Troubleshooting

Can My Agent Keep Working While I’m Away?

Yes — but only if you set up background execution on purpose. Here’s how to stop “it stopped when I closed chat” confusion.

A common support loop: someone gives a task, closes chat, comes back later, and assumes the agent failed. In many cases, nothing is broken — the task was never scheduled to run independently.

Bottom line: if work must happen later, use an explicit scheduler (cron/reminder/heartbeat), not a one-off chat request.

What works in the background vs what does not

Usually stops with chat/session: ad-hoc conversational tasks that were never scheduled.
Can run later reliably: scheduled reminders, cron jobs, and heartbeat-driven checks.
Needs destination clarity: where should results appear (dashboard, DM, channel, webhook)?

Use this “offline-safe” task format

Schedule this task to run at [exact time + timezone]. If successful, deliver results to [exact destination]. If it fails, send a short failure summary with next action. Include the word "REMINDER" in the delivery message title.

Pro tip: exact time + exact destination removes most background-task ambiguity.

2-minute verification flow

Create a tiny scheduled task for 5-10 minutes from now.
Specify destination clearly (DM, server channel, or dashboard session).
Wait without interacting.
Confirm both completion and destination correctness.

If it didn’t arrive, check these first

Wrong surface: result was posted to a different context than expected.
Timezone mismatch: schedule interpreted in a different timezone.
Policy/permission issues: bot can run but cannot post in target channel.
No scheduler used: request stayed as regular chat and never became a scheduled job.

High-friction gotcha: it ran, but in the wrong place

Session-target mismatch: scheduler may run in an isolated session while you expected the current chat thread.
DM vs server mismatch: in Discord, output can land in DMs when you expected a channel (or vice versa).
Thread mismatch: output can appear in a different thread than the one you were watching.

Fast fix: always include explicit destination text like: “Deliver to this exact channel/thread,” and ask for immediate confirmation of target before the job starts.

Known-good test prompt (copy/paste)

Set a reminder for 10 minutes from now. Timezone: America/New_York. Send delivery to: this exact conversation thread only. Message title must start with: REMINDER TEST. Before finishing, confirm: exact fire time, timezone, and exact destination thread/channel.

Escalation packet for #help

Background-work verification issue Task requested: Expected fire time + timezone: Expected destination: Actual result: Was cron/reminder used explicitly? (yes/no) Any error text shown: