operator-items.md

The items of the operator

The sender sends each item to the operator with SendMessage.

The form of an item

• The first line is one sentence that names the sender and the topic.
• Then the id follows, in the form <sender name>-<n>. The number <n> counts from 1 in the session of the sender. After a handoff, the number starts at the first free item id of the handoff file, as The last item id says.
• Then the text follows the rules of A decision of the user and The form of a reply.
• An item about a draft gives a summary of the draft and the path of the draft file, not the draft. The path is /tmp/tasker/<slug>/drafts/<file>.md.
• A report is an item that gives the user a fact and needs no answer.
• Each sender of an item, a planner or an orchestrator, marks each report with the word "Report:" at the start of the first line. The sentence that names the sender and the topic follows the word.
• An item with no mark is an item that needs an answer.

The open items

This page uses these terms for the questions of an item that needs an answer:

• An answer of the operator is an answer that the operator sends with its own recommendation, with no wait for the user. The message starts with "Answer of the operator:". The message of the tool-block rule that gives the output of a command is not such an answer. A tool block is a question for the user alone.
• A question for the user alone is a question of one of these kinds:
  • A kind of choice of the list in the bullet that starts "The user can let the session decide open choices by its own recommendation" of A decision of the user.
  • The request of the request rule.
  • A choice of The rules for the user alone.
  • A choice of the fifth case of the stop rule.
  • A choice of the security report of Review findings.
  • A choice of the earlier-blocker offer in Pick the tickets: the orchestrator runs a blocker of an earlier milestone only on the word of the user.
  • A choice of the state awaiting_quota_approval in Quota.
  • A choice of a hold of the hold rule that stays until the user decides.
  • A choice of the bullet "Only the user changes a landing order of the overlap rule" of Land the work, with its relay confirm.
  • A choice of the stuck-task rule.
  • A choice of each other rule that says that only the user does an action.
• A partial answer is an answer to some questions of an item, but not to each question. It is an answer of the user or an answer of the operator.
• An open question is a question of an open item with no answer of the user and no answer of the operator. A question is also an open question when the operator judges that the words of the user do not fully settle it. It stays open until the user says that the sender decides, picks a choice or fully settles the question. The answer gives these steps.
• An answered question is a question with an answer of the user or an answer of the operator that the operator did not send yet.
• A sent question is a question with an answer that the operator sent.
• A moved question is a question that the report of a done milestone names as moved to a hold comment. A hold comment is a comment on a ticket on hold, as A ticket on hold says. A moved question needs no send.

The operator does these things for the open items:

• The operator keeps a list of the open items. An item that needs an answer is open from its arrival until each of its questions is a sent question or a moved question. A report is open from its arrival until the operator shows it to the user. The operator shows a report when it gives the arrival line of the report in a reply to the user. The operator sends no answer to the sender of a report.

• When an item arrives, the operator does not break into a conversation with the user. At the end of its reply, the operator adds one line: "New item <id> from <sender>:", then the first line of the item. This page calls that line and the first line of the item the arrival line. In that reply, the operator gives the full text of a new item only on request of the user. The arrival line is not a list of open items, and it asks the user no question. The reason: on 2026-10-25, the user said: "the operator continues to print out the full request when a new question arives rather than adding it to its list and waiting for me to request the details."

• For each new item, the operator runs herdr notification show "<operator name>: new item <id>" --sound request in its shell. If the command fails, the failure rule applies, and the item stays open. A report still closes when the operator shows it.

• This bullet covers an item that needs an answer, not a report. The operator can answer such an item in full with answers of the operator. Then the show of the next bullet takes the place of the line "New item <id> from <sender>:", and the operator runs no herdr notification show. An item with a question for the user alone keeps that line and the notification.

• In its next reply to the user, the operator shows each item that it answered in short, with the answer that it sent. It gives them as plain text after the list of open questions, with the id of each item, as for an answered question. The operator keeps a list of these items until it shows them. An item with questions of both kinds gets this show and the line "New item <id> from <sender>:".

• When the user asks for the open items, the operator gives each open item with its full text, not only its id or a label. An open report gets only its arrival line, not its full text. This sentence wins over the bullet "When you list open items or proposed issues" of A decision of the user. The operator gives the open items in the form that The form of a reply gives. The list shows each open question and each answered question of an item. The operator leaves out each sent question and each moved question.

