Background Tasks & Notifications
Overview
In Captain.AI, AI processing continues on the server regardless of your connection. Even if you close the tab or reload the page while a response is being generated, processing does not stop — you can pick up where it left off when you return.
Long-running work is managed as background tasks, and you can check their status and receive notifications when they complete.
Processing Continuity and Automatic Recovery
- Continues even if you close the tab: If you leave the page while a response is being generated, processing continues on the server. When you reopen the conversation, you rejoin the response in progress
- Recovery from failures: If a timeout or abnormal termination occurs, a banner appears explaining the cause and offering a regenerate button. One click regenerates the same content (your user message is never duplicated)
- Automatic resumption: Processing interrupted by, for example, a restart of the execution environment (worker) is automatically retried
Background Task Card
Running background tasks are listed on the background task card in the conversation screen.
- Each task shows a summary title and its status
- On completion, a toast notifies you: Background task "..." completed
Understanding the statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Running | Processing is in progress |
| Unconfirmed | The worker's status cannot be confirmed (whether the task is still running is unknown) |
| Lost | The process cannot be found (e.g., worker restart). Logs are preserved |
| Completed | Processing finished successfully |
| Failed | Ended with an error (with exit code) |
Actions
- Log: displays the task's execution log
- Auto-continue when done: toggles whether the AI automatically continues with follow-up work when the task completes
- Dismiss / Clear all: removes items from the card (this does not affect the tasks themselves)
Unread Markers
Conversations that completed while you were away, or that have a question from the AI waiting, show a badge on their row in the sidebar.
| Badge | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Completed (unread) | Processing finished, but you have not opened the conversation yet |
| Awaiting your input (unread) | The AI has asked you a question and is waiting for your answer |
Browser Notifications and Sounds
You can set up browser notifications and sounds so you notice activity even while working in another tab.
- Open User Settings > Notifications
- The first time, click "Allow browser notifications" and choose "Allow" in the browser's permission dialog
- Configure the following options:
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Enable browser notifications | Shows a desktop notification even when you're on another tab |
| Notify on completion | Notifies you when processing completes |
| Notify on questions | Notifies you when the AI asks for confirmation or input |
| Completion sound | Plays a chime when processing completes (no notification permission required) |
| Question sound | Plays a chime when a question that needs your response arrives (no notification permission required) |
Tip: Notification settings are saved per browser. If notifications do not arrive, check that notifications for this site are allowed in your OS and browser site settings. Even if they are blocked, you will still be informed via in-app toast notifications and unread markers.