Every work item has an AI Task chip. It tells you what the current workflow step is doing right now — whether the AI is running, waiting on a long-running tool, or waiting for a person.
You see it in two places:
In Run → Work Items, in the AI Task column
On an open work item, on the current step
This is not the work item's Status column. Status is where the item is in the workflow (Draft, New, Final, or values you add). AI Task is what the agent on the current step is doing.
The AI Task chips
The AI Task column shows one of these:
Chip | What it means | What you do |
Working | The AI is actively running this step. | Wait. Open the step chat if you want to watch. |
Waiting | The step needs a person before it can continue. | Open the step. Answer the question, reply, or use Finish step. |
Waiting for tool | A long-running tool is in progress. The AI has stopped and is waiting for that tool's result — most often a reply on a conversation. | Reply on the conversation if a message is waiting. Otherwise wait — the step continues when the tool returns. |
None | There is no live AI task on this work item. | Open the chip to see typical reasons, or check Status. |
None usually means one of these:
The work item is still in Draft, so the AI has not started
This thunk requires validation and the item has not passed it
The workflow is already complete for this item (Status is Final)
On the open work item, the step itself can also show Done, Not started, Paused, or Skipped. The AI Task column only shows a live chip — Working, Waiting, or Waiting for tool — or None.
Paused on a step means that step was paused and the AI is not working on it. This is not the same as pausing the whole thunk.
Skipped on a step means that step was skipped — for example a run condition did not match, or the workflow ended.
Waiting versus Waiting for tool
These two look similar, and both mean the step is still live. They are not the same, and they ask different things of you.
Waiting
Waiting means a person is next on this step. Typical reasons:
The AI asked a question in the step chat
The AI paused for a teammate or for you to review
A human approval gate is holding the step
Open the work item and go to the waiting step. Reply in the step chat, or use Finish step when the work is done and the step is only waiting for a person to complete the handoff.
To find every work item assigned to you that is Waiting, use the Waiting on me view. That view is only the items that need a person on the step — it does not include Waiting for tool, even when the tool is waiting for a conversation reply.
Waiting for tool
Waiting for tool means a long-running tool is in progress. The AI has stopped — it is not actively running the step — and is waiting for that tool's result to come back. When the result arrives, the AI continues.
The most common case is a conversation: the AI sent a message using a conversation tool and is waiting for the other person to reply. Open that conversation and respond (or wait for the other person to respond). The chip stays Waiting for tool until the reply comes back and the tool finishes.
Less often, the wait is for some other long-running tool — for example a custom AI tool that is still working, or an outside system that has not returned yet. In those cases you usually do not need to act. The chip changes to Working when the tool comes back, or to Waiting / None when the run ends.
If a step sits on Waiting for tool longer than you expect, Time Analysis and step diagnostics show whether the time is in the tool or in the AI model.
What happens if you stop the agent
While a step is Working or Waiting for tool, the step chat has Stop. Stop cancels the in-flight work. The chip then reads Waiting, and the step stays open for a person.
Stop does not finish the step, and it does not pause the whole thunk.
Filtering the AI Task column
The AI Task column is filterable from the work-items table. The filter uses slightly shorter labels:
Working
Waiting — this includes both Waiting and Waiting for tool
Paused
A filter for Waiting therefore also matches items whose chip says Waiting for tool. Use Waiting on me when you want only the items that need a person.
You can save a filtered view as a report. See How to save a report from your work items.
Not the same as Status
The Status column is the work item's place in the workflow. Every thunk has at least Draft, New, and Final; you can add more values for the stages your process uses.
A work item can be New with AI Task Working, or New with AI Task Waiting. When the workflow finishes, Status becomes Final and AI Task is None.
Draft is the hold-before-start state: the AI does not run until someone approves the request. See Set human approval gates for your workflow.
What to do next
You see | Next step |
Waiting, and the work is assigned to you | Open the step, or use Waiting on me |
Waiting for tool | If a conversation is waiting for a reply, answer it. Otherwise let the tool finish. If it seems stuck, check the step chat and step diagnostics |
Working | Let it run. If it seems stuck, check the step chat and step diagnostics |
None | Check Status. If it is Draft, approve the request. If it is Final, the workflow is already done. |
A gate is holding the step | Review and Finish step. See human approval gates |
You want to know why the agent waited instead of finishing |