  Each open question gets its own number in the one list of the operator, from 1. The id of its item stands next to that number. The operator numbers the questions again for its list, and it keeps the number of the sender for the later send. An answered question gets no number, because the user has nothing to answer. The operator gives it after the list, with the id of its item and the words of the user or the answer of the operator. The choices of a question stay a nested list with letters.

• When the operator shows an item to the user, it writes each issue key of the item as a link, as the issue-link rule says. A key inside a code span or a code block stays as it is.

• When the user asks for a draft, the operator reads the draft file and shows its text. If the file does not exist, the operator tells the user that the file does not exist.

• When the user asks for an item, the operator gives its full text. The user names the item, for example by its id. The id of an item names its sender, as The form of an item says. For an item that needs an answer, the full text uses the form of the bullet "When the user asks for the open items". For this request, the reply also gives each sent question and each moved question. For a sent question, it also gives the words of the answer that the operator still has. The bullet "When the operator shows an item to the user, it writes each issue key of the item as a link" also covers the full text of an item on request. If the operator no longer has the text of the item, the operator says so in its reply. The reply names the sender and the id of the item, so that the user can ask the sender. An example is an item that closed before a handoff of the operator, because the handoff file of the operator keeps no full text of a closed item. The reason: the user reads the full text of an item only on request, so a reply of the operator holds no text that the user did not ask for.

• The operator sends no answer to a moved question. If the user answers one, the operator gives the user the link of the hold comment. It also says that the orchestrator asks the question again at the end of the hold. The report can name an answered question as moved. Then the question is a moved question, and the operator tells the user that it did not send its answer. A sent question stays a sent question, also in a report that names it as moved.

The answer

• The operator sends each answer of the user to the sender at once with SendMessage, also a partial answer. The operator does not wait for the answers to the other questions of the item. The message names the id of the item and gives the words of the user. It gives the number that the sender gave to each answered question, next to the words of the user. The message of a partial answer also names each open question of the item by the number of the sender.

• The sender continues its other work and does not wait in a loop. The answer starts the sender again, as the answer-wait rule says for an agent. A partial answer also starts the sender again. The sender acts only on the answered questions. For the open questions, the sender continues its other work and does not wait in a loop.

• After a send works, each answered question of the message is a sent question. An item closes only after each of its questions is a sent question or a moved question.

• If a send fails, the failure rule applies, and the item stays open. The questions of the failed send stay answered questions.

• A question can give choices, for example a, b and c. The words of the user to such a question can pick no choice and not fully settle the question. They can settle a part of it or none of it. The operator judges whether the words fully settle the question. This judgment is open on purpose. The three bullets after this one cover only a question that gives choices.

  On 2026-10-25, orchestrator-docs asked in item orchestrator-docs-25 (#413) which words the skill gives as a reason. The user gave a use case, operator-docs sent it as the answer, and the user later said "let the orchestrator figure out the exact wording".

• If the operator judges that the words do not fully settle the question, it does not send them as the answer of that question. In its reply, the operator tells the user in one line what stays open. The operator also asks whether the sender decides. It sends the answers to the other questions of the item as the first bullet of this section says.

• If the user says that the sender decides, the words of the user with that decision are the answer of the question. If the reply of the user picks a choice or fully settles the question, the reply is the answer of the question. In each case, the question becomes an answered question, and the operator sends it as the first bullet of this section says.

• If the reply of the user does neither, the question stays an open question. The operator sends the words of the user as information. The message names the question as open, by the number of the sender, and gives the words. This form also holds when no question of the item has an answer. The sender continues its other work and does not act on the open question. If the send fails, the failure rule applies, as for a partial answer.

• An item that needs an answer can arrive from planner-<slug> or orchestrator-<slug>. Then the operator sends an answer of the operator for each question that is not a question for the user alone. The operator judges whether a question is a question for the user alone. The operator sends the answer at once with SendMessage. An item with no question gets no answer of the operator, for example the item with the path of a handoff file, and it keeps its own steps.

• The message names the id of the item. It starts with "Answer of the operator:", not with "From the user:". For each question, it gives the number that the sender gave, the choice of the operator and one line with the reason. The message also names each open question of the item by the number of the sender.

• The recommendation is the own recommendation of the operator. It can be the recommendation of the sender. If the question gives choices, the operator picks one choice or writes its own recommendation.

• For each rule of the sender that waits for the answer of an item, an answer of the operator counts as that answer. This covers each such rule that is not a rule of a question for the user alone. It also covers such a rule that this page does not name.

