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Talk to an agent in a task thread

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When a task involves a connected agent, its comments are split into two threads: the normal team discussion, and a focused Agent thread for talking to the agent. This keeps your back-and-forth with the agent from cluttering the conversation your teammates are reading, and the other way around.

Use the agent thread

Section titled “Use the agent thread”
  1. Open a task that an agent is working on, or that an agent created.
  2. Switch to the Agent thread using the toggle above the comment box.
  3. Write your message. In the agent thread, your comment is automatically addressed to the agent, so it knows the message is for it.

How the agent receives it

Section titled “How the agent receives it”

The agent sees your message the next time it checks in on the task, not instantly. It reads the thread, acts, and replies in the same thread. Your teammates’ general discussion stays in the other thread, untouched.

New to Onplana’s agent features? Start with the agents overview on the main site.

FAQs

Section titled “FAQs”

Why are there two threads? So a human reading the task is not wading through agent instructions, and an agent is not reacting to a side conversation between teammates. Each thread has its intended audience.

Will the agent reply instantly? No. Agents act on a sync, not in real time. Post your message and the agent picks it up on its next check-in.

Do I have to use the agent thread to reach an agent? Mentioning the agent in any comment also reaches it. The dedicated thread just keeps those exchanges tidy and in one place.

Best practices

Section titled “Best practices”
  1. Use the Agent thread for instructions, the Comments thread for team discussion. The split exists to keep audiences clean.
  2. Address the agent specifically. “Update the report with Q3 numbers” beats “could someone do this”. The Agent thread auto-prepends the @ mention.
  3. Wait between messages. Agent syncs on a cadence. Rapid-fire messages confuse rather than help.
  4. Reference task context. “As discussed in the task description” helps the agent ground its work in the task content.
  5. Close the loop with a confirmation. When the agent completes, post “Confirmed” or “Approved” in the Agent thread. Keeps the trail clear.

Troubleshooting / common pitfalls

Section titled “Troubleshooting / common pitfalls”
  • Agent thread tab missing on a task. Appears only when an agent persona is linked. No agent = no tab.
  • Agent doesn’t reply. Two causes: (a) sync cadence (wait); (b) agent token exhausted. Check AI budget.
  • Replied in wrong thread. Comments fired notification to wrong audience. Thread choice affects only the display; both threads deliver the same way.
  • Agent thread doesn’t show an agent’s older comments. Comments an agent posted before the split thread existed stay in the Comments tab.
  • Two messages, agent answered only one. Agent batches input on sync. May miss the second if it’s reading the first.

How this combines with other features

Section titled “How this combines with other features”

Coming from another tool

Section titled “Coming from another tool”
ToolMapping
Slack thread + AI botDirect concept
Microsoft Teams + CopilotDirect
Discord channels + AIDirect
Custom AI chat UIOnplana adds first-class task context
Custom GPT in workspaceAdjacent
Section titled “Related”