Follow plans and AI agents
Read Copilot's work plan, follow delegated tasks, and request changes while research is running.
Copilot can break a request into smaller steps, work on independent tasks in parallel, and check the results before writing an answer. The progress panel shows what it is doing so you can follow the work and redirect it when needed.
Read the work plan
- Open the conversation in Copilot Agent and send a task.
- Expand the progress panel showing the current stage, such as Planning or Working.
- Open the step groups to inspect the work and any nested tasks.
- Read the current stage, step status, and result summary together. A finished parent step can still contain a child task that did not succeed.
| Stage | What Copilot is doing |
|---|---|
| Understanding | Reading the request and identifying what you need. |
| Planning | Laying out the work. |
| Working | Researching, reading material, or carrying out the planned actions. |
| Checking | Reviewing the results found so far. |
| Retrying | Re-running work that needs another attempt. |
| Writing the answer | Preparing the response from the results available. |
| Finished | The response has finished. Review its answer and any unresolved points. |
| Stopped | The turn ended with an error. Check the explanation and recorded work before retrying. |
Plans can change during a response. New information, an unsuccessful step, or your steering can cause Copilot to add, replace, expand, or skip work. Where a step shows Earlier steps or a revision badge, open it to review the previous work and the reason for the change.
Understand step results
| Step status | How to read it |
|---|---|
| Up next or Waiting | The step has not started yet, or it is waiting for other work. |
| Working | The step is in progress. |
| Done | The step completed. Check its summary and evidence for the result. |
| Nothing found | The completed check did not find the requested material or condition. |
| Reused | Copilot used an existing result for this step. |
| Retrying | Another attempt is in progress. |
| Not enough | The result did not provide enough support to complete that part of the task. |
| Failed or Blocked | An error, missing prerequisite, or other restriction prevented the step from completing. |
| Skipped | The step was left out of the remaining work. Read any reason shown. |
Search, read, write, and delegation counts describe recorded activity. They do not tell you how long the remaining work will take. More searches also do not establish that an answer is better supported; review the findings and original sources.
Follow sub-agents
A Sub-agent is an AI worker handling part of the task. Its work appears beneath the related step, so you can see how a delegated task contributes to the larger request. Copilot may delegate separate research or checking tasks and bring their results back into the response.
Read the nested statuses as well as the parent status. A delegated task may complete, retry, find no useful material, or fail. Copilot can continue with the results it has, so inspect any limits in the answer rather than assuming every delegated task succeeded.
The displayed plan runs as part of your request. You can follow it in the progress panel and use the controls offered on eligible steps; you do not need to approve each step before Copilot starts work.
Redirect a waiting step
- Expand the current plan and find the waiting work you want to change.
- Use the action available on that step.
- Watch for confirmation at the next checkpoint and review the updated plan.
| Action | What you are requesting |
|---|---|
| Skip step | Leave an eligible pending step out of the remaining work. |
| Prioritize step | Bring eligible work forward. |
| Explore deeper | Spend more work on the selected subject. |
These actions require contribution access and a live connection. They appear on eligible waiting steps. Work already running, finished, or replaced may no longer accept the request. Sub-agent rows do not offer these step actions directly.
Use Steer this response for a broader instruction, such as narrowing the scope or changing the requested output. See Queue messages and steer a response.
Ask for an answer sooner
Choose Answer now when you want Copilot to finish with the results verified so far. This control is available to the person who started the running response and to a chat Admin or Owner who can contribute.
Copilot handles the request at a safe checkpoint. A saved change or other work already underway may finish first. Check the resulting answer for unfinished work and limitations; asking for an answer sooner does not reverse changes that have already completed.
Choose Stop generating when you want to stop the current response. Review waiting prompts separately if you do not want them to run afterwards.
Review the work after it finishes
Open Timeline > Activity, choose the research turn, and review its recorded plan, activity, and findings. Earlier turns may have less progress detail than newer turns. Research history and evidence explains the available views and how to check sources.