• An answer of the operator is not a word of the user, as The operator says. Each question for the user alone waits for the user. The bullets of this section for an answered question and a sent question also apply to an answer of the operator.

• The user can change an answer of the operator. Then the operator sends the new word of the user to the sender, as The word of the user says. If the sender already acted on the answer of the operator, the sender tells the user the cost of the change in a report. After the report, the sender does what the new word of the user says, with no other wait. Each rule for the user alone still applies to that act, for example the approval of a comment on an issue.

• The bullets on an answer of the operator do not cover a report, because a report needs no answer. They also do not cover the recommendation mode of one session in A decision of the user.

• The reason: on 2026-10-25, the user answered planner-docs-58 with "send your recommendations". Earlier, the user answered planner-docs-35 and planner-docs-38 with "Answer the rest with your recommendations". Then the user said: "file an issue to update the operator rules to automatically send its own recommendations for planner and orchestrator feedback".

The states of an item

The table gives each change of an item. An empty cell means that the page gives no state for that actor.

Change	Sender	Operator	User	Who tells whom
The item arrives	Continues its other work	The item is open. For an item that needs an answer, the next rows give the decision of the operator		The sender tells the operator, with SendMessage
The operator shows an item with a question for the user alone		The item is open		The operator tells the user, with the arrival line and the herdr notification
An item with no question for the user alone arrives	Continues its other work	Sends an answer of the operator. The item closes		The operator tells the sender
An item with questions of both kinds arrives	Continues its other work	Sends an answer of the operator for the other questions. The item stays open		The operator tells the sender
An item with only questions for the user alone arrives	Continues its other work	Sends nothing. The item stays open		The operator tells the user, with the arrival line and the notification
The operator answers a question that gives choices		Picks one choice or writes its own recommendation. The message gives the choice and one line with the reason		The operator tells the sender
The operator gives its next reply		Shows each answered item with its answer	Reads the answers	The operator tells the user
A handoff of the operator comes before that reply		The new operator shows the items of the file in its first reply	Reads the answers	The new operator tells the user
The user changes an answer of the operator, before the sender acted	Acts on the new answer	Sends the new word of the user		The operator tells the sender
The user changes an answer of the operator, after the sender acted	Reports the cost, then does what the new word says	Sends the new word of the user		The operator tells the sender. The sender tells the user
The operator shows a report		The report is closed		The operator tells the user, with the arrival line of the report in the reply. The operator sends no answer to the sender
The user asks for an item		The item keeps its state		The user tells the operator. Then the operator tells the user, with the full text of the item in the reply. For an item that needs an answer, the reply uses the form of the bullet "When the user asks for the open items". For this request, the reply also gives each sent question and each moved question. If the operator no longer has the text, the reply names the sender and the id of the item
The user answers, also with a partial answer		The item is open. Each question that the words of the user fully settle is an answered question. Each other open question stays open. Each sent question stays sent. Each moved question stays moved		The user tells the operator
The operator judges that the words of the user do not fully settle a question		The item is open. The question stays open. The other questions of the item keep their states: open, answered, sent or moved		The operator tells the user what stays open and asks whether the sender decides
The user says that the sender decides, picks a choice or fully settles the question		The item is open. The question becomes an answered question. The other questions of the item keep their states: open, answered, sent or moved		The user tells the operator
The reply of the user does neither	The sender continues its other work	The item is open. The question stays open. The operator sends the words as information. The other questions of the item keep their states: open, answered, sent or moved		The operator tells the sender, with SendMessage
The send of a partial answer works	The answer starts the sender again for the answered questions	The item stays open with its open questions. Each answered question of the send is a sent question		The operator tells the sender, with SendMessage
The send of an answer works, and after it each question of the item is a sent question or a moved question	The answer starts the sender again	The item is closed. No question is open or answered		The operator tells the sender, with SendMessage
The report of a done milestone names a moved question	Stops, as step 2 of "The close of a milestone" says, or moves on as a long-running orchestrator	The question is a moved question. An item with no other open or answered question closes		The orchestrator tells the operator, in the report
The send of the answer fails, also of a partial answer, of an answer of the operator or of the words as information		The item stays open. Each answered question of the send stays an answered question. Each open question stays open. Each sent question stays sent. Each moved question stays moved		The operator tells the user, as the failure rule says