Start a session

Start a new session when the goal is independent of existing work. Continue an existing session for corrections and follow-ups that depend on its decisions.

Prepare the source contextCopy Anchor Link

1. Select the workspace that owns the work.
2. Open a new Engineering session.
3. Select the repositories the task needs. For changes across a frontend and service, include both rather than assuming the agent can access another repository.
4. Review the branch or commit selection for each repository. Use a branch for ongoing work or a specific commit when reproducing an older state.
5. Choose the model and any controls offered by the composer.

The picker only offers repositories available to the workspace. If the code is missing, fix repository access before sending the request. Repository selection determines the working source context; a repository name in prose does not grant access.

Write the first messageCopy Anchor Link

Describe the outcome, boundaries, and evidence you expect. Include reproduction steps for bugs and acceptance criteria for features. Say whether you want a pull request.

In the web and API repositories, add pagination to the activity list.
Preserve the existing response fields and page layout.
Use the shared pagination convention. Add focused tests.
Open a pull request and report the checks you ran.

Review attachments and remove anything irrelevant. Wait for uploads to finish, then send once.

Follow startupCopy Anchor Link

Workspace defaults supply configuration that the composer does not override. Session-specific choices do not rewrite every workspace default.

After sending, watch preparation and the conversation. If the app reports missing funding, model access, or credentials, resolve that requirement. For a delayed or failed startup, use recovery guidance and keep the session link.

To start from tracked work, use task progress. See useful task briefs for more examples.