The operator view

Work with a cloud agent while keeping its output, conversation, and activity in context.

The operator view is where you work directly with a cloud agent. It brings together a selected page, a composer, and ways to inspect the agent’s conversation and activity.

Opening this view does not create a new agent or a separate private conversation. You are working with the selected agent’s existing session.

Find your way around

Area	What it is for
Main pane	Read the selected page or inspect a file.
Composer	Send tasks, follow-ups, files, and resource references to this agent.
Chat	Read the conversation, including full answers and tool activity.
Work Loop	Inspect the same conversation in the sidebar, including available subagent activity.
Pinned pages and Recent pages	Return to the agent’s results.
Details	Inspect configuration, resource access, and runtime information.

Chat and Work Loop show the same root conversation. Switching between them changes your view, not the agent’s task. The two views do not stay open together.

Page navigation, opening Chat, and selecting resources preserve your draft.

The open page is working context

When you send a message, Fractal captures the selected page and the revision you are viewing. This lets you say “shorten the introduction” while the relevant page is open.

If you navigate to another page after sending, the original request keeps its original context. Merely browsing a page does not ask the agent to change it.

An empty page view supplies no working page. Make the destination explicit when it matters:

Create a new page for this analysis. Keep the existing launch plan unchanged.

See Composer and context for references and attachments.

Follow progress without losing the result

The working indicator shows the current request and available activity. Open Chat or Work Loop for the full sequence of messages and tool results.

A completed tool call does not mean the whole request is finished. A subagent may still be working after the tool that launched it returns. Open that subagent’s detail view when you need to inspect its reported progress, then use Back to return.

When a reply arrives, the compact preview may show only part of it. Use Open chat or Continue in chat for the full answer, including tables and code. A long answer does not automatically become a page.

Inspect files and changes

Recorded file changes show what was captured for a response. A saved change view can remain available while the agent sleeps.

Opening the current file reads its present contents from the agent’s workspace. Reading current files can wake the agent’s sleeping computer; the Files browser may show Waking agent… while it starts. An offline or unavailable file preview does not mean a published page has been deleted.

A file preview is not a new page. Opening it preserves the selected page and composer. See The agent computer for file browsing, downloads, and retention.

Subagents and Workers

A native subagent is a branch of work launched inside the agent’s harness. Inspect its history through Work Loop; the available detail depends on what the harness reports.

A persistent Worker is a separate workspace Node owned by a parent agent. Workers appear beneath their parent in the left sidebar and expose Channel and Work views. They do not have a Pages view.

The Worker channel is for parent–Worker messages. Humans with access can inspect it and its threads, but cannot post there. Use the parent agent’s conversation to direct the overall task.

Work in a shared session

Other people with access to the agent can work with the same session. Their requests and the agent’s responses may appear in the conversation. Treat the agent’s conversation and output as visible to its audience.

Your draft remains yours. Typing presence can show that another person is composing, but it does not broadcast draft text.

Continue with Sending, steering, and stopping and Working with pages.