Task Management

Every conversation in Dline is a task. A task keeps its full conversation record, so you can reopen it, continue it, or delete it at any time.

How tasks are stored

• Each task has its own folder that stores the UI messages and the conversation sent to the model separately.
• The index of all tasks lives in <documents-root>/tasks/taskHistory.db (<documents-root> defaults to dline inside your system Documents folder and can be overridden with DLINE_DOCS_DIR).
• After context compaction, what is sent to the model gets shorter, but the stored conversation record stays complete.

Starting a new task

• Click + in the Dline panel title bar (tooltip New Task);
• or type /newtask in the input box to have Dline turn the current task’s key points into the starting point of a new task; see Using slash commands.

Keeping one goal per task usually works better: the context stays focused, and changes are easier to roll back and review.

Task header

While a task runs, the top of the panel shows usage information:

• In / Out: input and output tokens;
• RPM, TPM, Hit: request rate, token rate, and cache hit rate, shown when the data is available;
• Cost: shown only when the current model has non-zero pricing. It comes from the value the provider reports or is estimated from model pricing, and is not your provider’s final bill.

Expand the task header to see a context usage bar with the tokens used and the model’s context window size. Hover over the bar to open the Context Window panel with Used, Remaining, Total, and a percentage.

The × (Close Task) on the right of the task header closes the current task.

Focus Chain

Focus Chain is on by default (Settings → Features → Focus Chain, “Maintain context focus across interactions”). When it is on, Dline keeps a to-do list for the task below the task header: the current item, completed/total count, and an expandable full list.

Task history

Click the History button in the panel title bar to open the task history.

Each row shows the beginning of the task, the last activity time, and usage information. Expand a row to see Tokens, Model (when available), Size, and an Export button. Click a row to reopen that task.

Search, sort, and filter

• Search box (“Fuzzy search history…”): fuzzy-matches the beginning of each task; it does not search replies, code, or file names.
• Sort: Newest, Oldest, Most Expensive, Most Tokens, Most Relevant (requires a search query).
• Filter: Workspace Only (tasks from the current workspace) and Favorites Only (favorited tasks).

If tasks are missing from the list, or Workspace Only hides tasks of the current workspace, run Dline: Reconstruct Task History from the Command Palette; see VS Code Commands.

Actions on a task

Action	Description
Add to favorites / Remove from favorites	Favorite or unfavorite the task
Delete	Delete the task. A favorited task cannot be deleted individually
Open in New Window	Open the task in a new window
Export	Export the task from the expanded row

Bulk deletion

The bottom of the history view offers Select All, Select None, Delete Selected, and Delete All History:

• Delete Selected deletes every selected task, including favorites;
• Delete All History asks whether to Delete All Except Favorites or Delete Everything.

Caution

Deleting the last task or choosing Delete Everything also deletes all checkpoint data; see Checkpoints.

Resuming a task

After you open a task from history:

• an interrupted task shows Resume at the bottom; click it to continue. Resuming only loads the saved state; it does not resend requests or rerun tools automatically.
• a completed task shows Start New Task; you can also keep sending messages in the input box.

Upgrading from an earlier version

Tasks created by an earlier Dline build keep working after the upgrade:

• The first time you continue such a task, its conversation is imported unchanged, so the next request carries the full history.
• A task that was running, or had already completed, before the upgrade may reopen as interrupted. Click Resume or send a new message to continue it.
• Reasoning effort saved by the removed per-mode settings no longer applies; a continued task uses the selected Profile’s default.
• Once this version has opened a task, an older build cannot continue it.

When a task is open in another window

Only one window can work on a task at a time. If another window already has it open, this window shows the task read-only: the input and footer actions are disabled, and the lock banner offers a force unlock to take the task over.

When the context grows

Longer conversations use more context. You can:

• turn on Auto compact to summarize older conversation automatically when the context nears its limit;
• compact manually with /compact or /smol;
• carry the key points into a new task with /newtask.

Without auto compact, Dline optimizes repeated file reads and removes older conversation turns near the limit (always keeping the first turn).

Excluding irrelevant files with .agentignore also reduces unrelated content that Dline pulls in while searching and reading.