# Monitoring

> Ask an agent to check something again later, and follow the timer in the conversation.

Some work needs a second look later: a build that takes twenty minutes, a deployment, an app store review. Monitoring lets an agent come back to it on its own, at a set time, in the same conversation.

## Ask for a check

Tell the agent what to check and when, in plain words. For example:

- *"Check the iOS build status in 15 minutes and summarize the result."*
- *"Look at the deployment logs every 10 minutes until the release is live."*

The agent turns your request into a monitoring task. A monitoring card then appears in the conversation with a clock icon, the task's title and a countdown such as **Next check in 14 min 32 s**.

When the time comes, Vato sends the check to the agent as a new message in the same conversation, and the agent answers it like any other turn.

> [!IMPORTANT]
> A sentence like "I'll check again in 10 minutes" is not a timer. Only a monitoring card means Vato will actually come back. If the agent promised to check later and no card appeared, ask it again to schedule the check.

## Follow the card

The card shows a status badge:

| Status | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| **waiting** | The check is scheduled. The countdown shows when it starts. |
| **running** | The check has been sent to the agent. |
| **done** | The check is finished. |
| **failed** | The check could not run. The card shows why. |
| **cancelled** | You cancelled the task. |

A repeating check goes back to **waiting** after each run, with a new countdown. A one-time check ends in **done**.

If the agent is still busy with another turn when a check is due, Vato waits and tries again 30 seconds later.

## Act on a task

- **Check now** runs the check right away. It works on waiting and failed tasks.
- **Cancel** stops the task. A cancelled task never runs again.
- **Show logs** displays the task's details.

## Announced but not scheduled

Sometimes Vato spots a promise to come back in the agent's reply, but no real timer was created. It then shows a card marked **detected**, for example **Deferred resume announced**, with the note *Detected from history: no real timer was persisted for this message.* These cards have no **Check now** or **Cancel** button, because nothing is scheduled.

## Keep Vato running

Checks are started by Vato on your computer. If Vato is closed when a check is due, it starts shortly after you open Vato again.

## Get notified

In `Settings → Notifications`, turn on:

- **Desktop: monitoring finished** for a notification on this computer.
- **Phone: monitoring finished** for a push on your phone.

Monitoring cards also appear in the [companion app](../mobile/companion-app.md), so you can follow a check from your phone.

> [!NOTE]
> Monitoring works in Claude, Codex, OpenRouter, Antigravity and Vato AI conversations.

## Next steps

- [Start your first conversation](first-conversation.md)
- [Follow conversations from your phone](../mobile/companion-app.md)

Source: https://vatoide.com/docs/agents/monitoring