Background jobs: hand MIA the long work and get on with yours

What is a background job?

It's long work that MIA does without you watching the chat: reviewing dozens of campaigns, going through several client Accounts, preparing something for Monday. MIA works in segments, with your same permissions, and everything stays in view: its card shows the progress live, and every change arrives on a card, as in the chat. The job runs in MB Suite, not in your browser: you can close the panel or move on to something else.

When does MIA propose one?

When what you ask for takes a lot of work: going through many records one by one, working in several Accounts, or doing it later (“on Monday”, “at the end of the month”). A question that can be answered in a few steps isn't a background job: MIA answers it in the chat. When it proposes one, MIA tells you what it will do and leaves the job's card under its answer.

Can I give a background job to another agent?

Yes. Besides MIA, MB Suite's specialists and your team's agents take on background jobs too, each within its area and with its model:

• In its conversation — ask it as you would ask MIA: if the work is long, it proposes the background job with the same card and does it itself.
• From its profile — in AI Agents > Office, tap the agent (or its face in Work) and use Ask for a background job: it opens a new conversation with it (see The Office and each agent's profile: who's working, on what and how much it spent).
• From its setup — in the Jobs and routines tab, Ask for a background job opens the conversation with it; that tab also lists the jobs you gave it (see Routines: put an agent to work on its own, on a schedule or when something happens).
• Through MIA — tell her who it's for (“have Sofía review Acme's campaigns for Monday”): MIA shows you a card with the agent, the estimate and the cap, and the job starts when you confirm it.

The notices name it —the bell comes from that agent and the email says, for example, “Sofía finished your background job”— and the job is still yours: only you see it. If that agent stops being available to you, the job stops: “Its agent is no longer available to you in this account.”

What does the card show before it starts?

• Background job, the title and the estimate, in ranges: how many credits and how many minutes it may take, with the status Not started. It's a range because MIA can't know in advance how many rounds of work it will need.
• The client Accounts it will work in, if you asked it to work in Accounts.
• What I'll do — the job's goal, as MIA understood it. It comes collapsed: expand it to read it before you start. If MIA read something written by third parties in that request, it comes open.
• What MIA may do along the way, according to the level that applies to you. In Acts: “I can make up to N changes without asking you. I'll check with you before anything sensitive, and most changes can be undone.” In Proposes: “I'll leave proposals: nothing changes without your OK.”
• In Acts, if it read something written by third parties in that request, a notice tells you what changes: “I read third-party text (messages, emails, attachments): every change will be a proposal.” Or, if it only read names: “I read names written by third parties (deals, people, companies): what can be undone I do directly, and the rest I'll propose.”
• Credit cap — pick one of the numbers; the lowest one comes selected. “As it nears the cap, I stop and ask whether to keep going (at most, it goes slightly over).”
• If it's for later, when it starts: “Starts on {date} (the account's time).”

How do I start it, adjust it or dismiss it?

• Start (Enter) sets it going with the cap you chose; if it's for later, the button says Schedule. Nothing runs until that click, and a “yes” typed in the chat starts nothing.
• Adjust — the cursor goes to the message box with the question “What should I change in the background job?”: tell MIA what you want different and it proposes another one, which replaces the previous one (the old card changes to Dismissed and says “A newer proposal replaced it.”).
• Dismiss (Esc) — nothing runs, and the card changes to Dismissed.

If it doesn't start, a notice tells you why: there's a maximum number of background jobs in progress per person —wait for one to finish or cancel one—, and with no AI credits left it doesn't start until credits are added.

Can I leave it for later?

Yes: tell MIA when —“on Monday at 8”, “on the 30th”— and it proposes the job for that moment, in the account's time zone. If you only say the day, it starts at 9:00, and it can be up to 30 days ahead. With Schedule, the card changes to Scheduled and says “Scheduled for {date} (the account's time).”; until it starts, you can cancel it with Cancel.

What happens while it works?

