Start a taskGive OpenHands a coding task in plain words. The agent clones the repository into a sandbox of its own, runs commands and edits files there, and replies when it is done. This step waits for that reply (starting alone takes about a minute), and hands back the task's ID for the steps after it.
Check on a taskSee where a task has got to: starting, running, finished, stopped with an error, or waiting on you. Once it has finished, this includes the agent's answer.
Wait for a task to finishHold the workflow until a task finishes, then hand on the agent's answer. Use it after a 'Start a task' or 'Send a follow-up message' step that didn't wait, for example to start several tasks at once and collect their answers afterwards.
Send a follow-up messageGive a task more instructions, and wait for the agent's reply. The agent keeps everything from earlier in the task, files included. A paused task is woken first, so this is also how to set a paused or stuck task going again.
List tasksSee the tasks on your OpenHands account, newest first. A task whose sandbox OpenHands has paused shows as paused here; 'Check on a task' says whether it had finished.
Pause a taskStop the agent where it is by pausing the task's sandbox. That also makes room for another task, since OpenHands limits how many run at once. Nothing is lost: send it a follow-up message to carry on.
Resume a taskWake a paused task's sandbox (usually within a minute, occasionally two) and report where the agent had got to. The agent doesn't pick up its work by itself; send it a follow-up message for that.
Rename a taskGive a task a new title in OpenHands.
Share a taskTurn a task's public link on or off. Anyone with the link can read the whole task without signing in, including your instructions, every command the agent ran, and the contents of files it read.
Delete a taskDelete a task from your OpenHands account and shut down its sandbox, along with any files in it. OpenHands still keeps the task's message history on its side.
Get a task's messagesThe conversation between you and the agent, oldest first: every instruction it was given and every reply.
List what a task didThe steps the agent took, oldest first: each command it ran with its output and exit code, each file it looked at or edited, and any errors. Useful as an audit trail.
List a task's filesThe files in a task's workspace, relative to its repository. A paused task is woken first, which usually takes under a minute.
Read a file from a taskThe contents of a file in a task's workspace, such as a report the agent wrote. When there is no such file, 'found' comes back false rather than the step handing on an empty file. A paused task is woken first.
Get a task's code changesThe files the agent added, changed or deleted, each with a diff, ready to post for review. Uncommitted changes are included. A paused task is woken first.
List repositoriesThe repositories OpenHands can work on, from the GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket account connected to OpenHands.
List branchesThe branches of a repository OpenHands can work on.
Check credit balanceHow many OpenHands Cloud credits your account has left, in US dollars. Tasks on the free models don't use any; the others are paid for from this balance.
