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Drive the agent

A live project runs an autonomous loop: the agent proposes experiments, writes code, schedules runs, and analyzes results. You stay in control of that loop from autolab status.

Where am I?

autolab status

Shows the project at a glance — the agent state (live or paused), attached nodes, experiment counts, and the experiment you're in.

Start, pause & resume

autolab start    # start the agent (first start takes the project live); resume after a pause
autolab pause    # pause the loop — queued work waits, the agent stops acting

The first autolab start takes the project live — it seeds the baseline from your code (or lets the agent author it for an empty project) and starts the autonomous loop. After that, start simply resumes a paused loop.

Pausing is the safe way to make changes — edit settings, adjust the queue, or reassign keys — without the agent acting mid-change.

Automatic idea generation (autogen)

autolab status autogen        # show the current agent + ideas state
autolab status autogen on     # let the agent propose new experiments on its own
autolab status autogen off    # only run what you queue

With autogen off, the agent still codes, runs, and analyzes — but it only works through experiments you submit. Turn it on to let it explore the search space autonomously. This is the core human-in-the-loop dial: tighten it when you want a hand on the wheel, loosen it to let Autolab run.


Queue your own work alongside the agent with submit, and watch progress with autolab log and autolab open.