Stale page: the huddle is being renamed and rebuilt as the Task Manager, so this page will be rewritten. Treat what it says as out of date until then.

Groups, views and densities

A busy list needs shape. Groups file items by area (widgets, mcp tools, the login page), the view decides how the list is sorted, and the density decides how much each row shows. This page also covers the project accordion, colored markers, and the live progress an agent can show on a row.

Groups

A group is a named, foldable section of one list. Groups are areas, never statuses: there is no "done" or "blocked" group, because the status sections already say that.

1. Make one: press the folder key at the far left of the controls under the list (new group), type a name and press create. Names are unique in a list, ignoring case, up to 80 characters; a list holds up to 50 groups.
2. File an item: drag a row by its grip onto a group's header (or into the group), or use the item menu's move to, which lists each list's groups.
3. Ungroup: drag the row back above the groups, or pick the item's own list in move to.
4. Rename, move or remove: hover a group's header (always shown on a touch screen) for rename (or double-click the name), up, down and remove. Removing a group never deletes an item: its items become ungrouped.
5. Fold: the chevron on the header. A group's fold is saved on the server, so it folds on every device.
6. Empty groups are hidden unless show empty groups is on (the key beside new group). During a drag they appear as drop targets.

Agents are told to file every item in a group, to reuse the list's groups, and to create one when nothing fits.

Views

The view switch at the top of the list sorts the whole list. It is one setting on every device.

• by status (the default): the status sections from top to bottom (needs you, question for you, ready to review, waiting to install, working, scheduled, open, todo, done). When the list has groups, each section splits into one subsection per group, labeled "section: group".
• by group: your groups, each split into the status subsections. Drag between groups here.

In both views a drag reorders a row inside its own section. Escape, or dropping outside any target, cancels the drag and the row snaps back.

Folds

• Status sections and subsections fold per device and per project (folding ready to review in one project does not fold it in another).
• In all projects, each project's block folds down to its title bar, which then shows a small chip per status with its count.
• A folded header shows what waits on you inside it: a mark and count for each open question, unread look and unread info.

The project accordion

The accordion key, next to the density keys, keeps exactly one project open in all projects. Clicking another project's bar opens it and closes the last one; clicking the open project's bar scrolls it to the top instead of closing it. The bars above the open project stack at the top and the bars below it at the bottom. Your saved folds come back when you turn it off.

Densities

Three keys beside the view switch; one setting on every device.

Markers

An agent can mark a task with one of eight solid shapes (diamond, square, triangle, circle, hexagon, pentagon, star or cross), each in its own color, at most one per task. The shape sits in the row's left margin. Beside the density keys the list bar shows a key for each shape that is in use, and nothing when none is: press a shape to see only those tasks, with every project and group opened. A marker clears when you tick the task.

Search and header filters

The magnifier key on the list bar opens a one-line search that matches loosely ("rvwbrd" finds "review board") on a task's title and text. While a search, a marker or a status filter is on, everything opens and only matching tasks show; the clear key drops the filter and your folds come back. On a project header the info badge opens a list of that project's infos to read and dismiss, every other status badge filters to that status and lights up (press it again to clear), and a click on the project's name folds or unfolds it.

When an agent points at rows

Ask an agent "what do you need from me right now?" and it can point at the items: every open huddle view, sidebar and pop-outs alike, highlights those rows, switches to their list and scrolls to the most urgent one (in compact density it also opens it). The highlight stays until you press anything inside the huddle, which clears it everywhere.

Live progress on a row

• Worker lines: an agent working an item can show a line per worker under the title: a phase chip (queued, running, testing, installing, blocked, done), a short note and the elapsed time. A line with no update for 30 minutes dims as stale. The lines live in memory, so after an app restart the row shows nothing until the agent reports again.
• Session steps: a working item shows a strip such as "3 of 7, now: running tests", from the claiming session's own task list, which opens into the full checklist. A working session that claims no item shows no line under its project bar. Codex sessions do not show steps.

Project colors

In all projects each project title wears the project's color, picked from a fixed palette in the project's edit screen. A color picked on one device shows on every other.

Troubleshooting

• My group disappeared. It is empty and show empty groups is off.
• A drag will not land in another section. Sections follow status; move the item by changing it, not by dragging.
• A worker line says stale. The agent has not reported for 30 minutes; it may be idle or blocked.

Related pages

• Items and states
• For agents: MCP tools and rules

For AI: key facts

• Group tools: task_manager_group_create {list, name} (an existing name answers that group, created: false), task_manager_group_update {group, name?, position?, remove?}, and group (an id, or an area name created when new) on task_manager_add and task_manager_move. Agents never fold, and file only at the bottom of a group.
• Plugin settings: view (status, area, claude; claude is hidden and read as area), density (compact, normal, full), accordion, showEmptyGroups, hideCompleted.
• Markers: marker (diamond, square, triangle, circle, hexagon, pentagon, star, cross) on task_manager_update, task_manager_reply, task_manager_add and batch ops; marker: "" clears. The old flag_color still reads as a marker and flag_reason is ignored.
• huddle_focus {list, items, open, clear?} is deprecated (mark the task instead); it still highlights rows and marks them unread.
• task_manager_progress_set {item, phase, note?, worker?}: phases queued, running, testing, installing, blocked, done; note up to 300 characters, worker label up to 40, at most 8 workers per item.

updated 2026-10-11