• The card changes to Working, in violet, as in Work and the Office: a line with what MIA is doing and, when it goes through a list, how far it got (“12 of 30”), the progress bar and the credits used against the cap.
• “You can close this: I'll let you know when it's done.” Close the panel or keep working: MIA carries on.
• It works as in the chat: with your permissions, never outside the Accounts you approved, and with the level that applied to you when it proposed the job. In Acts, it makes routine changes and shows them to you with Undo, up to the number of changes the card showed you; beyond that, it leaves the rest in a plan for you to approve. In Proposes, it leaves them as proposals and keeps going. If along the way it reads third-party text —messages, emails, attachments—, from then on every change arrives as a proposal; if it only reads names written by third parties —of deals, people or companies—, it keeps making directly some internal changes that can be undone (see The two levels of MIA: Proposes and Acts) and proposes the rest.
• The cards it leaves arrive in the conversation in a message labeled Background job · {title}, and you use them like any other (see Apply, confirm and undo what MIA does: the cards).
• See details opens the job's details (more below).

When does it wait for your OK?

The card changes to Waiting for your OK, in amber, the Background jobs button in the panel shows an amber dot and the notifications bell lets you know. There are two reasons:

• A confirmation or a plan — what needs your click is on its card in the conversation, and what's left of the job depends on it. Go to the card takes you there: confirm or dismiss it, or approve the plan, and the job continues on its own with your answer.
• The credit cap — “I reached the cap: I used {used} of {cap} credits. Shall I keep going?” Keep going with +N credits (Enter) raises the cap and carries on; the card may also offer another amount. Wrap up with what's done asks MIA to stop working and write the result with what it has already done.

If 7 days go by without your answer, whatever was waiting expires without running and the job ends with what it has already done.

Why is it paused?

The card says Paused and why:

• “The account has a pending payment. The background job continues once it's settled.” The owner and the admins also see Go to Subscription.
• “There are no AI credits left. The background job continues when there are.” The owner and the admins also see Buy credits, which takes them to AI Agents > Usage.
• “MB Suite briefly paused background work. The background job picks up on its own as soon as it resumes.” There's nothing for you to do: the card has no Resume.

With a pending payment or no credits, the job continues on its own once the reason is solved: MB Suite checks again from time to time. If you don't want to wait, Resume tries right away and picks it up if the reason is gone. Whatever the reason, if the pause lasts 7 days, the job stops: “It stayed paused for 7 days and was stopped.” While it's paused, the card also has See details and Cancel.

How do I cancel it?

With Cancel, on the card or in the details —or with Cancel the background job, in AI Agents > Work > Jobs and routines and in the Jobs and routines tab of its agent's setup—. It asks “Cancel the background job?” and reminds you that “What it already did stays done, with Undo where possible.” Confirm with Cancel the background job, or choose Keep going to let it work. If it can't be canceled right then, a notice tells you and the confirmation stays open: try again or choose Keep going. If it was in the middle of a round of work, the card shows Canceling… —also if you come back to the conversation— and it stops when that round ends. Only the credits it used up to then are charged. Afterwards, the card says Canceled and keeps See details. While it's waiting on the credit cap there's no Cancel: you have Wrap up with what's done instead.

What happens when it's done?

• In the conversation — MIA leaves the result in a message labeled Background job · {title}: what it did, what it found and what's still pending. The card changes to Finished and says “Done · {duration} · Credits: {n}”: the duration is what MIA actually worked —for example, “12 min 30 s”—, without the waits or the time until its scheduled start. Below, the beginning of the result.
• If it needs something from you — the card says Needs something from you and the result explains what's missing: answer MIA in the conversation.
• If it couldn't finish — it says Failed and why, with See details. What it already did stays done.
• The bell — the notifications bell lets you know and, when you click it, opens the job in the MIA panel, on top of the conversation you have open.
• The email — if the job ran for 2 minutes or more after you started it (a scheduled one, always) and you didn't turn the notice off, you get an email with the link to the result, the credits, the time it worked and whether cards were left waiting for your OK. To protect your data, it doesn't include the result, and the subject doesn't include the job's title: its button —See the result, See what's missing or See the details, depending on how it ended— takes you to the job in MB Suite, where you read it.
• Rate it — with Helpful or Not helpful (the thumbs on the card and in the details), also when it failed. See result opens the details.

How much does it cost?

It uses your account's AI credits —in the Chat category, like your conversations with MIA—, and what it really uses is charged, segment by segment. Before it starts you see the estimate and choose the cap; while it works, the card shows what it used against that cap. If you cancel it, only what it used up to then is charged; Wrap up with what's done uses a few more credits, the ones it takes to write the result. More in How MIA uses your AI credits.

