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Steering and queueing

Type while Panda is working and the correction lands in the turn it is already on.

Steer is not always offered

The legend says why in place of the shortcut: not available on OpenCode, text only when an image is attached, and not over 5,000 characters. Enter still queues in every one of those cases, so the message is never lost.

While it runs

1. Type into the composer while the turn is running. — The send control splits in two.
2. Enter queues it. — It goes out as your next turn, once this one finishes.
3. Cmd/Ctrl Enter steers it. — It goes into the run that is already happening.

What each one does

A steer reaches the agent at its next action rather than at the end of the turn, so the work you did not want is abandoned instead of finished. If the turn ends first the message is simply sent as a follow-up, so a steer can be late but never dropped.

A queue stacks under the composer with a count, 2 queued · 1 steering, and you can edit, reorder or remove before it goes. Queue the next task, steer a correction.

What steering does

A steered message is handed to the agent at its next action, not at the end of the turn. In practice Panda picks it up before the next tool call and changes course from there, so the work you did not want gets abandoned instead of finished.

If the turn ends before the agent reaches another action, nothing is lost. The message is sent as a normal follow-up instead, so a steer can be late but never dropped.

Steering rides a hook that carries plain text, which sets two limits worth knowing:

• Text only. Attach an image and the message queues instead.
• 5,000 characters. Longer than that and it queues instead.

It also needs an engine that can take a message mid-run, which today means the built-in Claude engine. On Codex and OpenCode the legend says so and Enter simply queues.

What queueing does

Queued messages stack up under the composer with a count, so 2 queued · 1 steering tells you exactly what is waiting and how each piece will be delivered. Before they go out you can edit one, reorder them, or remove one you no longer want.

When the turn ends they are sent in order, as ordinary turns. Queueing is the right choice for the next task rather than a correction: line up three follow-ups, walk away, and come back to all of them done.

When steer is not offered

The legend never silently drops the option. When steering is unavailable it says why in place of the shortcut:

In every one of those cases Enter still queues, so the message is never stuck.

Stopping is still there as the third option. Steer when you want the run redirected, queue when you want it finished first, and stop when you want it abandoned.