Workspace

Run a command in the background

Use this when a build, test or other command will take longer than a normal chat turn. The command keeps running while you continue working, and you can return to its output later. The optional terminal plugin must be available to your account; an administrator's status alone does not grant it.

Run a command in the background

Ask Elowen to run the command with run_in_background: true, or in the CLI press Ctrl+B while an eligible foreground command is running.
Note the process ID Elowen returns. It also notifies you when the command finishes.
Continue with another task, or check on the process when you need its output.

A long-running server or watcher can use backgroundMode: "service"; ordinary commands use the default job mode. In delegated work, a child job keeps that delegated call open, while a service does not.

Check or stop the command

Use ListProcesses to find processes started in this conversation.
Use ProcessOutput with the process ID to read new output; set all: true for retained output. It waits by default, but a timed-out read does not stop the command.
Use KillProcess only when immediate termination and losing buffered output are acceptable. It stops tracked descendants too.

Finished output is collected when read, so its ID then expires. Output is a rolling buffer and older text may be lost. Background processes do not survive a daemon restart.

Common problems

If the process limit is full, another command cannot start in the background. Read completed output before starting more work: the next start cleans up exited records. A permission-approved command is not detached automatically; shared-room, scheduled and sessionless work also has different timeout behavior. A plain sleep lasting two seconds or more is refused in the foreground: start actual work in the background instead.

See Terminal & Processes for limits and controls, and Projects, Environments & GitHub to choose where commands run.

Run a command in the background