---
title: Hand work to Pantaray
description: Start an Action by asking or by accepting a suggestion, watch it work, send it more instructions, and stop it.
---

An Action is Pantaray doing the work: reading and changing files, running commands, searching the
web, and telling you what it found. It runs in the same panel the conversation lives in.

## Start one

There are two ways in:

- **Ask for it.** Press the **New conversation** shortcut from any app and describe what you want.
  The key is shown in **Settings → Keyboard shortcut**. You can also start one from
  **New conversation** at the top right of the History window.
- **Accept a suggestion.** The work begins from what the suggestion proposed. You can add
  conditions first under **Additional instructions (optional)**.

Pantaray runs one Action at a time. If one is already running, finish or stop it first.

## While it is running

The panel shows what Pantaray is doing as it goes. You can:

- Send another message to steer it, using the message box at the bottom.
- Add images to a message: PNG, JPEG, GIF, and WebP, up to 8 MB each.
- Press **Stop**. The Action ends where it is.

Before it changes a file or runs a command, the Action pauses and asks you first, unless you have
said otherwise for this conversation. See
[Approve or deny what Pantaray wants to do](/using/approvals).

## What it is allowed to touch

Actions work inside the folders you registered in **Workspace**. Reading can be wider than that if
you allow it in **Settings → Action permissions**, and edits and commands always stay inside the
workspace. See [Choose which folders Pantaray can use](/using/workspace).

If an Action needs to see your screen, macOS asks for Screen Recording permission the first time.

## Stopping

**Stop** ends the Action. What it already did is done: a file it saved stays saved, a command it
ran has already run. Nothing further happens.

Changing your connection, your model, or your key stops a running Action.

## Continuing later

A stopped or finished Action stays in your [History](/using/history). Reopen it and send another
message to carry on from where it left off.