# Tasks

> The specification of Reply tasks — task types and subtypes, sequence-generated vs manually created tasks, manual and automatic handling modes, Tasks page filters and bulk actions, Chrome Extension execution, and what the task object leaves undocumented.

**A task is a unit of manual work in Reply: a to-do, call, manual email, SMS, WhatsApp, LinkedIn action, or meeting. Sequences generate tasks from manual steps; users create them on the Tasks page or in the Chrome Extension. Tasks are completed in the extension, which advances the contact to the next step.**

_Status: Reviewed — human-edited, facts not yet confirmed against the product._

## At a glance

| Aspect | Detail |
| --- | --- |
| **What it is** | A scheduled unit of manual work — to-do, call, manual email, manual SMS, WhatsApp, LinkedIn action, or meeting — with an owner, a start date, and a due date |
| **Belongs to / Contains** | Owned by a user; every type except To Do references a contact; sequence-generated tasks link back to their [sequence](/specifications/sequences) |
| **Surfaces** | UI (Tasks page, Reports → Tasks dashboard) · Reply Chrome Extension · MCP |
| **Key limit** | No task-specific numeric limits are documented; due-date urgency colors switch at 1 hour and 8 hours before due |
| **Lifecycle** | Created (by a sequence step or manually) → New → Due → Completed, or Removed at any point |
| **Does not** | Send anything by itself — completing a manual email task from the Tasks page marks it complete and advances the contact *without sending the email*; does not get generated for opted-out contacts (manual email tasks); does not advance the contact in Manual mode until completed in the extension |
| **Visibility** | Team Edition off — everyone sees and manages only their own tasks; Team Edition (Public or Private) — team owners see and manage everyone's tasks, other members only tasks assigned to them |

## Definition

A task is a reminder to perform a manual outreach action. Reply creates tasks automatically
when a contact reaches a step that needs human work — a Task step, Call step, Manual email
step, or WhatsApp step — and users create them manually on the **Tasks** page or in the
Reply Chrome Extension. Tasks are primarily executed in the Chrome Extension; the Tasks
page is where they are filtered, reassigned, completed, and removed in bulk.

> The task object is one of the least-specified objects in Reply's documentation. The
> documented surface is the Tasks page, the Chrome Extension, and the sequence settings that
> generate tasks. A task data model beyond the creation-dialog fields, a formal state
> machine, and task REST endpoints are **not documented** — for the current API surface,
> check [docs.reply.io](https://docs.reply.io/api-reference/introduction).

## Purpose

Tasks bring human touches — calls, personally written emails, LinkedIn actions, WhatsApp
messages, meetings — into otherwise automated sequences, and give teams one queue to see,
assign, and execute that work.

## Relationships

| Relationship | Object |
| --- | --- |
| Owner | A user; for sequence-generated tasks, either the **sequence owner** or the **contact owner** (contact-owner assignment is available only in Team Edition Public mode) |
| Contact | Every task type except To Do takes a contact; adding a contact to a Call, Email, WhatsApp, SMS, or Manual Email task lets you call or email them directly from the task |
| Sequence | Tasks created by a sequence show the sequence name in the grid — clicking it opens that sequence's Steps tab |
| Execution surface | The Reply Chrome Extension — the **Launch** action opens platform tasks in the extension |

## Creation

Tasks are created three ways.

**From sequence steps.** When a contact reaches a manual step, Reply generates the matching
task: a Task step (To-do or Meeting variant) creates a to-do or meeting task, a Call step
creates a call task, a Manual email step creates a manual email task, and a WhatsApp step
creates a WhatsApp task. Call notes and manual step content support Contact, Team, and
Advanced [variables](/specifications/templates-and-variables). See
[Sequence steps](/specifications/sequence-steps) for the step catalog.

**On the Tasks page.** Click **New task** and fill in the dialog: a Task Type — To Do
(default), Call, LinkedIn (with a subtype: Message, Connect, InMail, View Profile), Manual
Email, Manual SMS, WhatsApp, or Meeting — a Start Date and Due Date, a Contact (except for
To Do tasks), an optional Description, and, for an email, a Subject.

