Running a Workflow
A Workflow runs a plan with many agents. A lead agent splits the plan into tasks. SimpleEdit runs each task in a hidden worker session and shows the progress as a live graph. You start the run, and you pass every review gate yourself.
The lead plans and decides; it doesn’t write code. Each worker does one task in a fresh context and reports a short result back to the lead. You talk to the lead about the plan, and you see the code at the review gates. To steer the work, change the plan with the lead. Type into a worker’s terminal only when one task needs a nudge.
Use a Workflow for anything larger than a one-off prompt:
- Big steps, one after another. Each task gets a fresh context, so a long project doesn’t fill one session’s context. The lead wakes only for decisions and keeps the overview.
- A plan you may change on the way. When a task fails or you learn something, fix the plan and patch the running graph. You don’t start over.
- Parts that can run at once, for example one PR per package.
Before you start
- Agree on the plan first. See Reviewing plans with SimpleEdit.
- Check Settings → Workflows:
- Workers at once sets how many workers run in parallel, per provider (1–16).
- Leads may start workflows: when it is off, nothing runs until you select Start. Keep it off until you trust the lead’s plans.
1. Ask the lead to create the workflow
In the session that holds the plan, ask the agent to turn the plan into a workflow. For example: “Create a workflow for this plan. One task per PR, then a review gate.”
The agent becomes the lead. It creates a task graph. Each task has a brief, its dependencies and an agent and model. There is no form to fill in: the lead writes the graph.
Once the workflow is created, you can compact the lead’s conversation, for example with /compact in Claude Code. The workflow, its briefs and the plan doc hold what the lead needs. Every later wake-up then starts from a short context.
2. Review the graph
- Open the lead’s Workflow tab. In the sidebar, the lead’s session also offers Open the workflow.
- Read the Goal and each task card. Select a card to read its Brief and what Done means.
- Select Show patches to see every change the lead made to the graph.
The graph is the first review gate. If something is wrong, tell the lead. It changes the graph with a patch, and the patch shows as “since you approved”.
3. Start
Select Start. SimpleEdit starts a worker for each task whose dependencies are done, up to the worker limit. Workers do not show in the sidebar.
Task states:
| Card | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ○ queued | Waits for its dependencies or a worker slot. |
| ▶ running | A worker is on it. |
| ● waiting on you | The worker asked a question. |
| ✓ done | The worker reported its result. |
| ✕ cancelled | The task was cancelled. |
| ✕ Failed, ✕ Worker stopped | The task did not finish. The lead gets a judgment to decide what to do. |
Select a card to open its worker’s terminal (“Click a card to open its worker”). Type into it when that one task needs a nudge; for anything bigger, change the plan with the lead.
4. Answer when you are needed
The lead is woken only when it must decide something, for example when a task fails. These are judgments. The lead answers a judgment by changing the plan: it patches the running graph, for example with a fix task or a new brief, and the run goes on. Every patch shows under Show patches. When something waits for you, the lead’s dot turns amber and the item shows under Needs you.
5. Pass the review gates
A review gate (⛩) stops the run until you review the work before it.
- When the tasks before the gate are done, the gate opens one review per PR stack the tasks made. The reviews open as tabs in the lead’s workspace.
- Select the stack’s row on the gate card, or Open review under Needs you.
- Review the stack in the Review Room. See Reviewing a PR stack.
- Submit the review. A gate’s review goes to the lead only. It never posts to GitHub.
What happens next depends on your verdict:
- You asked for changes: the lead adds fix tasks and reworks the gate. The card shows “Lead reworking”. When the fixes are done, the gate opens the next round of the review.
- You approved: select Accept on the gate, then Confirm accept. The tasks after the gate start.
Only you can pass a gate. The lead cannot.
If you discarded a review, select Re-request to open it again.
6. Finish
When all tasks are done, select Dismiss. This closes the workflow’s worker sessions and archives the workflow.
To stop a running workflow, select Cancel. Cancel does not close the workers: they move to the sidebar as normal sessions, so no work is lost.
Usage
Each task card shows the tokens its worker used. The status line shows the workflow’s total.
On the phone
The phone shows the workflow graph and its progress. You can open a gate’s review and Accept a gate there. Start, Cancel and Dismiss are desktop only.