# Your First Mission

Once your backend and Orb client are connected, a **mission** is a single agent conversation and execution attempt inside a project.

## Launching a Mission

1. Open **Orb** and press `⌘N` (**New Agent**).
2. Select a **Project** (or keep `Default`) and choose where the agent runs:
   - **This computer** for local files and tools on your Mac
   - **Core** or a **Fleet machine** for remote host/container execution
   - **Cloud agent** (`⌘2`) for Hermes, Grok Bot, or Cursor Cloud
3. Pick your **Harness** (`Claude Code`, `Codex`, `Antigravity`, `OpenCode`, or `Grok`), **Model**, and **Effort**.
4. Enter your prompt and press `Enter`:

```text
Inspect src/api/control and summarize how mission events are streamed and paginated.
```

## Following and Steering Live Runs

While the agent works, Orb streams structured events over SSE (`GET /api/control/stream`) and reconciles pages via `GET /api/control/missions/:id/snapshot` and `/events`:

- **Activity Folds**: Consecutive tool calls, file reads/edits, shell commands, and reasoning deltas collapse into a compact summary row. Click to expand individual tool inputs and outputs.
- **Live Follow-Up Queue**: Type a follow-up while a turn is running. By default it queues above the composer and dispatches automatically when the current turn finishes, or click **Send now** to steer immediately.
- **Mid-Mission Switching**: Change the model or effort level between turns from the footer picker.
- **Files Panel (`⌘J` / `⌘P`)**: Click any verified file path in the assistant's response to preview it in the split Files panel, or browse the mission workspace and `@context` tree.

## Native Modes: `/plan` and `/goal`

### Interactive Planning (`/plan`)

Start your draft with `/plan` on supported harnesses (**Claude Code** and **Codex**) to enter native planning mode:

1. The agent explores the codebase read-only and can ask structured multiple-choice questions via native interactive cards.
2. When the plan is ready, Orb displays **Request changes** or **Implement plan**.
3. Approving the plan starts an implementation turn on the same native session and tracks checklist progress (`TodoWrite` / `update_plan`) below the composer.

### Autonomous Goals (`/goal`)

Start your draft with `/goal <objective>` to run a multi-turn autonomous loop until the objective is verified or budget-limited.

## Side Agents (`/btw`)

Need to ask a quick question or inspect another file without derailing an active turn?

- Type `/btw <question>` in the composer or press `⌘⇧J` to open the docked **Side Agent** panel.
- The side agent runs in an independent session on the same machine and working directory, with incremental transcript excerpts and a full `@conversation` archive staged in `.paloma/conversation/`.
- Side questions never enter the main agent's prompt or interrupt its running tools.

## Durable Wake-Ups & Machine Transfer

- **Scheduled Continuations**: Agents can schedule their own durable wake-ups (`schedule_wakeup` / `schedule_job_wakeup` via MCP) to check back on long builds or external jobs. Missions with a pending wake-up display a ticking clock indicator.
- **Change Machine**: Click the machine name in the mission footer and select **Change machine…** to move an idle mission between **This computer**, **Core**, and **Remote nodes**. Orb transfers the workspace (preserving symlinks and Git history as a bundle while skipping build caches like `target/` and `node_modules/`) and resumes with portable conversation history under a new execution generation fence.