Where do I see all my background jobs?

• In the MIA panel, More options (⋯) > Background jobs. While you have unfinished jobs, there's also the Background jobs button (the briefcase), top right next to History, with an amber dot if one is waiting for your OK.
• The list has three groups: Waiting for your OK (the ones waiting for you to start them or to answer), Active (in the order of Work: the ones working, the ones paused and the scheduled ones, by their time) and Finished · 30 days (proposals you dismissed or that expired, too). Each row shows the title; when —2 hours ago; for a scheduled one, when it starts—; which agent it belongs to and the status in a word, besides the colored dot —Sofía · Working—; what's happening; the progress (“12 of 30”) or your rating; and the credits.
• Move with ↑/↓ (or j/k), open one with Enter and close the list with Esc.

The list shows the background jobs you asked for in the account you're in. While it's empty, Ask for a background job takes you to the message box. If it doesn't load, Retry loads it again. You also see them in AI Agents > Work: the unfinished ones —including the ones waiting for you to start them— in Jobs and routines, with Cancel the background job while it can still be canceled; and the finished ones —done, needing something from you or failed— in Deliverables, next to what the routines left. And the ones you gave each agent, in its profile —among its Latest runs— and in the Jobs and routines tab of its setup. In any of those places, tapping one —or the bell, or the button in the job's email— opens the Background jobs list and its details here, in the MIA panel, on top of the conversation you have open: that conversation stays with its agent (see Work: what your AI team did and what's waiting for your OK). What each agent is working on right now shows in AI Agents > Office.

What do the details show?

When you open a background job, under its title you read “What you asked for, what {agent} did and what's left.”, with the name of whoever does it, which isn't always MIA: it can be an MB Suite specialist or one of your team's agents. At the top you see its status, “Started …”, “Finished …” and “Worked …” (a scheduled one says “Scheduled for … (the account's time).”), and the Accounts it works in. If it needs something from you —starting it, answering about the credit cap or solving a pause—, a box tells you, with Go to the card, which opens the conversation on the job's card (if MB Suite paused it, the box only lets you know); what's waiting for your OK —a confirmation or a plan— also comes with Go to the card. While it works, the progress and its bar; always, the Credits against the cap, and the third-party notice, if there is one. Then What you asked for, in your words; The goal, as the agent understood it; the Result; and the Steps: while it works, what it's doing Now, live, and those of each segment, with See step by step (“The step by step of each segment is kept for 30 days.”). At the bottom: the model, the segments, the rounds and the credits; the thumbs, once it's done; Cancel, while it hasn't finished (not while it's waiting on the credit cap, as on the card); and Open the conversation, which takes you to the job's card.

How do I turn off the email?

• Go to Settings > MIA and open the How it works tab.
• In Background jobs, turn off Email me when a background job finishes.

As the option says: “You get an email with a link to the result when a background job that took 2 minutes or more finishes (a scheduled one, always). It's just for you: everyone picks their own.” It comes turned on and applies to your background jobs in all your accounts. The bell keeps letting you know.

Who sees my background jobs, and how long are they kept?

Only you. The other members of your account, owners and admins included, don't see your background jobs, either in the list or in their details. The MB Suite team can open one to give you support, or stop it, and the reason is recorded; if they stop it, your card says “The MB Suite team stopped it. If you have questions, write to us at support@mb-suite.com.” An owner or an admin of the account can also cancel it —the credits are the account's—; if they do, your card says “An owner or an admin of the account canceled it. What it already did stays done.” What the job changes in your account, on the other hand, is recorded under your name in Activity, like everything MIA does.

• A proposal you don't start — it expires after 7 days.
• The job — what you asked for, the goal, the result and its steps are kept 180 days from when it ends; the list shows the last 30 days.
• The step by step of each segment — 30 days.
• What MIA keeps to carry on from one segment to the next — it's deleted when the job ends.
• If you delete the conversation — its background jobs are deleted with it and, if one was working, it stops. What it already did in your account stays done.
• If the account is permanently deleted — all its background jobs are deleted with it.

MB Suite also keeps, for 180 days, a technical record of each background job that was set going, without its title or text —how long it worked, the credits, how it ended— to measure how MIA works; it stays even if you delete the conversation. More in MIA and your data: what it sees, what it never sees and how long it's kept.