# Steer, interrupt and stop

Change course while the agent works: send a message into the running turn, or stop the run. What Orchestra chats ask first, and how retries fit in.

*Where in Studio: Chat → composer → send and Stop*

*Last updated: 2026-10-25*

While the agent works, the send button changes with what you have typed. With text in the composer it sends your message into the running turn, which is called steering. With an empty composer it is **Stop**, a dark square, and ends the run.

| Composer while the agent works | Button | ↩ does |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Has text, files, voice notes or review comments | Send (arrow) | Steers the run with your message. |
| Empty | **Stop** (square) | Stops the run. |

## Steer the run

Type what you want to change, for example "Skip the migration, only fix the handler", and press ↩. You do not need to wait for the turn to end or stop it first.

- **Claude Code and Codex** take the message at their next step inside the running turn.
- **Agents that cannot be steered mid-turn**, such as Cursor, Devin and Grok, hold it until the current turn ends and then send it as the next turn. The composer says so before you send: **This agent can't be steered mid-turn — your message will be queued and sent when the current turn finishes.**

## Stop the run

Click **Stop**, or press ↩ in an empty composer. The agent stops where it is. What it already changed in the checkout stays; review it in [Changes, branches and pull requests](https://kelrova.com/docs/studio/chats/git). Send a new message to carry on.

If you stop while your own message is still on its way, Studio takes the message back and puts its text in the composer, above anything you typed since.

### Stop an Orchestra chat

In a chat with Orchestra on, Stop asks first, because it ends the whole run:

1. **Press Stop**

   The dialog **Stop the orchestration?** says **The whole orchestration stops, including its running subagents.**

2. **Decide**

   Choose **Stop all** to stop everything, or **Keep running**. **Keep running** has the focus, so pressing ↩ twice never stops a run by accident. Escape closes the dialog.

See [How Orchestra works](https://kelrova.com/docs/studio/orchestra/overview).

## When the provider cuts a turn short

When the provider is busy, rate limits you or reaches a usage limit, the transcript shows an error row for the turn. If automatic retry is on, the row counts down with **Retrying in** and offers:

- **Retry now** to try at once.
- **Cancel** to drop the automatic retry. In an Orchestra chat this asks first with **Cancel the retry?**, because the run is on hold until the retry: **Cancel retry** stops the whole orchestration, **Keep waiting** keeps it.

A turn that is not retried automatically offers **Retry**.

*Settings → Agents → Provider retry*

**Retry automatically** is on by default and synced across your devices. Under it, **Chats** and **Subagents** choose what is retried, and **Wait for the limit to reset** retries once a session, weekly or usage limit resets, if it resets within the longest wait you set.

## When a message does not arrive

A message that does not reach the computer running the chat shows **Not delivered** with **Retry**, **Edit** and **Delete**. See [The composer](https://kelrova.com/docs/studio/chats/composer#when-a-message-is-not-delivered).

## Related

- [The composer](https://kelrova.com/docs/studio/chats/composer)
- [Questions and suggested replies](https://kelrova.com/docs/studio/chats/questions)
- [How Orchestra works](https://kelrova.com/docs/studio/orchestra/overview)
- [Keyboard shortcuts](https://kelrova.com/docs/studio/reference/shortcuts)