Your first Work task

Create a short summary from a text file. This example needs no coding and uses made-up notes, so you can practice without handing the app your important documents.

Before you start: taucode should open and answer a simple Chat message. If it does not, complete installation and model setup first. This task uses the selected model and can incur your provider's normal API charges.

1. Create a practice folder

Use Finder on macOS or File Explorer on Windows to create a folder named taucode-practice inside Documents.

Inside it, create a plain-text file named notes.txt. On Windows you can use Notepad. On macOS you can use TextEdit; choose Format → Make Plain Text before saving so it does not become a rich-text document.

Copy this into the file and save it:

Community garden meeting
The next meeting is Saturday at 10:00 AM.
Members should bring seeds and hand tools.
We still need to decide whether to buy new planters.

Expected result: you can open notes.txt from the practice folder and see those four lines.

Your folder should look like this:

taucode-practice/
└── notes.txt

2. Add the folder to Work

1. In taucode, choose Work in the sidebar.
2. Select Add space and choose the taucode-practice folder you just made.
3. Create a new task in that space.

A space is simply the folder a Work task uses. A task is one conversation about work to do in that folder.

Expected result: the space appears in the sidebar, and the new task belongs to it. Check the folder before continuing; do not select your whole Documents folder for this exercise.

3. Give the task a clear request

Choose your configured model and review the displayed access setting. Start with Ask where an access choice is available. It lets the app pause for approval when its policy requires it.

Copy this into the task's message box:

Read notes.txt in this space. Create outputs/summary.md with a short summary
of the meeting time, what members should bring, and the undecided question.
Use only information from notes.txt. Leave notes.txt unchanged.

Here is what the request means:

Part	Why it helps
Read notes.txt	Names the input instead of asking the model to guess.
outputs/summary.md	Names the destination folder and output file.
Three specific facts	Makes the result easy to check.
Leave the source unchanged	States how to treat the original notes.

.md means Markdown: a text document that can use simple headings and bullet points. You can read it in a text editor.

4. Run the task and watch its status

Select Run now. The task should move to Running, and its conversation shows progress.

If it says Needs input, open the task and read the question or approval request. For this exercise, the intended work is reading notes.txt and creating outputs/summary.md in the practice folder. If a request does not match that work, stop and investigate it instead of approving automatically.

You may see a plan listing steps. The wording depends on the model; it does not need to match this guide exactly.

Expected result: the task eventually finishes or displays a specific question/error. It should not require you to enable browser or desktop-app control for these local notes.

5. Open the output

Open the Task panel and look under Outputs. If another panel tab is selected, choose Task. Use Open or the reveal-in-file-manager control for the summary.

You can also look directly in the practice folder:

taucode-practice/
├── notes.txt
└── outputs/
    └── summary.md

The output might use different wording, but it should contain all three facts:

• The meeting is Saturday at 10:00 AM.
• Members should bring seeds and hand tools.
• Buying new planters is still undecided.

Check the actual file, not only the agent's message saying it created one. Open notes.txt too and confirm that the original remains unchanged. The app may store additional working files; the tree above shows the input and deliverable you are checking.

6. Try a follow-up

In the same task, send:

Rewrite outputs/summary.md as exactly three bullet points, one for each fact.
Keep notes.txt unchanged.

Open the file again and check the updated content. This is a follow-up to the same task, so the model can use the existing conversation as context.

If the result is different

What you see	What to do
The task stays Queued	It is waiting for a running-task slot. Check whether other tasks are active.
Needs input	Open the task and answer its question or review its approval request.
“File not found”	Check that notes.txt was saved in the selected space and has that exact name.
No output listed	Look in the actual folder and read the task's error/progress before trying again.
Extra or incorrect facts	Point out the mistake and ask for a correction based only on notes.txt.
The output will not open	Reveal it in the file manager and open summary.md with a text editor.
Authentication or model error	Return to provider troubleshooting.

Use Stop task if work is taking an unexpected direction. Stop does not remove files already written; inspect them before retrying.

You have now practiced choosing a folder, giving a brief, reviewing progress, opening an output, and sending a follow-up. The Work guide explains document formats, queues, and recovery in more detail.