---
title: Check-ins
description: Have the agent come back later, or on a schedule, and pick up where it left off.
---

Ask the agent to come back later and it schedules a check-in: at the time you
asked for, it picks the Session up again with the whole conversation so far.
Use it to follow up on a deploy tomorrow or watch a long job on a schedule,
without keeping Polaris open. For CI, a
[CI notification](/docs/pull-requests#wait-for-ci) brings the agent back when the
checks finish.

![A working Session with a Next check Oct 15, 2:37 PM chip above the composer and a clock mark beside the Session in the sidebar.](/docs/screenshots/check-ins.webp)

## Come back later

Ask the agent to check back after a while, for example to see whether a
deploy finished.

The agent finishes its reply and schedules the check-in. The Machine can sleep
in the meantime. When the check-in is due, a **Scheduled check-in** row appears
in the transcript and the agent carries on from there.

If a check-in is due while the agent is working, it follows the Session owner's
**Follow-up behavior** setting: **Steer** delivers it during the current Turn,
and **Queue** waits for the next Turn. If the agent can't take steers, it waits
for the next Turn.

Check-ins work in Codex and Claude Code Sessions, up to 7 days ahead.

## Check on a schedule

For something that needs watching, ask for repeated check-ins with an end, for
example every 30 minutes for the next day.

Checks can be as often as every 5 minutes, and a schedule can last up to 7
days.

Routine checks don't notify you. A check that fails or asks you something still
does; see [Notifications](/docs/notifications).

## See what's scheduled

![The Scheduled dialog listing two check-ins with their notes, due Today at 2:37 PM and 3:15 PM, each with a Cancel button.](/docs/screenshots/check-ins-scheduled.webp)

- **Above the composer**, a **Next check** chip shows when the next check-in is
  due. Select it to open **Scheduled**: each check-in's note, when it's due,
  and for a repeating one how often and until when, such as **Every 30 minutes
  until Tomorrow, 9:00 AM**.
- **In the sidebar**, a clock beside the Session shows its next check-in time.
  To list only Sessions with check-ins, choose **Scheduled** in the sidebar's
  filters.

A check-in can start a little late if the agent is busy or the Machine is
waking up.

## Cancel a check-in

Open **Scheduled** and select **Cancel** beside the check-in. Cancelling a
repeating check-in ends all its future checks. You can also ask the agent to
cancel it.

To change a schedule, ask the agent to replace it with a new one. Stopping the
agent doesn't cancel its check-ins. Archiving the Session does, and
unarchiving doesn't bring them back. People who can only watch the Session can
see its check-ins but not cancel them.

## If a check-in doesn't run

- **Paused: reached the limit for agent steps without you.**: the repeating
  check-in used up its allowance. Select **Continue watch** to let it go on.
  Polaris also notifies you with **Scheduled check-in paused**.
- **Waiting for a subagent slot.**: the limit for running subagents is
  reached. The check runs once one finishes, or
  [stop a subagent](/docs/subagents#stop-subagents).
- **This check-in is already queued or running.**: cancel it from the queue,
  or use **Stop** if it has started.