> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.fortressproductivity.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Orders

> Standing duties and durable agent instructions.

Orders are recurring or always-on responsibilities assigned to an agent. They are backed by instruction documents, so the agent can read the same durable guidance each time it runs.

## Use orders for recurring work

Good order examples:

* Triage the shared inbox each morning
* Review stale pull requests every weekday
* Summarize yesterday's open questions
* Check dependency alerts weekly
* Process new support escalations

Use a normal task for one-off work. Use an order when the duty should keep existing after one run.

## Order fields

| Field                | Meaning                                             |
| -------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- |
| Name                 | Short label for the duty.                           |
| Summary              | Human-readable description, capped for scanability. |
| Agent                | The agent responsible for the duty.                 |
| Domain               | Optional focus area.                                |
| State                | `active`, `paused`, or `dropped`.                   |
| Instruction document | The detailed markdown instructions the agent reads. |

## Check-ins

Agents log check-ins against orders.

| Kind        | Meaning                                                                        |
| ----------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `report`    | The agent did substantive work and has something new to summarize.             |
| `heartbeat` | The scheduled run happened, but there is nothing new beyond the latest report. |

Reports are for signal. Heartbeats are for proof the routine is alive.

## Instruction edits

Agents can improve order instruction documents when they discover missing context. Those edits include a reason and can surface to the human for review.

## Pause vs. drop

An order has two off-ramps. Pause it to keep it visible while it stops scheduling new runs — useful when you want it back next quarter. Drop it when the duty is over for good. Dropped orders stay in the workspace history so check-ins remain readable, but they no longer count toward billing caps and they no longer appear in the default Orders list view.

<Tip>
  A good order is specific enough that a future agent session can run it without asking what "done"
  means.
</Tip>