> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.asteroid.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How It Works

> Learn more about how Astro works

Here's how a typical interaction with Astro works.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Ask Astro to help">
    You describe what you want to accomplish, whether that's building a new agent, improving an existing one, or fixing an issue.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Astro analyzes and makes changes">
    Astro reads your agent's current state and can:

    * Read, edit, delete, and rename nodes
    * Modify node instructions and configurations
    * Tweak agent settings
    * Add or remove transitions between nodes
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review and approve changes">
    After Astro makes changes, you'll see a diff viewer showing exactly what was modified. You can review all proposed changes side-by-side, accept them to apply to your agent, or reject them and provide feedback for Astro to try again.

    <Card title="Review Changes" icon="eye" img="/images/astro-diff-viewer.png" horizontal>
      The diff viewer shows you exactly what Astro changed, with before and after views side-by-side. You can see modifications to node instructions, configurations, and workflow structure.
    </Card>

    <Card title="Accept or Reject" icon="check-circle" img="/images/astro-accept-changes.png" horizontal>
      Once you've reviewed the changes, you can accept them to apply to your agent, or reject them and provide feedback for Astro to try a different approach.
    </Card>
  </Step>
</Steps>

This workflow ensures you maintain full control over your agent while benefiting from Astro's expertise and suggestions.

## Conversation Management

You can have multiple conversations with Astro for the same agent. Each conversation maintains its own history, making it easy to:

* Work on different aspects of your agent in separate conversations
* Keep track of different topics or improvements
* Share specific conversations with team members

All your conversations with Astro are saved. You can:

* **View history**: Access past conversations from the conversation selector
* **Resume conversations**: Pick up where you left off
* **Delete conversations**: Remove conversations you no longer need

### Operating Context

Each conversation with Astro is tied to a specific agent. When working with an agent, there are two important modes to understand:

**Edit Mode**

* Agents must be in **Edit mode** for Astro to make changes
* When you modify your agent, or accept Astro's changes, these are automatically saved as a draft
* You can iterate and refine your agent without affecting the published version

**Publishing and Running**

* An agent must be **Published** before it can be run
* When you run an agent, it uses the last published version, not the draft
* This means you can continue editing and improving your agent without disrupting running executions

This ensures:

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Safe experimentation" icon="flask" horizontal>
    Make changes in drafts without affecting production agents
  </Card>

  <Card title="Version control" icon="split" horizontal>
    Keep a stable published version while iterating on improvements
  </Card>

  <Card title="No disruption" icon="shield-check" horizontal>
    Running agents continue using the published version even as you edit
  </Card>

  <Card title="Confidence" icon="check" horizontal>
    Test and review changes thoroughly before publishing
  </Card>
</CardGroup>