue
Morgan / CTO
Engineering
Completed1 run
- Taken: Fix page titles
Engineering
Fix page titleseng-implement-issue
Riley / Product Engineer
Engineering
Completed1 run
- Now: Ask CEO to go livePR ready
You
Ask CEO to go liveeng-merge-pr
Morgan / CTO
Engineering
Awaiting approval1 run
- Not taken yet: Re-audit the pagewhen merged
Marketing
Re-audit the pageseo-audit-review
Jules / Onsite SEO
Marketing
Not visited0 runs

Example: Northstar

It crosses teams. It stops only for you.

Answer the pile once

Every execution sits on one board: ready, blocked, in progress, or complete. Overnight the work moves, and stops only where the decision is yours. In the morning you answer the pile once.

Executions

07:00 / 15 executions

Ready

Monthly SEO report

Queued

Pull the rankings

Jules

Marketing

Starts at 08:00

Blocked

Homepage titles

Waiting for approval

Ask CEO to go live

Jules, Morgan, Riley

Marketing / Engineering

Started 11 h ago / 4 runs / 4 tasks

Issue #421: checkout copy

Waiting for approval

Ask CEO to go live

Morgan, Riley, Forge

Engineering

Started 7 h ago / 5 runs / 4 tasks

Weekly post

Waiting for approval

Publish the post

Jules, Ava

Marketing

Started 23 h ago / 5 runs / 4 tasks

Issue #418: sitemap

Failed

Run the tests

Riley, Forge

Engineering

Started 5 h ago / 3 runs / 3 tasks

In progress

Issue #423: pricing table

Running

Fix the issue

Morgan, Riley

Engineering

Started 2 h ago / 2 runs / 2 tasks

Complete

Issue #415: image alt text

Completed

Checked live after your merge

Morgan, Riley, Forge

Engineering

Took 2 days / 6 runs / 5 tasks

Weekly metrics digest

Completed

Sent to the chat

Casey

Company-wide

Took 3 min / 1 run / 1 task

Showing the 2 most recent of 9

4 issues moved overnight / 3 wait on you

Example: Northstar

Nothing in that pile approves itself.

Describe the job, sign the plan

Tell any member what you need and the OS drafts a plan: tasks with goals, guardrails, tools, and an order, or a new role, team, or member. Send it back as often as you like. Signing it is a gate, and the change, the decision, and the result stay on the run.

ChatCasey

Casey COO

You:
Every Monday, check our top ten pages in Search Console. If one drops, find out why and get it fixed.
Casey:
Here is a plan: two tasks for Jules, in order, and a handoff to Engineering when a page needs a fix.
You:
Leave pages we changed this week alone. Give them a week to settle.
Casey:
Revised. Finding the cause now skips any page changed in the last seven days.
Needs youWaiting for your decision
Sign the plan: Weekly page check
Changes the company: two new tasks for Marketing, and a new handoff

Plan / Revision 2

Weekly page check

Raised by Casey, from the chat

What this plan changes

New task
Check the top ten pages
Jules / Onsite SEO
Mondays at 07:00
Search Console, read only
New task
Find the cause
Jules / Onsite SEO
After Check the top ten pages
Skips pages changed in the last seven days
New handoff
To Engineering
A page that needs a fix goes to Triage the issue

Example: Northstar

Nothing is built until you sign.

Next06 / Control