Task Progress Tracking
The Task Progress Bar gives you real-time visibility into your agent's work. Located in the status bar at the bottom of Quack, it shows exactly where you stand in any multi-step task - no more wondering how much is left or if the agent is still working.
How It Works
When an AI agent creates a plan with multiple steps, Quack automatically tracks progress:
- Percentage: Visual progress indicator (e.g., 75%)
- Counter: Completed vs total tasks (e.g., 6/8)
- Live Updates: Progress updates as the agent completes each step
- Always Visible: Status bar remains visible during work
Status Bar: [Building features...] ████████░░ 75% (6/8)
What You'll See
During Active Work
When an agent is executing a plan:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Analyzing authentication flow... 🔄 25% (2/8) │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
The status bar shows:
- Current Task: What the agent is working on right now
- Progress Bar: Visual indicator of completion
- Percentage: Numeric progress (0-100%)
- Counter: Steps completed out of total (e.g., 2/8)
Real-time Updates
As the agent moves through its plan:
Step 1: Reading authentication files... ✓
Step 2: Analyzing security patterns... ← Currently here (25%)
Step 3: Checking token handling...
Step 4: Testing session logic...
...
The progress bar updates immediately when each step completes.
On Completion
When all tasks finish:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Authentication review complete ✓ 100% (8/8) │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Understanding Task Plans
Agents create structured plans for complex requests. The progress tracker shows these as countable steps.
Example: Feature Implementation
Prompt:
Add user authentication to the dashboard
Agent Plan (8 steps):
- Read current authentication setup → 12.5%
- Create login component → 25%
- Add authentication hooks → 37.5%
- Implement session management → 50%
- Add protected route guards → 62.5%
- Write unit tests → 75%
- Update documentation → 87.5%
- Final review and cleanup → 100%
Each completed step advances the progress bar.
Example: Code Review
Prompt:
Review the API endpoints for security issues
Agent Plan (5 steps):
- List all endpoint files → 20%
- Check input validation → 40%
- Verify authentication → 60%
- Test error handling → 80%
- Generate security report → 100%
Benefits
Always Know Where You Stand
No more uncertainty:
- Clear expectations: See total number of steps upfront
- Estimated completion: Gauge how much work remains
- Confidence: Know the agent is making progress
Better Planning
The counter helps you:
- Schedule work: Know if you have time for coffee or need to wait
- Identify bottlenecks: See when the agent gets stuck on a step
- Track efficiency: Compare actual vs expected task counts
Multi-agent Awareness
When running multiple agents:
- Each agent's progress is tracked independently
- Switch between terminals to check different task statuses
- Kanban tasks show their own progress in the drawer
Tips and Best Practices
Understanding Progress
Linear progress doesn't mean linear time:
- Some steps are fast (reading files) - 5 seconds
- Some steps are slow (running tests) - 2 minutes
- A task at 50% might be 25% complete in time
Progress resets between conversations:
- Each new prompt starts fresh at 0%
- Multi-turn conversations maintain progress within that session
When Progress Isn't Shown
Progress tracking requires the agent to create an explicit plan. You won't see progress for:
- Single-step tasks: "What is 2+2?" doesn't need a plan
- Exploratory questions: "What files are in this project?"
- Streaming responses: Long text outputs without discrete steps
In these cases, the status bar shows activity without percentages:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Generating response... 🔄 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Maximizing Progress Visibility
Ask for structured work:
Good prompt (generates plan):
Refactor the authentication module:
1. Extract reusable functions
2. Add TypeScript types
3. Write unit tests
4. Update imports
Vague prompt (may not show progress):
Make the auth code better
Break large tasks into stages:
Instead of:
Build the entire dashboard feature
Try:
Build the dashboard feature. Start by:
1. Creating the layout
2. Adding data fetching
3. Implementing charts
4. Writing tests
Integration with Other Features
Kanban Board
Tasks in the Kanban Board show progress in the chat drawer:
- Drag a task to "In Progress"
- The chat drawer opens with the agent's plan
- Progress updates appear in both the drawer and status bar
Background Tasks
Background agents also report progress:
- Check the Background Tasks panel for progress
- Desktop notifications show final percentage on completion
- Long-running tasks maintain accurate counts
Multiple Terminals
Each terminal maintains its own progress:
- Switch terminals to see different agent progress
- Progress persists when switching tabs
- Status bar always shows the active terminal's progress
Troubleshooting
Progress Stuck at Same Percentage
Cause: Agent is working on a long-running step
What to check:
- Look at the current task description in status bar
- Watch the chat stream for ongoing output
- Some steps (like running tests) take minutes
Not stuck if you see:
- Chat messages still streaming
- Terminal output continuing
- Status bar shows "🔄" activity indicator
Progress Goes Backward
Cause: Agent revised its plan mid-execution
What happened:
- Agent realized more steps were needed
- Total step count increased (e.g., 5/6 became 5/8)
- Percentage recalculated based on new total
- This is normal adaptive behavior
No Progress Shown
Cause: Task doesn't have a structured plan
Examples:
- Simple questions: "What does this function do?"
- File searches: "Find all TypeScript files"
- Single operations: "Format this code"
Solution: These tasks complete quickly without needing progress tracking.
Related Features
- Background Tasks: Run long operations without blocking your workflow
- Kanban Board: Visual task management with progress per card
- Chat Streaming: Real-time response rendering
Previous: Background Tasks
Next: Interactive Questions