Understanding Tasks
What tasks are in Buyer24, the different ways they appear, what their statuses mean, and when you need to act on one.
What a Task Is
A task is a single piece of work Buyer24 does for you — researching a market, drafting an RFQ, following up with a supplier, setting up your workspace, and so on. Each task shows up as a card so you can see exactly what's happening, follow it while it runs, and review the result when it's done.
Tasks are how Buyer24 keeps its work visible and under your control. Nothing important happens silently in the background — it happens as a task you can watch, pause, or review.
You'll find your tasks next to the AI assistant on your home page. Each card shows the task's name, a short description of what it's doing, and its current status.
Where Tasks Come From
Tasks don't only appear when you ask for them. There are four common ways a task shows up, and it's normal to see tasks you didn't create by hand:
- You ask the assistant. When you ask the AI assistant to do something that involves real work — "research suppliers for anodized brackets," "draft a follow-up to the supplier who went quiet" — it proposes a task for you to approve. See Your AI Assistant.
- An incoming email creates one. When a request arrives by email — for example, you or a customer forwards an enquiry, or send one to your intake address — Buyer24 turns it into a task that drafts the RFQ for you. See Starting an RFQ by Email and Forwarding Emails to RFQs.
- Autopilot creates one. If you've turned on RFQ Autopilot, Buyer24 schedules tasks to chase silent suppliers and handle routine replies on your active RFQs. See RFQ Autopilot & Reminders.
- Setup creates them. When you first set up your workspace, Buyer24 runs a short series of setup tasks — researching your company, drafting a procurement brief, suggesting templates — and walks you through the results.
So if you open Buyer24 and see a task you don't recognize, it usually means an email came in, autopilot did its job, or onboarding is still finishing up. The task card always describes what it is and what it produced.
Task Statuses
Every task has a status that tells you where it is. You'll see these in the task area:
| Status | What it means | Do you need to do anything? |
|---|---|---|
| Queued | Approved and waiting its turn — typically to run during the nightly cycle. | No. It will run on schedule. You can run it now or remove it if you'd like. |
| Running | Working right now. A live log shows its progress. | No, just watch — or stop it if you want to cancel. |
| Scheduled | A recurring task (like a regular summary) waiting for its next run time. | No. It re-runs itself on its schedule. |
| Completed | Finished. The result is ready to review. | Review the result. Some tasks produce something you act on next (a draft to send, a shortlist to pick from). |
| Failed | Something went wrong and it couldn't finish. | Check the task's log for why. You can ask the assistant to try again. |
A completed task isn't always the end of the story. For example, a "research suppliers" task finishes by producing a shortlist — you then review it and tell Buyer24 which suppliers to actually add. The task did the legwork; the decision stays yours.
How Your Tasks Are Organized
In the task area next to the assistant, your tasks are grouped so the most relevant ones are easiest to find:
- Running now — anything currently executing, with a live progress log.
- Scheduled — tasks waiting to run (queued one-offs and recurring tasks).
- Recently completed — a quick glance at what just finished, so you can jump to the result.
You can reorder what's waiting — drag a task up the list, or just tell the assistant "move the template task to the top." You can run a queued task immediately, stop a running one, or remove one you no longer need.
Tip: Ask the assistant "what's in my task queue?" any time. It will list everything pending and let you manage it in plain language.
When Do You Need to Act on a Task?
Most tasks run on their own and simply leave a result for you to review. You only need to act in a few situations:
- A task is proposed and waiting for your approval. Tasks you ask the assistant for don't run until you choose Execute Now (runs immediately) or Queue for Tonight (runs in the nightly cycle). Until you choose, nothing happens.
- A completed task hands you a decision. A shortlist to pick from, a draft RFQ to review and send, suggested templates to approve. The card points you to the next step.
- A task failed. Open its log to see why, then ask the assistant to retry if appropriate.
Everything else — autopilot follow-ups, the work that runs overnight, intake drafts — you can simply review at your convenience. Buyer24 never sends an email to a supplier or makes a change without your go-ahead; a task that prepares something always stops at a draft for you to send. For how that approval boundary works on live RFQs, see RFQ Autopilot & Reminders.
FAQ
Why am I seeing a task I didn't create?
It was almost certainly created for you — by an incoming or forwarded email becoming an RFQ draft, by autopilot following up on an active RFQ, or by the setup tasks that run when your workspace is first created. The card describes exactly what it is.
Do tasks cost credits?
Tasks you run immediately use credits from your plan. Tasks that run overnight as part of your subscription, and the setup tasks during onboarding, don't. See Plans, Credits & Billing.
Can a task send an email or change my data without me?
No. Tasks prepare work — drafts, shortlists, summaries — and stop there for your review. Sending and final approval are always yours.
A task failed — what do I do?
Open the task to read its log, which explains what went wrong. In most cases you can ask the assistant to run it again.
Where do I find my tasks?
On your home page, next to the AI assistant — with whatever's running shown live, what's scheduled below it, and recently completed tasks for quick review.