**In the Chrome Extension.** Click **Create → New Task**, select the type, the start and
due dates (optional — by default the due date is set within 30 minutes of creation time),
optionally add a contact and, for emails, the sending email address, then fill the
description or message (templates supported) and click **Create task**. After logging a
call in the extension, **Log the call & follow up** creates a follow-up task (Call, To do,
LinkedIn, or Meeting) in the same flow — this also works for call tasks generated by a
sequence.

### Task types

| Type | Use |
| --- | --- |
| To Do | A memo for any planned activity — the only type without a contact |
| Call | A direct call to the prospect |
| LinkedIn — Message / Connect / InMail / View Profile | Reminders for the matching LinkedIn action |
| Manual Email | A personal email to send during a given period |
| Manual SMS | An SMS to send during a given period |
| WhatsApp | A WhatsApp message to the prospect |
| Meeting | A meeting with the prospect |

## Lifecycle and states

The documentation defines task states operationally, through the Tasks page filters — a
formal state machine is not documented:

| State (status filter) | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| New | Not deleted, not yet due, not completed |
| Due | Not deleted, not completed, past its due time |
| Completed | Not deleted and completed |
| (deleted) | Removed tasks are excluded from every filter |

The grid is sorted by due date/time from oldest to newest by default, and start and due
times display in the timezone from the Reply user settings. The **Due in** column is
color-coded: **red** when due in 0–59 minutes, **yellow** in 1–8 hours, **green** at 8+
hours. A separate date filter groups tasks by due date: All, New (due date in the future),
Due (due today), Overdue (due yesterday or earlier), or a Custom range.

## Configuration

Task handling is configured per sequence under **Settings → Tasks handling**:

| Setting | Options |
| --- | --- |
| Completion mode | **Manually** — the system does not finish the task or move the contact until you complete it in the extension. **Automatically** — the contact moves to the next step once the delay between the current and next step is over |
| Task ownership | **Sequence owner** (default) or **contact owner** — per-contact assignment to each contact's owner; available only in Team Edition Public mode |

Step-level behavior refines this:

| Step | Manual mode | Automatic mode |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Task step | Contact is not moved until you finish the task; the task is not finished until you manually complete it | Contact moves after the step delay; if it is the last step, the contact gets Finished status after the specified number of days |
| Call step | Contact is not moved until you finish the task manually; if last step, Finished after a specified number of days (5 by default) | Contact moves when you finish the task manually, or automatically after the step delay if you do not; same last-step rule |
| Manual email step | The task's due date is the date/time of the next step in the sequence; complete it any time before then | Not documented as a separate mode — the Tasks-handling completion mode applies |
| WhatsApp step | Semi-automated by design: Reply creates the task and moves the contact to the next step once the task is sent or completed | Same |

Call steps add two options: **Automatically call on opens** triggers a call task once the
contact has opened your email a specified number of times (Reply recommends setting the
trigger between 4 and 7 opens), and **Pause on successful call** stops the contact's
sequence after a successfully completed call.

## Processing behavior

On the **Tasks** page, quick filters combine with AND logic: Task Status (All, New, Due,
Completed) × Task Type (All Types, LinkedIn, Calls, Manual Emails, Manual SMS, WhatsApp,
To Do, Meetings) × the due-date filter. Selected tasks support four actions — **Launch**
(execute in the Chrome Extension), **Change owner**, **Complete**, and **Remove** — each
individually or in bulk via the **All** checkbox.

In the Chrome Extension, the Tasks tab filters by interval (Overdue tasks is the default —
plus today, today and forward, this week, last week, this month, last month), by sequence,
and by task type, also with AND logic. **Launch all tasks** opens tasks one by one; a
manual email task is finished with **Send and Complete**. Applied filters persist after
closing and reopening the extension until the cache is cleared.

## Reporting

Task activity is measured on the **Tasks** dashboard under **Reports**, which is where
team throughput is read rather than individual queues. Every metric, username, and chart
segment on the page can be drilled into, and the stats can be exported.

| Section | What it reports |
| --- | --- |
| Overview | Total tasks split into Calls, Emails, LinkedIn, SMS, WhatsApp, and To-do's, sortable by type and time frame |
| Tasks per team member | Team members ranked by task count, with the task types each has in progress — the comparison view for activity across a team |
| Tasks by type chart | Created or completed tasks over time, with months listed below the chart; click a type to hide it from the view and click again to bring it back |
| Created and completed tasks | Created against completed counts side by side per task type, so a growing backlog is visible as a gap |
| SMS stats | Sent messages, replies, created and completed SMS tasks, and their ratio |

The whole page switches between **Created** and **Completed** through the **All statuses**
selector, combined with a time filter. Two behaviors are worth knowing: the SMS stats
section honors the time filter but ignores the created/completed selection, and the
dashboard follows the same visibility rule as tasks themselves — with Team Edition enabled
you see every team member's task metrics, without it only your own. See
[Campaign analytics](/capabilities/campaign-analytics) for the other Reports dashboards.

