# Start a ticket

> Hand a ticket to By Dawn's agent to plan, to build, or to plan and then build, and choose the steps its work is held to.

This page shows you how to hand a ticket to By Dawn's agent. By the end you'll know which of the three ways to start
fits the work, how to choose the steps the agent is held to, and what happens on the ticket once it's running.

By Dawn's agent is called the **worker** in the app. You start it from the ticket itself. Open the ticket and the right
side, where the worker's session will run, shows the **Mission** picker first, so you choose how the work is checked
before any of it begins.

## Plan, build, or plan + build

The picker opens with three choices. Each says in a line what it does, and hovering it says more:

| Choice | Reads | What the agent does |
|---|---|---|
| **Plan first** | writes a plan, then asks | Writes a plan and asks you to agree it. No code changes until you do. |
| **Build now** | runs the whole thing | Builds in one go, stopping at each step that asks you. |
| **Plan + build** | plans, asks, then builds | Plans, waits for your approval, then builds. |

**Plan first** suits work you want to shape before anyone writes code, or a ticket you'll hand to someone else to
build. The agent works read-only: it researches, writes the plan on the ticket and asks you to approve it, and it
can't push code. Approving ends that run, and you start the build yourself when you're ready (see
[After a plan is approved](#after-a-plan-is-approved)).

**Build now** suits a small or well-understood ticket. The agent starts building at once. It still stops at every step
that waits for you, so if the mission includes **Approve the plan**, it writes a plan and waits for your answer
before it carries on.

**Plan + build** is the middle path, and the one a new picker starts on. The agent plans, waits for you to approve
the plan, and then builds to it in the same run, so you don't have to come back and start the build yourself.

After your first start, the picker opens on whichever choice you used last.

> **Note:** Your project access decides which choices you can make. A member with **Plan only** access sees "Your project access
> allows planning runs only.", and only **Plan first** is open to them. A project admin sets this for each member in
> **Settings › This project › Members & access**.

## Choose the steps

Under the three choices, the picker lists the mission's steps, grouped by phase: Plan, Design, Build, Verify and Ship,
unless your organization has renamed them. The heading says the rule: "Locked steps always run — tick anything else
you want." A row marked **always runs** is one your organization made required, and you can't untick it. Every other
row is yours to tick or untick.

Above the steps is a row of chips that tick the list for you. Your organization's or project's default **mission
template** comes first, under its own name, then any other templates, then four presets:

- **Auto**: By Dawn picks per ticket, from its labels, its repos and the size of the work.
- **Quick**: required steps only.
- **Standard**: required plus the steps most work needs.
- **Thorough**: everything that applies.

A chip only ticks rows: you can still untick anything that isn't locked. Steps that pause for you are listed under
a "these pause for you" divider, so you can see before you start where the agent will stop and wait. Some steps have
a setting of their own beside them, such as how many mockups to draw or **Who approves** a step: **A person**, **SAW
reviews, then a person**, or **SAW reviews and approves**.

Your organization or project can fix a setting as part of the mission. A fixed setting shows its value with a lock
and the line "Set by your organization as part of the mission." (or "Set by this project…"), and you can't change it
here or from a template.

[Missions and templates](https://docs.bydawn.com/missions/) explains where the steps and templates come from, and how a team changes them.

## Start it

1. Open the ticket and choose **Plan first**, **Build now** or **Plan + build**.

2. Pick a template or preset chip, then tick or untick the steps you want. The line under the button counts what
   you've chosen, for example "3 always run · 5 ticked · 2 pause for you".

3. Optionally, type a first instruction in **Add a steer for the worker…** at the bottom. It goes to the agent with
   the start, so you can say "keep the existing IDs stable" before it begins.

4. Choose the button, which names what you're starting: **Start planning**, **Start building** or **Start plan +
   build**.

What you confirm is frozen onto the ticket as its mission. Changing the step library or a template later never
changes a mission that has already started.

### Starting without the picker

Some tickets have no picker. If your organization or project has missions turned off, the ticket offers **Start
worker** instead, and the agent works without any steps to pass. After a run has ended, the same button reads **Start
a new run**.

A ticket that's blocked by another open ticket can't start until that one is done. Its header shows **Blocked by**
and the ticket it's waiting on.

### Skipping the mission

When you're allowed to, a **Skip** button sits above the choices. It starts the build with only the always-run steps.
By Dawn asks "Skip the mission?", tells you that always-run steps, required questions and the finish gate still apply,
and asks "Why skip it? (one line)". Choose **Skip & start**. Your name and reason are recorded on the ticket.

Who may skip is set in **Settings › Organization › Missions** under **Who may skip a mission**:
**Anyone who can start a build**, **Admins only** or **Nobody**. A project can make it stricter for itself, never
looser.

## While it runs

Once the agent starts, the picker gives way to the agent's session, with a thin mission strip above it showing the
current phase. The full list of steps, with what each has passed, moves to the **Mission** section on the left of the
ticket, which counts them as "N of M passed".

When a step needs you, the strip shows **Needs you** and a card opens above the message box, so you can answer
without leaving the ticket. The same request shows in your inbox under **Needs you**. [Checkpoints and
debriefs](https://docs.bydawn.com/mission-checkpoints/) covers each kind of card and what your answer does.

Everything you type into the message box while the agent runs reaches it as a steer.

## After a plan is approved

When you approve a plan on a **Plan first** ticket, the planning run ends. The ticket shows what the run did, asks
**Is this ticket done?**, and has **Needs more work** already chosen, with a build mission drafted underneath and
tagged "drafted from the plan". Check the steps and choose **Start building**, and the agent builds to the plan you
approved.

On a **Plan + build** ticket there's nothing to start: approving the plan starts the build to it straight away.

## FAQ

**Can I change my mind after I start?**

You can't change the mode of a mission that has started, but you can steer the agent at any time from the message
box. Until the build starts, you can also choose **Reopen plan approval** in the ticket's **Mission** section to be
asked about the plan again. If you stop the agent partway, the ticket offers **Continue mission 1** (or whichever
number it's on) and **Abandon mission 1**. Abandoning lets you start the next mission from a fresh picker.

**Why is Start greyed out?**

Usually because your project access doesn't cover that choice ("Your project access doesn't allow starting runs."),
or because the ticket is blocked by another one. A project admin can change your access in
**Settings › This project › Members & access**.

**Can I start several tickets at once?**

Yes, from an epic: **Launch epic** starts its tickets in order. It offers **Build now** and **Plan + build** but not
**Plan first**, because a ticket that only plans stops in Review and the tickets after it would never start.

**What if the picker says it couldn't load the ticket's checks?**

By Dawn shows "Couldn't load this ticket's checks" with **Retry**. If you may build, it also offers **Build without
gates**, which starts the agent with no mission pinned. Nothing is checked for that run, so use it only when you
can't wait.

## Where to go next

- [Missions and templates](https://docs.bydawn.com/missions/): what a mission is and how a team sets its steps and defaults.
- [Checkpoints and debriefs](https://docs.bydawn.com/mission-checkpoints/): answering the agent when it stops for you.

Source: https://docs.bydawn.com/start-a-ticket/