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OpenSRE’s interactive shell supports a session-local background mode for investigations. When background mode is enabled:
  • new investigations run asynchronously
  • the shell stays free for more questions and follow-ups
  • completed RCAs are tracked in-session
  • email notifications can be sent on completion via the smtp integration
This first version is session-local only. If the REPL process exits, in-flight background jobs stop with it.

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Commands

/background on
/background off
/background status
/background list
/background show <task_id>
/background use <task_id>
/background notify list
/background notify set email

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What they do

  • /background on — enable async investigation launches
  • /background off — return to normal foreground execution
  • /background list — show tracked jobs
  • /background show <task_id> — show the RCA summary for one job
  • /background use <task_id> — promote a completed job into the active follow-up context
  • /background notify set email — keep email as the completion channel in v1

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Typical flow

  1. Start the interactive shell.
  2. Enable background mode:
/background on
  1. Start an investigation:
/investigate kubernetes-high-cpu
or paste a fresh alert in free text.
  1. Keep using the shell while the RCA runs.
  2. When it completes:
    • inspect it with /background show <task_id>
    • adopt it into active follow-up context with /background use <task_id>

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RCA summary contents

Completed background jobs store:
  • root cause
  • top analysis items
  • recommended next steps
  • internal stats:
    • tool call count
    • investigation loop count
    • validity score

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Email notifications

Email delivery is handled through the smtp integration. The notification email focuses on:
  • Root cause
  • Top analysis
  • What to do next
plus a short internal stats section.

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Current v1 limits

  • notification preferences are email-only in the current shipped path
  • jobs are not persisted across REPL restarts
  • completion does not automatically replace your active follow-up context
  • you must run /background use <task_id> to promote a finished RCA