AFK Mode

AFK (Away From Keyboard) mode lets HiveMind OS keep working while you're away. When agents need your approval or have questions, those requests are forwarded to a channel you choose — Slack, Discord, or email — so you can respond from your phone or another device.

How It Works

HiveMind OS tracks your presence through four status levels:

Status	Meaning
Active	You're at your desk. Approvals and questions appear in the desktop app.
Idle	No mouse or keyboard activity for a while. Behaviour is the same as Active by default.
Away	Extended inactivity or manually set. Requests are forwarded to your configured channel.
Do Not Disturb	Manually set. Requests are forwarded, same as Away.

Automatic Transitions

The desktop app sends a heartbeat whenever it detects mouse movement, keyboard input, or clicks. Based on inactivity:

1. Active → Idle after the configured idle threshold (optional).
2. Idle → Away after the configured away threshold (optional).
3. Activity resumes → back to Active automatically.

If no desktop client connects at all (e.g. the daemon is running headless), the system transitions to Away after a grace period (default: 5 minutes).

You can always override the status manually using the status indicator in the top-right corner of the desktop app.

Setting Up Forwarding

1. Open Settings and find the AFK section.
2. Choose a forwarding channel — this is a connector channel (e.g. a Slack DM, Discord channel, or email address) where requests will be sent.
3. Select what to forward:
   • Approvals — tool-use permission requests from agents.
   • Questions — agents asking for clarification or input.
4. Choose which statuses trigger forwarding. By default, forwarding activates when you're Away or Do Not Disturb.

TIP

You need at least one connector configured (Slack, Discord, or email) before you can set up AFK forwarding. See Connectors for setup instructions.

Responding Remotely

When a request is forwarded, you can respond directly from the channel:

• Slack — use the interactive buttons on the forwarded message to approve, deny, or type a reply.
• Discord — use the interaction buttons or reply to the message.
• Email — reply to the forwarded email with your answer.

Your response is routed back to the agent that asked, and it continues working as if you'd answered in the desktop app.

Auto-Approve Timeout

For approvals that shouldn't block agents indefinitely, you can set an auto-approve timeout. If you don't respond within the configured time, the request is automatically approved.

WARNING

Use auto-approve with care. It grants agents permission to run tools without your explicit review. Consider combining it with Security Policies to limit what can be auto-approved.

Configuration Reference

All AFK settings live under the afk key in your configuration:

Setting	Type	Default	Description
forward_on	list	[Away, DoNotDisturb]	Which statuses trigger forwarding
forward_channel_id	string	—	Connector channel ID to forward requests to
forward_to_address	string	—	Email address to forward requests to (alternative to channel)
forward_approvals	bool	true	Forward tool-approval requests
forward_questions	bool	true	Forward agent questions
auto_idle_after_secs	number	—	Seconds of inactivity before transitioning to Idle
auto_away_after_secs	number	—	Seconds of inactivity before transitioning to Away
auto_approve_on_timeout_secs	number	—	Auto-approve approvals after this many seconds
no_client_grace_period_secs	number	300	Seconds to wait for a desktop client before transitioning to Away

Settings with no default (—) are disabled until configured.

API

You can also manage AFK status programmatically:

Endpoint	Description
GET /api/v1/status	Get current user status
PUT /api/v1/status	Set user status manually
POST /api/v1/status/heartbeat	Record activity heartbeat
GET /api/v1/status/events	Subscribe to status change events

Learn More

• Connectors — set up Slack, Discord, or email connectors for forwarding
• Security Policies — control what agents can do without approval
• Workflows — agent approvals and questions often come from workflow steps