---
title: "Run a thread"
description: "Run repository tasks, steer active work, and continue in the same workspace."
canonical_url: "https://hoplite.sh/docs/threads/run"
markdown_url: "https://hoplite.sh/docs/threads/run.md"
---

# Run a thread
URL: /docs/threads/run
LLM index: /llms.txt
Description: Run repository tasks, steer active work, and continue in the same workspace.
Related: /docs/threads/review, /docs/sandboxes, /docs/agent/slash-commands

# Run a thread

Start coding work from a project's repository and selected branch or PR. Hoplite prepares the cloud workspace before running the agent, then reuses it for later messages so you can build on the work already done.

## Send messages while the agent works

You don't have to wait for a run to finish. While a run is active, **Enter** queues the message in the **Queued** panel above the composer until the current run completes; queued messages apply in order, and you can edit or remove one before it runs. Press **Command+Enter** on macOS or **Control+Enter** on other platforms to **Steer** the message into the current run right away; the transcript marks it with a **Steered into current run** pill. When no run is active, Enter starts a new run.

## Stop and steer

Type `/stop` to request cancellation for the run you're viewing. Hoplite shows **Stopping** until the worker finishes stopping the run, and messages sent afterward queue for the next run. Stop is unavailable during initialization and workspace setup because setup cannot be interrupted; you can still send a message, and Hoplite applies it after setup finishes.

The activity timeline keeps the final workspace-setup result after it settles.
When setup fails and setup output is available, expand that entry to read its
redacted output tail and find the failing stage before retrying the thread or
correcting the project's setup configuration.

## Retry a run

`/retry` queues a new run in the same thread and workspace, or resumes a paused local run. It does not restore a checkpoint. It requires no active run and remains subject to billing and execution access. For a failed setup, retry requests setup repair before agent execution resumes.

Retry does not roll back the filesystem. To restore saved workspace state through the API, [list checkpoints](/docs/api/listThreadCheckpoints) and explicitly [restore the selected checkpoint](/docs/api/restoreCheckpoint). Inspect the checkpoint before replacing current work.

## Save work after an out-of-credits stop

A run that stops because the workspace ran out of credits never reaches the agent's own commit step, so its edits exist only in the sandbox. When that happens and the workspace has uncommitted files, the failed-run card lists them with a **Commit changes** button. Choose a target branch (the checked-out branch by default) and a commit message, and Hoplite commits and pushes through the GitHub App; this spends no inference credits. The dialog warns when the target is the base branch, a push GitHub refuses leaves the changes uncommitted for another attempt, and a change list too long to show in full can't be pushed from the dialog.

## Attach files

Drop, paste, or pick files in the composer:

| Rule | Detail |
| --- | --- |
| Count | Up to **10 attachments per message** |
| Size | Up to **50 MB each** |
| Images | Render inline and pass to the model as vision input, on models that support images |
| Other file types | Attach as links the agent can read from the sandbox |
| Long text pastes | Automatically convert to a `.txt` attachment so they don't flood the conversation |

## Manage the context window

A **context gauge** shows how much of the model's context window the thread has used. When it fills up, type `/compact` to summarize older context and free tokens. If a model or preflight check rejects a run because the context is already too large, Hoplite automatically compacts once and retries that model step instead of immediately failing the run.

Slash commands like `/stop`, `/retry`, and `/compact` are covered in full at [Slash commands](/docs/agent/slash-commands).

## Sitemap

Sitemap discovery is not enabled for this deployment.