## Side effects

- Completing a task moves its contact to the next sequence step.
- Clicking **Complete** on a manual email task on the Tasks page marks the task completed and moves the contact forward, but the email is **not sent**. Manual emails can only be completed and sent through the Chrome Extension.
- If a Task or Call step is the last step in a sequence, the contact gets the **Finished** status after the specified number of days (5 by default for Call steps) — see [Statuses](/reference/statuses).
- **Pause on successful call** stops the contact's sequence after a successful call, preventing further automated steps.
- Reply refuses to send manual emails to blacklisted contacts (an error is shown; unblacklist the contact and send again) and does not generate manual email tasks for opted-out contacts at all.

## Limits

No task-specific numeric limits (per user, per sequence, or per day) are documented. The
documented numbers are:

| Value | Detail |
| --- | --- |
| Default due date (extension-created tasks) | Within **30 minutes** of the task creation time |
| Due-in color thresholds | Red **0–59 min** · yellow **1–8 hours** · green **8+ hours** |
| Last-step Finished delay (Call step) | **5 days** by default |
| Recommended auto-call trigger | **4–7** email opens |

## Deletion behavior

Tasks are removed with the **Remove** action on the Tasks page, individually or in bulk,
with a confirmation prompt. Removed tasks are excluded from every status filter. Whether
removal is reversible is not documented.

## Edge cases

- **Complete** on the Tasks page never sends a manual email — only **Send and Complete** in the Chrome Extension does. The contact still advances to the next step either way.
- Opted-out contacts get no manual email task; removing the Opted Out and Finished statuses makes the task visible and completable in the extension.
- A blacklisted contact makes the manual email task fail with an error until the contact is unblacklisted.
- Manual email tasks can currently be processed only from the Chrome Extension, not the main Reply application.
- The contact-owner task assignment option exists only in Team Edition Public mode; everywhere else tasks go to the sequence owner.
- Chrome Extension task filters survive closing the extension — they reset to defaults only after the cache is cleared.

## FAQ

### What happens when I click Complete on a manual email task?

The task is marked completed and the contact moves to the next step, but the email is not
sent. To actually send it, open the task in the Reply Chrome Extension and click **Send
and Complete**.

### Do tasks block a sequence?

In Manual mode, yes — the contact is not moved to the next step until the task is
finished. In Automatic mode the contact moves on once the delay before the next step is
over, whether or not the task was done. The mode is set per sequence under **Settings →
Tasks handling** and per Task/Call step.

### Who can see and manage tasks?

With Team Edition off, everyone sees only their own tasks. In Team Edition (Public or
Private), team owners see and manage everyone's tasks; other members see only tasks
assigned to them. See [Workspaces and roles](/specifications/workspaces-and-roles).

### Can tasks be assigned to the contact's owner instead of the sequence owner?

Yes, via the Tasks handling ownership setting — but only in Team Edition Public mode. Each
contact's task then goes to that contact's owner and appears on their Tasks page and in
their Chrome Extension.

### Where is the task API documented?

Reply's product documentation does not specify task REST endpoints or a task data model
beyond the creation-dialog fields.
[docs.reply.io](https://docs.reply.io/api-reference/introduction) is the source of truth
for the current API surface.

## Related

- [Sequence steps](/specifications/sequence-steps)
- [Sequences](/specifications/sequences)
- [How sequences execute](/behavior/sequence-execution)
- [Statuses](/reference/statuses)
- [Calls and SMS](/capabilities/calls-and-sms)
- [Multichannel outreach](/capabilities/multichannel-outreach)

## Build with Reply

- REST API: [docs.reply.io](https://docs.reply.io/api-reference/introduction) — the source of truth for the current API surface
- MCP: [agents.reply.io/mcp](https://agents.reply.io/mcp) — agents list their tasks, create tasks, and complete them