Away Mode

Away Mode tells the current task to keep working within its existing scope and instructions while you are temporarily unavailable. It is not a Plan/Act switch, a global permission preset, or a setting inherited by other tasks or subagents.

Enable and enter

When the rollout is available, open Settings → Features → Experimental → Away Mode:

• Enable Away Mode permits entering the mode. It is off by default.
• Automatic Away Mode permits entry when a new ordinary question goes unanswered for ten minutes. It is also off by default and is disabled while the main option is off; its saved choice is retained.

If the rollout is unavailable, the group is hidden without erasing either preference. Turning an option on does not retroactively arm a question that is already waiting.

With the main option enabled, type /away with your task message and send it, or insert Away from the command menu:

/away Continue the implementation and run the focused tests.

Dline consumes the command token and preserves the remaining message, mentions, and attachments. The normalized command is /cmd:away; simply pasting text that looks like a command does not activate it. Entering again is idempotent, not a toggle.

What changes while away

Each subsequent normal provider request carries a task-local reminder to proceed using the available tools and best judgment. Questions, plan acknowledgments, reports, and other non-completion turn-ending tools receive an automatic continuation response instead of waiting for your answer. Completion still requires the requested outcome and applicable verification to be finished.

Command approval follows the canonical workspace and working-directory boundary:

• Commands classified inside the workspace may proceed under the task’s Away permission.
• Commands classified outside it still require manual approval, even with other automatic approval or YOLO settings. An unanswered approval expires after one minute as not approved, without running the command or treating the expiry as a user denial.
• Other tools retain their existing approval rules. Disabled tools, permission rules, .agentignore, hooks, and explicit instructions still apply.

Caution

The command boundary does not analyze shell syntax to infer every file or service a command might affect. Away Mode is not a sandbox and does not turn an inside-workspace working directory into a guarantee that a command has no outside effects. Keep your task instructions and command permissions appropriate to the work.

A displayed countdown comes from the backend’s absolute deadline. Reopening does not restart it; the display reaching zero does not itself submit an answer or approve a command.

Stop Away Mode without stopping the task

Use Stop Away Mode in the task footer, beside Resume or approval controls when those are present. It is also available while the task is running without an active question.

The action:

• exits only Away Mode; it does not cancel a tool, stop the task, resume it, or answer the current question;
• does not submit, read, or clear your unsent composer draft;
• leaves global preferences unchanged and keeps the current question or approval waiting;
• disappears only after the backend commits the exit; a failed write leaves it available to retry.

Read-only task windows display the state but disable the action. Completed tasks do not offer it.

Sending normal content also ends Away Mode. Editing a draft, browsing history, an empty Resume, and a plain approval without content do not count as returning. Turning off Automatic Away Mode only revokes unanswered-question eligibility; it does not exit a task already away. Turning off Enable Away Mode, or losing the rollout, exits active modes through the backend without cancelling current work.

On the next normal provider request, a separate exit notice withdraws the earlier Away directions. Stopping the mode does not create an extra API request, cancel an in-flight one, or rewrite conversation history.