Queue
When an idea comes up while a project is busy, or you are at your focus limit, queue it instead of starting it now or forgetting it. The queue holds prompts you want to start later, with their project and choices. It tells you when an item is ready, and you start it. An item with Start by itself on starts as soon as what it waits for has finished.
Where to find it
Section titled “Where to find it”- The Queue section in the sidebar, right under Working. While it is closed, its header keeps the count and how many are ready (“1 ready”, in green).
- The Queue card on Home, with the first three items.
- Upcoming, with every item across your projects, next to your scheduled runs. Queue… in the command palette opens it on the queue.
- Queued in <project> in New session, under the message box, for the project you picked.
- A project’s Sessions tab and its Overview.
- In the command palette: Start next in queue, Queue: pick one to start…, Add to queue and Start after this session….
Add a prompt
Section titled “Add a prompt”- In New session, pick the project and write the prompt.
- Set the choices it should start with: model, effort, mode, branch or worktree, profile.
- Choose Add to queue in Start’s ▾ menu, or press Command, Shift, ReturnControl, Shift, Enter.
The prompt is kept with its project, choices and images. The box empties and you stay in New session to write the next one. A message in the corner says “Added to the queue”, with Undo, which takes it off again and puts the prompt back in the box.
The palette’s New session step has the same menu and key. Add to queue in the palette queues the prompt you are writing in New session; anywhere else it says Add to queue… and opens New session to write one.
At the focus limit, the note in New session and the question before starting both offer Add to queue, so an idea can wait instead of starting a session you can’t follow.
When an item is ready
Section titled “When an item is ready”Each item waits for something. Choose it with Wait for…:
| Wait for | Ready when |
|---|---|
| Any session in this project (the default) | Nothing is working or waiting for you in its project, its worktrees included. |
| A session | That session finishes or is closed. |
| The item above it | That item has been started and its session has finished. |
| Nothing (start it myself) | Never: it stays queued until you start it. |
When the project you picked in New session has a session working, a line under the message box says what the prompt would wait for, such as “acme-store has a session working. Queued, this waits for “Fix login” to finish.” Its Wait for… changes it before you queue. For an item already in the queue, Wait for… is in its menu.
A ready item has a light green tint and a Start button. The others show a clock and what they wait for (“after “Fix login””), with Start on hover. An item that starts by itself shows a small play mark instead of the clock.
An item whose Claude profile is at its usage limit waits for the limit too, whatever else it waits for: it says “usage limit until 15:16”, and turns ready once the limit resets. A session started before then would stop on the limit straight away. See When you hit a limit.
When something finishes
Section titled “When something finishes”When an item turns ready because a session finished, a message in the bottom right corner says so, such as “acme-store is free”, with what finished and what’s next. Start it starts the item; Review first opens the session that finished. With several items ready at once, one message names them all, with Show queue. The “Claude finished” notification also names what’s next in the queue for that project.
Start by itself
Section titled “Start by itself”An item can start by itself once what it waits for is done. For example: “once this session is finished, run the tests and write the changelog entry”.
Turn it on in one of these places:
| Where | How |
|---|---|
| A session’s menu | Start after this one… in the session’s right-click menu in the sidebar, or in the conversation’s ⋯ menu |
| The command palette | Start after this session…, for the session you have open |
| New session | Start by itself, next to Wait for… on the line under the message box |
| A queued item | Start by itself in its menu, under Wait for… |
Start after this one… opens New session on the session’s project, with Wait for set to that session and Start by itself on. Write the prompt and choose Add to queue (Command, Shift, ReturnControl, Shift, Enter).
Start by itself is off for every new item. It can’t be picked while Wait for is Nothing (start it myself).
On its row
Section titled “On its row”The row says “starts after “Fix login”” instead of “after “Fix login””, or “starts after the item above” for an item that waits for the one above it. Two items that each wait for the one above make a chain: each starts when the one before it finishes.
The session it waits for shows a band above its message box: “Starts after this one: Run the tests and fix what fails”, with “+1 after it” for a chain. Its ⋯ opens the item’s menu.
When it starts
Section titled “When it starts”It starts when it turns ready, by the rules in When an item is ready, the same way Start does. A notification says “Started:” with the first line of the prompt and the project. A click opens the session. The “Claude finished” notification of the session it waited for says “Starting next:” with the item’s prompt.
It only starts after a clean finish:
- When the session it waits for ends with an error, or you stopped Claude, it doesn’t start. It stays in the queue, ready, and says why: ““Fix login” ended with an error, so it didn’t start”. A notification says so too.
- A session waiting for you (a permission or a question) isn’t finished.
- At the focus limit, it doesn’t ask, since nobody may be there to answer. Its row says “waits for a free slot (focus limit)”, and it starts when a slot frees.
- At a usage limit, it waits until the limit resets (“usage limit until 15:16”), then starts.
- When Switchboard quit while that session was working, nothing starts at the next launch. The item is ready, and you start it.
Switchboard starts it with or without a window open.
Closing the windows leaves Switchboard running, so an item still starts after you close them. Quitting stops it.
Runs from a schedule
Section titled “Runs from a schedule”A scheduled run that comes at the focus limit, or while its profile is at its usage limit, waits in the queue as an item that starts by itself. It starts when a slot frees or the limit resets. Its schedule’s row says “Queued” with the reason.
Start an item
Section titled “Start an item”- Click Start on the item, or press Command, ReturnControl, Enter on it. It starts straight away, through the focus limit.
- Click the item to open it in New session, filled in, to check or change it first. A line says “Queued prompt. Changes stay in the queue; starting it takes it off.” Your edits are saved to the item; Close goes back to New session’s own prompt. Command, EControl, E does the same from the keyboard.
- In the command palette, Start next in queue starts the first ready item (it shows its prompt in green), and Queue: pick one to start… lists every item with its state.
Starting an item takes it off the queue. Items that waited for it follow the session it became.
Reorder and remove
Section titled “Reorder and remove”| What | How |
|---|---|
| Move up or down | Drag the item by its grip, or Option, Up Arrow or Option, Down ArrowAlt, Up Arrow or Alt, Down Arrow |
| Move to the top | Option, Shift, Up ArrowAlt, Shift, Up Arrow, or Move to top in its menu |
| Remove | DeleteBackspace, or Remove in its menu |
| Open its menu | Right-click, Shift, F10Shift, F10, or ⋯ on Home |
Removing doesn’t ask: the message “Removed from the queue” has Undo, which puts the item back in its place.
The item’s menu holds Start now, Edit in New session…, Wait for…, Start by itself, Move to top, Move up, Move down and Remove. The keys work on a focused item in the sidebar and on Home.
Settings
Section titled “Settings”The queue has no settings of its own. Starting an item goes through the focus limit like any other start.
Related
Section titled “Related”- Focus limitSet how many sessions you want going at the same time, and get asked before you start one more.
- SchedulesStart a session from a prompt once, or at set times every day, on weekdays, on the days you pick or once a month.
- HomeOne view of what needs you, what is working, your queue, your schedules and your projects.
- New sessionPick a project, choose where Claude works, write the first prompt and start.
- Link sessionsMention another session with @ in the message box, and Claude gets its folder, branch, pull request, what it did and its last reply. Stack a pull request on another one without copying anything over.
- UsageSee what is left of your plan, when it comes back, and which sessions, projects and models used your tokens.