Reviewing a run

Only people connected to a run can open its page: the person the run is for, the person who started it, the person it ran as, and anyone a review step names as its reviewer (a specific person, or the members of a team). Everyone else gets a "not allowed" message, and the run does not appear in their run history. This includes administrators who are not one of those people.

A run's page has three panes side by side: Inputs, Review Thread and Outputs. You can reach it from the review queue or from All runs on the Workflows page.

What each pane shows#

• Inputs shows what the run was started with, the input files, and a Steps list with the status of each step. When a run split into parallel branches, the steps of each branch are listed under a heading for the branch, with a note saying whether the run Continues if a branch fails or Stops if a branch fails. Select Open conversation on a branch to read its conversation, and Back to the run conversation to return.
• Review Thread is the run's own conversation with the Coworker, newest at the bottom. The Coworker's work for each turn is folded away; select Show work to see it and Hide work to fold it again.
• Outputs lists the files and documents the run produced. When a file has several versions, pick one with the version buttons (v1, v2 and so on). Select Download to save a file. Files the page cannot preview say "No preview for this kind of file."

Outputs are saved as they are at every review and again when the run finishes. What you see and download is the saved copy, so it does not change afterwards. If a file could not be saved, a notice reads Some files could not be saved for review and lists the reasons.

Ask questions and request changes#

While a review is waiting, you can write to the Coworker in the Review Thread pane. Type in the box labeled "Message to the Coworker" (it begins "Ask a question or request a change…") and select Send. The Coworker replies in the same conversation, and any updated files appear under Outputs. If you send a message while the Coworker is still replying, it goes out when the reply finishes. Your message appears with your name above it, so everyone reading the thread can tell who asked. The Coworker answers you with your own access: the Knowledge Bases, secrets and memory it uses are the ones you could use yourself, not those of the person the run is for.

When the Coworker changes a file in the middle of a review, select Save the Coworker's latest changes as a new version under Outputs so that the new version is what the run carries forward.

The message box is closed when no review is waiting. It says why: the run is still working, the run is waiting on a check that must be approved or denied first, the review has already been decided, or the run has finished. It is also closed when the review was assigned to someone else; it then reads, for example, "Only Nadia Chen can approve or reject this review." If you may review but could not chat with that Coworker yourself, the box reads "You don't have access to chat with this Coworker"; you can still approve or reject.

Approve or reject#

When a review is waiting, a What to check note shows the reviewer's instructions, and the buttons Approve and Reject appear under Outputs. Both open a dialog with an optional Note field.

• Approve continues the workflow with the latest version of each file.
• Reject stops the workflow at that step, or sends it down the path the workflow sets for a rejected review. Use the note to say what needs to change.

After you decide, the pane shows Approved or Rejected, who decided, when, and the note.

When a review is assigned to a specific person or a team, the pane says Assigned to …. If it is assigned to someone else, you can read everything but the Approve and Reject buttons are not shown, and a line explains who can decide. With a team, any member can decide, and the first decision counts.

When an automatic check stopped the run, the Review Thread pane shows A check paused this run with the reason (the run's own page also shows Check result), and you decide with the same Approve and Reject buttons from the review queue.

Re-run from a step#

Select Re-run from a step to start a new run that keeps the earlier steps exactly as they were and repeats the work from the step you choose. The dialog is titled Re-run from a step; pick the step in Start from, change any inputs, and select Start re-run. The original run is left as it is, and the new run says in the runs list which run it came from. The button is available once the run has started steps and is waiting, has finished or has failed. Only the person the run is for (or who started it) sees the button. A reviewer assigned to a step, a team member and an administrator do not.

Failed runs#

A run that fails shows Run failed with a plain description of what went wrong, such as a step that was not approved or a branch that failed. It also appears with a coloured edge in All runs under the Failed filter. Use Re-run from a step to try again from the step you choose.

Removed runs#

When a run's conversation was removed under the retention policy, the Review Thread shows "This conversation was removed under the retention policy.", output versions read Removed under the retention policy, and questions can no longer be asked. See Conversation retention.